We wanted to explore this
area further, so decided to stay an extra night at the Julian Price Park
Campground.
Bill was planning to hike
the 13.5-mile Tanawha Trail today. It starts at an overlook, mostly parallels
the parkway, goes under the viaduct, up and over some rocky outcroppings,
through woods and fields, and ends at the campground. Yesterday, two visitor
center employees said not to do it -- one saying it was too strenuous for a day
hike and the other saying the trail was in bad shape. After losing some sleep
considering whether to do it, Bill decided to go for it. On the way out of the
campground, he bumped into a ranger who confirmed that it is do-able, So
Barbara dropped him off at Beacon Heights Parking Area and off he hiked…
In the meantime, Barbara
went back to Linville
Falls to hike that one
trail we omitted. The 1.4-mile round trip trail winds through rock cliffs to
the bottom of the gorge. It was the roughest trail Barbara had been on so far
and she didn’t have Bill to help. She hopped out to a rock in the river to get
this view of the falls.
Then she took the trail
under and around the viaduct, overlapping a bit with Bill’s route.
Bill’s hike on the Tanawha
Trail did have strenuous sections, wet sections, and recently-fallen trees, but
most of it was relatively easy and rather anti-climactic. Except for a few
sections near parking areas, it was a solitary 6.5-hour hike. Some sections
near the beginning were steep and rocky, the middle was a woods walk, and the
end crossed fields.
 |
| rocky section of Tanawha Trail |
The Tanawha Trail didn’t
have many viewpoints, but the section near the Rough Ridge parking area had
spectacular views. So that evening, we both climbed up the muddy and strenuous
trail past the boardwalk to a rocky outcropping with 180⁰ views.
 |
Mt Pisgah in the distance
|
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| Barbara |
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| Bill |
Campground: Julian Price
Campground, Blue Ridge Parkway
Blue Ridge Parkway miles traveled: 0 additional miles today
