The Blue Ridge Parkway: Peaks of Otter to Fancy Gap

Day 2 of our journey had us up early.  After a night with no AC I think we both decided that we are getting too old to sleep during the summer in the heat.  After dumping the tanks and filling our water we started south.  There are several sections of the Parkway closed for maintenance, and we quickly came to one of them just outside of Roanoke.  We took advantage of our forced departure from beautiful, green scenery  to pick-up a few things at Walmart and get diesel.

Once back on the Parkway we drove literally on the top of the ridge.  Through a lot of this stretch there are big views on both sides.  I could definitely feel my acrophobia kicking in.  We stopped at the Adventure Park, a new venture which has a ropes course and other amenities.  We chatted with the gentleman behind the counter who gave us recommendations for the section of the Parkway, wandered through the exhibits, and continued south.

Once I could look out the window again I could see that we were in rolling hills with meadows and trees.  We stopped for lunch at a picnic area and discovered RVers who had hit a tree with their pull behind trailer and knocked the awning off the side of the RV.  Since there wasn't anything we could do for them we turned around on the narrow one-way road and headed back toward the entrance of the picnic area.  Kenny had a virtual doctor's appointment and we needed open skies for Starlink to work since our cell service was spotty at best.

The drive continued back up in elevation.  We again had views on both sides.  At the stop pictured above we could see Buffalo Mountain.  If you look carefully you can imagine the mountain looking like the hump of a Buffalo.

This the view out the other side of the same view point.

Mabry Mill is an historic grist mill right on the Parkway.  It is a pretty place that still makes buckwheat and corn meal.  Unfortunately, the day we visited the mill wasn't open and neither was the store next door.  It was a fun stop though.  We got to walk around the exhibits, see the flumes leading up to the mill, and watch the water wheel spin.

Our Guide Along app told us a lot about Andy Griffith through this stretch as we passed the exit from the Parkway that would take us to Mt. Airy, the town Mayberry was based on.  We opted not to take the winding road down to the town, but we did stop at the observation tower where we should have been able to see Pilot Mountain, Mount Pilot for those of you familiar with the show.  Unfortunately, there were too many trees to see the mountain this time of year.

Comet was excited to get to Fancy Gap Cabins and Campground for the night.  It is a cute place right off the Parkway with full hookups, propane fill, and very nice people.  Tomorrow we continue the journey south.

 

The Blue Ridge Parkway: Waynesboro to Peaks of Otter

And so, our great adventure on the Blue Ridge Parkway has begun.  We started the day in a Walmart parking lot in Waynesboro so that Kenny could fix a chip in the windshield.  We didn’t want it to grow.  We were also killing a bit of time as the visitors center at Humpback Rocks didn’t open until 10.  After finishing our chores we headed up the mountain.  As we have done in other National Parks we bought Guide Along.  It is an app with different drives that narrates  your trip.  We especially enjoyed using it in Yellowstone and are very happy with it after day one of this drive.

At the Humpback Rocks Visitors Center there is a small Appalachian farm.  The buildings were moved from other places along the parkway when the government took over the land.  We enjoyed chatting with the ranger once the center opened, got our map, found a few birds, and headed on our way.  

While the weather was overcast the views are still spectacular.  We stopped at several pull offs and enjoyed each one.  The Appalachian Trail crosses the Blue Ridge Parkway in several places along this stretch.  We met three through hikers in different places.  Dan was the one we chatted longest with.  He is a 1985 West Point Grad who decided this is the year he is going to get the trail done.  He left Georgia in March and has made it this far.  His plan now is to come off the trail, fly to Maine, and start at the end and come back south.  He is worried that at his pace he won’t make it all the way to the end before snow falls in Maine.  After giving him 4 bottles of water, two of which he downed immediately, we bid him farewell and safe travels.

We briefly stopped for lunch in the RV then continued to a pull off with a short hike to a waterfall.  It also had the remnants  of an old logging railroad.  While the waterfall wasn’t all that grand with the recent drought we did meet a couple from Baltimore who are doing the same trip we are without an RV.  It was fun chatting with them.  Everyone we have met is extremely friendly and stops to chat.

Just before we got to the next visitors center we were detoured off the Parkway.  We rejoined a few miles later then made our way to Peaks of Otter where we stopped for the night.  The campground is primitive, no hook ups of any kind.  There are a couple of bathrooms, one with lights!  We parked, then hiked around Lake Abbot to the Lodge.  After a nice dinner we hiked back to the campground in the rain.  We saw an adorable baby fawn near a stream.

Comet is enjoying the drive and has even gotten in some hiking along the way!  Tomorrow our goal is to make it to Fancy Gap and stay at a campground with full hookups!