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!