January 1. Appalachian Trail to McAfee Knob and back. 7.2 miles. The perfect New Year's Day hike: Not too far from home, puts you on the AT, offers a stunning-view lunch spot and, in this instance, the chance to chat with neighbors from back in Roanoke who'd made the hike too, on this warmish day. One spot we'd never been to in all the times up to the top: Walk on around on the rocks as far as you can, leaving the Catawba Valley/Tinker Cliffs view behind, to be replaced with a great view of the Roanoke Valley.
January 6. Cornelius Creek Trail to Appalachian Trail to Black Rock to Apple Orchard Falls Trail. 8.7 miles. A new turn on an old favorite. Or at least one new turn, as when we got to the intersection of the Cornelius Creek Trail and the AT, we turned right, to walk the .6 miles to Black Rock for a lunch spot. A pleasant, one-layer walking day turned a bit windy and cool on the outcropping, which offers great views to the south and west, including visually proof that Flat Top is just a little taller than Sharp Top. Along for the first time in this series of hikes was David, one of our five sons, all of whom spend time on the trails of the region, though not often with us.
January 14. "Hey" Rock along the Appalachian Trail and back. 6 miles.
For a short winter afternoon hike, there's not much in the immediate Roanoke area that's better than this one--a nice meadow walk followed by a gentle climb through deciduous forest and the a series of switchbacks up to the ridgeline, which takes you to the first major outcropping looking onto Carvins Cove. No, it's not Hay Rock, which is another 1.1. miles or so along the AT; it's "hey" rock for its "hey, look at Carvins Cove down there" view--a great lunch spot.
January 27. Carvins Cove parking area off of Cove Road, along the forest roads near Carvins Cove, up the Sawmill Branch Trail to the Appalachian Trail to Lambert's Meadow Shelter and back. 9.0 miles.
Hiking in the Carvins Cove basin has its disadvantages. First, you have stop in at the little bicycle shop along Va. 311 to pay a dollar for your hall pass for the day (or get it at the office near the dock if you go in from the other way); and then you have to park a mile shy of where the woods and trails start--okay for bikers, but not so much fun for hikers with dogs. And so, on this day, with worries over the paw pads of the doggies, The Greatest Day Hiker of Them All dropped me 'n' said dawgs off at the start of the trails, drove the car back to the parking lot and then ran a pretty-good-clip mile back down the road to meet us and start hikin'. The roads and trails of Carvins Cove are not marked, and the map they give you with your permission slip is not all that precise, so it's always fun to pretend you're sort of out in the wilderness on the edge of being lost, when in reality you're no such thing. The Sawmill Branch Trail, an unmarked left off a forest road, is a steady-climb, seldom-walked trail that takes you, at least at the start, along the flow of pretty Sawmill Branch as it slides down the mountain to help fill the reservoir. Once you cross and leave the creek, the climb steepens and then finally gives way to a gentler climb to the AT junction. From there it's a long .6 to the shelter, where, as we sat on the front lip, the sun shone on our faces, the walls cut the wind, and lunch was good. The walk back, as so often happens, seemed about half as long as the walk up, even including the pavement mile back to the car.
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