Friday, June 2: 4.2 miles on the Deer Lick Trail at The Homestead Resort. We walked on this warm, pretty day with Blue Ridge Country publisher Richard Wells and his wife Alison, gracious hosts of The Greatest Day Hiker Of Them All and me in a setting of sumptuous contrast to our usual hiking milieux (as in a gourmet dinner to walk back toward). The walk itself takes you up the ridge just west of the resort, to a viewpoint that looks down upon the signature building and surrounding grounds with postcard perfection. The end of the trek takes you along one of the golf courses and back into the resort proper. The Day Hiker was mildly disappointed with the lack of wildflowers--she saw no more than a lone pink lady slipper and a bed of garlic-mustard plant.
Saturday, June 3: 2.8 miles on the North Trail at The Homestead. This walk takes you past the horse barns of the resort (where the Day Hiker paused to rub several heads), through wooded areas and along the edges of beautiful homes on the hillside. The occasional tree ID is an added bonus, as were several jack in the pulpits and the chance to walk by and visit the ski area that we had not seen for 20 years, and never seen in a non-winter season.
Sunday, June 11: 6.5 miles on Belfast Trail along the Devil's Marbleyard to the Appalachian Trail to James River overlook on the Gunter Ridge Trail. This popular walk takes you into the James River Face Wilderness, up a steady climb and then a steep ascent as you approach the boulder field on the left. The rocks are still as big as cars, and still attract, best of all, males under age 16. The Day Hiker was reluctant to venture out onto the boulder field, as she is not only not a member of that demographic, but never was. I forayed out only briefly before we resumed our climb up to the intersection with the Appalachian Trail, where we debated briefly about which way to go--there's a lunch peak in either direction--before heading southward to a viewpoint onto the James River for lunch.
Sunday, June 18: 7.6 miles on the Appalachian Trail from Va. 621 up to the Audie Murphy monument and back. This long-climb hike rewards with a fine-view overlook just beyond the monument. On our last walk to this spot, we arrived, coincidentally, on the 33rd anniversary of the plane-crash death of the World War II hero/actor. On this hike, we were--again without plan--just two days away from what would have been his 82nd birthday. Our lunch was dedicated to identifying the trees around us and to lamenting the unnatural haze that compromised the view to the west.
Sunday, June 25: 7.4 miles up the Andy Layne Trail to the AT to Tinker Cliffs and back down. This Roanoke-area classic rewards every time--with its stream crossings and skirtings, its fields of wildflowers (and cows), its strong-climb sections and its one-of-the-best spots for lunch, looking down over the Catawba Valley and westward onto North Mountain and into West Virginia. And on this day it did so despite about half an hour of the walk taking place in a steady to heavy rain. The Greatest Day Hiker Of Them All, amid her many other virtues, seems all but inspired by the rain; she led us, as always, up the mountain with only one semi-rueful comment as our rain jackets kept the packs dry and we absorbed the warm-day rain: "We are in the rain so seldom that we forget what gaiters are for--we need to stick them in the car so they're there for a day like this." By the time we reached Tinker Cliffs, the sun was out and the breeze--as it always seems to be at the point where the trail comes out onto the rocks--was perfect. Our lunch was pleasant and sun-drenched, to the point that as we started back down the mountain, everything wet was dry again. Well, except the socks we took off upon arrival. Gaiters we hadn't remembered; extra socks we had.
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