October 6. Appalachian Trail from Afton Mountain north to Bear Den
Mountain and back. 10 miles. Five new Appalachian Trail miles for us,
as aside from a few miles in Shenandoah National Park, these were our
first miles north of I-64. A relatively easy, if rocky, section, with a
nice spot for lunch at Bear Den Mountain.

October 13. Lipes Branch Trail to Potts Mountain cliffs and back. 6
miles. One highlight of this walk, 200 yards in, was the finding by The
Greatest Day Hiker Of Them All of what appeared to be two fully grown,
nut-bearing chestnut trees. I've talked briefly to a ranger since, and
the suspicion is, based on the nature of the trunks, that they're
Chinese chestnuts. The high point of this hike is atop Potts Mountain,
about .7 south from where Lipes Branch Trail intersects with the worn
Jeep trail (the signs say no vehicles, but the surface says tore-up
good), where the outcropping is keenly reminiscent of Tinker
Cliffs--except that you feel even higher and more remote. And a hawk
that swooped nearer to us than any ever has seemed to verify that not
too many sit on the rocks where we perched for lunch.

October 20. Grandfather Mountain Profile Trail to Calloway Peak and
back. 7 miles. This is a private trail and you pay $5 at the gas
station near the trailhead to get on it. And even from the narrow
perspective of the trail itself, it's worth every penny of the charge.
The careful rock work, the grading, the stream crossings and the
bordering combine to create a trail bed that draws attention to itself
as a great place to put your feet on. And that doesn't take into
account the two great viewpoints--one onto the Foscoe area and the
other the view that gives the trail its name; and the Grandfather
profile, even on this misty, sometimes-rainy day, was stark and clear,
with every facial detail strong against the sky. As we ate lunch in the
fog on the rocks at the highest point on Grandfather--Calloway Peak's
5,964 feet--the thick air began to yield rain, and we walked back down
under a steady drizzle.

October 21. Grandfather Mountain Trail toward Calloway Peak and back.
4.5 miles. Ignorance is bliss, the saying goes, but not when you take
action based on it: In seeking a hike to share with gracious weekend
hosts BRC publisher Richard Wells and his wife Alison, The Day Hiker
and I decided the combination of distance and rockiness toward the top
rendered the Profile Trail not the best choice for our four-person
hike. Instead, we would head up the Grandfather Mountain Trail--shorter
in distance to Calloway Peak--despite the mention on the map of "very
strenuous, at times requiring the use of cables and ladders." Well, the
number and length of cables and ladders, combined with rock scrambles
unaided by either, make the navigation of the Grandfather Trail far
more a step-by-step exploration than a hike. Still, with one foot in
front of the other, one slippery slope traversed with the aid of a
cable, one set of ladders leading to a windswept precipice with nothing
below for hundreds of feet, we made our way up and over rocks toward
Calloway. And though we did scrabble our way to above 5,900 feet, we
did--at a point of one ladder too many and the ridge line just not
becoming what we thought of as a ridge line--turn and make our way back
down, having covered a distance in three hours that on a normal trail
would have taken half that long at most. A one-of-a-kind exploration
atop a majestic and exhilarating mountain.

October 27. Cornelius Creek Trail to AT to Black Rock to Apple Orchard
Trail. 8.5 miles. Back to a favorite on a cool day after rare rain,
which seemed to leave the flow of Cornelius Creek healthy, but added
little since summer to the volume of Apple Orchard Falls. Our initial
lunch spot was at the Black Rock overlook, but strong, cold westerly
winds chased us off the viewpoint halfway through eating. Just off the
rocks, away from the wind and facing the sun, we found a warm, cozy
spot. Back down, the creek that tumbles at Apple Orchard falls seemed
not to have benefitted from rain as much as Cornelius, and the low-flow
falls verified the worry.

Click here for the archive of Kurt's Hikes