The Tinker Creek Greenway from Plantation Road to the Carvins Cove boat-launch area (2.4 miles each way) is a popular walk, and tends to get more and more crowded—including with people fishing—the closer you get to the shoreline of the reservoir. On this rainy morning, The Greatest Day Hiker Of Them All and I needed to get out little early due to an evening to be spent with two (of the 11) grandkids, and thus were out of the car at just about 11. We’d parked the car in an otherwise empty lot—well except for the giant puddle at the entrance—owing to the fact that the rain had stopped only minutes earlier, and the forecast included the strong possibility for more, along with temps in the 40s, with breezes.Â
But as we started up the first half of this symmetrical walk (1.2 up from the lot, 1.2 down to the water), the clouds began to break, and by the time we sat down for lunch the sky was largely blue, the wind relatively calm and us in need of just one more layer.Â
And what happened to that old saw about the best time for fishing being just after a rain? There was no one along the banks, nor on the fishing dock, for the entire time of our leisurely lunch, made up of The Day Hiker’s delicious chicken salad sandwiches.
The walk back was equally pleasant, though by early afternoon a few other people had realized it was a nice day for a walk.
And even by that evening, as we pushed the stroller-for-two into Grandin Village for our foursome for dinner, the temperature remained tolerable enough for all that there was a stop for ice cream on the walk back home.
Hike Details: In Roanoke, Virginia, just off Exit 146 of I-81 to Tinker Creek Greenway trailhead just north of the interstate. 2.4 miles each way, with a relatively easy climb for the first half each way.
