Kurt Rheinheimer
The Greatest Day Hiker Of Them All, 15 years at it, up on McAfee Knob.
The Greatest Day Hiker Of Them All has been out there every dang weekend since, well, forever. No guy is luckier than I.
Hikes: February 2019
February 2: Appalachian Trail to McAfee Knob and back. 7.8 miles.
Yes, you can find a parking spot at the 311 lot in the wintertime, though it was close to full by late morning when we pulled in. And the trail—well, the AT seems to be less and less populated on the downslope side of the fire road, as we didn’t see many people doing this walk in our usual fashion—up the AT and down the fire road. And up on the formation, it was the usual mostly-Tech-students party going on, featuring lots of photos and laughs, a bunch of dogs and, uh, two geezers and their dog.
February 3: On Mill Mountain, the Woodtrhrush, Ridgeline, Riser and Big Sunny trails into South Roanoke and back along Big Sunny, Loop Road and Roanoke River Greenway. 6 miles.
A nice 60-degree day made this go-to (Fork in the Alley for lunch) walk especially enjoyable. As did, of course, the stop at Blue Cow Ice Cream.
February 9: From Valley View Mall via Lick Run Greenway and neighborhood streets to Countryside basketball courts and back. 5 miles
A midday grandson basketball game at a city facility makes for a challenging hike day . . . unless you park at the mall, grab some lunch and then set out along a short stretch of greenway and then along residential sidewalks to get your walking in.
February 14: Apple Orchard-forest road-Cornelius Creek loop. 6.2 miles.
And here she is again, with the goofy fool who gets to go along, on 2/14/19, the 15th anniversary of the hikes.
Any better way to celebrate Valentine’s Day than with a re-visit to the first hike we did on what is now a 15-year oddity? Not that we could think of. And on this day we encountered some kindred souls (aka fellow hiking nuts) Don and Barbara Heckman of Lexington. As the two couples climbed the Apple Orchard and we talked about doing the whole loop, Don opined that Cornelius Creek would be high enough that we’d have to wade. I told him my odds were 50/50. It’s nice to have been on those trails enough to be able to look at Apple Orchard Creek and the other smaller flows and be able to project what Cornelius Creek will be doing.
The couples met up again during our lunch stop just above the falls, and then one more time as The Greatest Day Hiker Of Them All and I approached the end of the Cornelius Creek Trail, and Don and Barbara were coming up, tho’ not all the way to the first stream ford.
And yeah, the creek was just about 50/50 indeed, as we just barely got across without taking our shoes off.
Did I mention that a guy who is lucky in love and lucky in the woods is the luckiest guy there is?
February 16: From home via Roanoke River Greenway and city streets to Wasabi’s Restaurant in downtown Roanoke and back. 6.2 miles.
A fine urban walk to a fine urban meal.
February 24. Appalachian Trail from U.S. 220 to Carvins Cove overlook and back. 5.2 miles.
We have done this hike . . . must be 30 times without looking it up . . . and saw three things for the first time on this day. First was the strongest wind we’ve ever been in. Second was a string of ultra-runners making their way along the Tinker Mountain ridgeline. And third was a fully uniformed and armed National Park Service Ranger. From our rock perch just off the trail, we saw him above on the AT, and watched his sharp turn to come down to us. He was friendly but inquisitive, and we decided—especially after he talked about the hazard of falling trees in the wind—that he was concerned for the safety of two geezers out on the trail by themselves on a day where the wind was strong enough to cause you to have to raise your voice a little to be heard. He eventually got enough information and affirmation to leave us alone with our lunch.