December 20, 2019. Over Mill Mountain via Woodthrush, Ridgeline, Riser and Big Sunny to Fork in the Alley. Back via Big Sunny, Loop Road and Roanoke River Greenway. 7.2 miles.
Toward the end of this good walk, as we stopped along the Roanoke River Greenway at Blue Cow Ice Cream, we came across an old friend not seen for several years. We talked about holiday plans, and The Day Hiker shared that we were getting in our hike for the week on a Friday because in just a few hours, more than 20 people would descend on the house for our Christmas weekend.
As we ate our ice cream, our friend opined that we should have stopped at the bar instead.
“Oh, we did that,” came the chorus from both of us, as the highlight/midpoint of this great walk is Fork in the Alley, where a nice glass of wine is the perfect complement to the Mediterranean salad.
Smug walkers that we can be, Gail and I ask each other now and again as we undertake this walk (total walking time from Star Trail parking lot, over the mountain and back is a little more than three hours), why we don’t see other people doing the same glorious thing.
The trails are wide and mostly rock- and root-free. The climbs are tolerable, and you get views of the city and beyond on the way. And you don’t have to worry about lunch because it’s waiting for you, with just enough time after eating that you’re ready for dessert.
And there’s a big ol’ star on top of the mountain.
December 24, 2019: Appalachian Trail to McAfee Knob and back. 7.8 miles
The Day Hiker can bust out some ambition now and again, as on this day when she suggested a hike about as long as any we do these days, in counter to the suggestion of a shorter hike farther away. And how lucky can walkers be to have this walk and viewpoint in their backyard?
We were pessimistic about the parking as we drove out, as the day was nice and the lot is so often completely full. But on this day, it was only about half filled, and about half of the cars were from other states—people visiting for the holidays who were taking their Christmas Eve for a classic mountain walk.
The trail up the mountain has been improved greatly over recent years, with the old, gratuitous Scout bridges removed in favor of more traditional banking; and with yet another re-routing just after the crossing of the forest road. And even under the power line, logs have been added to cut down on the muddiness of that bare stretch. Still, any walk with 1,400 feet of elevation gain over less than four miles is a pull no matter how well constructed and maintained.
And of course the formation itself is always worth it. There were enough people that the northwestern side of things was pretty full, and we retreated back to the southeast to look toward Roanoke for lunch.
In a measure of the climb vs the descent, as well as of taking the trail all the way up vs the forest road down, it took us two hours and five minutes to get up the mountain and an hour and 45 to get back down, well ahead of my predicted brush with dusk.
