As I conclude my tenure with Blue Ridge Country magazine, which began with its founding in 1988, I will not conclude the weekly woods walks with The Greatest Day Hiker Of Them All.
This post will be, however, the last Hikes report on BlueRidgeCountry.com.
Kurt Rheinheimer
Kurt and Gail atop Cascade Mountain, Adirondacks New York, July 22
Lament should range from non-existent to what-the-heck-happened-to-them-anyway? As in, back in the early years of the nearly 22-year oddity, the (then-weekly!) hike reports came with an anecdote—mostly love notes to The Day Hiker—and a photo. Over the years, as the terrain has become an old friend instead of an adventure, as more hikes became urban, as the old legs came to average about a 5-mile hike instead of the 10-plus back in the day, as the reports moved from weekly to monthly to once a dang year, the hike listings are just that—a brief statistical record of an odd odyssey, with a few highlights.
- Jan 1: Salt Pond Rd/AT out and back. 7.8 miles
- Jan 11: Home via Roanoke River Greenway to Green Goat and back. 5.0
- Jan 18: Home to downtown Roanoke and back. 6.5
- Jan 26: Little Rocky Row Trail up and back (with ice blocking Gail, Eric, Ava and me from reaching Fullers Rock). 5.0
- Feb 1: At Carvins Cove, Horse Pen and Lakeside trails out and back. 4.0
- Feb 8: The boys (and a few girls, not including The Day Hiker) head into the cold Grayson Highlands for a pretty-grueling 7.7-miler under full packs.
- Feb 9: The easy way back to The Scales from Wise Shelter is only 1.5 miles.
- Feb 14: The 21st annual walk to Apple Orchard Falls for the luckiest guy, walking with The Greatest Day Hiker Of Them All every time. 4.0
- Feb 22: Another great family hike, this one in Douthat State Park in the cold and snow: 10.5 mile loop!
- Mar 2: Up the (Roanoke) Star Trail and back. 3.4
- Mar 7: In Asheville, from Hotel Indigo to Grove Park Inn and back. 6.2
- Mar 15: Home to downtown Roanoke and back. 6.5
- Mar 23: Andy Layne and AT to Tinker Cliffs and back. 7.6
- Mar 30: Bottom Creek Gorge trials loop. 5.0
- Apr 4: Over Mill Mountain via Monument trail to downtown Roanoke and back. 5.0
Kurt Rheinheimer
The family pauses at the top of Bald Knob, Acadia National Park, Maine, July 27
- Apr 12: Tinker Creek Greenway from Plantation Rd to Carvins Cove and back. 4.8
- Apr 20: Chestnut Ridge Loop Trail. 5.4
- Apr 27: Over Mill Mountain into South Roanoke and back. 5.0
- May 4: AT from US 220 to “Little Hay Rock” and back. 5.2
- May 11: Home to downtown Roanoke and back. 6.0
- May 18: Tinker Creek Greenway from Plantation Road to Carvins Cove and back. 4.8
- May 25: Tinker Creek Greenway from Plantation Road to Carvins Cove and back. 4.8
- Jun 1: At Carvins Cove, Horse Pen and Lakeside trails out and back. 4.0
- Jun 8: Roanoke River Greenway hike/hike. 8.0
- Jun 15: Home to downtown Roanoke and back. 6.0
- Jun 20: Home to downtown Roanoke and back. 6.0
- Jun 28: Mill Mountain Monument trail to downtown Roanoke and back. 5.8
- Jul 5: At Peaks of Otter, Abbott Lake and Harkening Hill trails. 5.0
- Jul 12: Trails of Read Mountain. 5.4
- Jul19: Ocean City, MD Boardwalk. 4.0
- Jul 22: Cascade Mtn in the Adirondacks up and down. 5.0. The hardest 5 miles we’ve ever walked, but the spectacular 360 at the top made it worth it.
- Jul 26-Aug 2: On the family vacation to a wonderfully rambling giant old house on the edge of Acadia National Park, a series of glorious hikes including Bald Peak, Jordan Pond, downtown Bar Harbor and others. 20 miles
- Aug 3: Rehoboth Beach, Delaware boardwalk. 4
- Aug 10: From home on Roanoke River Greenway and back. 3
Kurt Rheinheimer
Ava, Gail, Kurt, Eric at Apple Orchard Falls, September 7
- Aug 17: At Carvins Cove, Horse Pen and Lakeside trails out and back. 4.0
- Aug 23: Mill Mountain Monument Trail to downtown Roanoke and back. 5.0
- Aug 30: Mill Mountain Monument Trail to downtown Roanoke and back. 5.0
- Sep 7: Apple Orchard Falls Trail up and down. 4.0
- Sep 14: Cornelius Creek Trail up to swimming hole and back. 3.6
- Sep 21: AT from US 220 to “Little Hay Rock” and back. 5.2
- Sep 26: Shell Island Resor to downtown Wrightsville Beach NC and back. 5.6
- Sep 27: Shell Island beach walk. 7.0
- Oct 4: Poor Mountain Preserve trails. 4.2
- Oct 11: Home to Rivers Edge Park and downtown and back. 6.2
- Oct 12: Trails of Read Mountain. 4.2
- Oct 19: Tinker Creek Greenway from Plantation Rd to Carvins Cove and back. 4.8
- Oct 25: Home to Rivers Edge Park and downtown and back. 6.2
- Oct 26: On Mill Mountain, Woodthrush, Ridgeline, Understory and Star trails. 5.0
- Nov 1: Home to downtown Roanoke and back. 6.0
- Nov 9: Monument trail down Mill Mountain into Roanoke and back. 4.8
- Nov 16: At Carvins Cove, Hotel, Buck, Midway and HiDeHo trails. 6.2
- Nov 22: Home to downtown Roanoke and back. 5.8