Skookum Traveler: Mount Rogers (VA) to Asheville (NC)

Happy days had arrived. Kris and I managed to swing some serious vacation time, July 17-25^th to be exact, and we set our sights on a road trip from Asheville to Nashville, and thereabouts. We headed first to Mount Rogers, the highest mountain in Virginia, and by some accounts, the best hike in the state. We arrived at our reserved campsite in lovely weather, but with a rainy forecast. The rain held off all night, but just as we reached the trailhead the next morning, it came. So much for my strategy of sneaking in the hike before it dumped. Since the whole idea of hiking up Rogers is to soak in the views instead of the rain, we opted to save the trek for a less crummy day and motated ourselves down to Asheville.

We meandered along the foggy Blue Ridge Parkway and stopped at the Linn Cove Viaduct visitor center. Then, with the umbrella deployed, we took in a short walk through scenic rocky ground beneath the giant concrete serpent. Next stop was Asheville. But where did the day go? For our second night, I’d reserved a campsite on the east side of Great Smoky Mountains National Park, which crimped the time we had to explore downtown Asheville. We had a couple hours at least and managed to check out the chocolate place, browse some local art and wander around aimlessly for about 22 minutes. What an enthralling place. We’ll be back.