Blue Ridge Greenway Hikes

Sunday, we checked out of the hotel and had breakfast in Lenoir then drove up to Blowing Rock and stopped at the Blue Ridge Conservancy Conservation Campus off Aho Road.  There is a two-mile loop trail through the woods on the property.

The trail had many switchbacks so wasn't strenuous at all and passed by some cool rock formations.

After finishing the loop, we took a short stroll on the Pollinator Walk.

The little garden had a lot of cardinal flowers, milkweed and other pollinator-friendly flowers.

Rattlesnake master had some really interesting flowers.

From here, we made a short drive up US-321 to the Sterling Creek Park trailhead for Middle Fork Greenway. 

The greenway is still in development, but about a mile of trail was available here leading up to Tweetsie Railroad.

The trail ended at the entrance road at US-321 so we turned around here.

Past the parking area in the other direction, the trail ended shortly.  I found a path out to a scenic spot on Middle Fork.

It was still too early for lunch so we made one more stop at Brookshire Park.  We took the greenway south under the bridge and followed New River Hills to a low-water bridge over the river.

Across the river, we picked up the Boone Greenway.  There was a groundhog near the wastewater treatment plant.

We went as far as the pedestrian bridge over the river and then headed back.

Booneshine had opened by the time we got back so we could have barbecue for lunch before driving back to the much hotter weather in Raleigh.

Mount Jefferson Hike

Saturday, we headed to the NC High Country again to beat the hot weather, heading to Mount Jefferson State Natural Area.  Starting from the park office, we took Mountain Ridge Trail up the mountain, first coming to Sunrise Overlook.  It was early enough that the east-facing view wasn't too washed out.

Continuing on, we turned at the split for Spur Trail to head out to Sunset Overlook with a nice view over West Jefferson.

Back on the main trail, it was another half-mile or so to Jefferson Overlook, the uppermost overlook along the entrance road.  I think this one has the nicest views.

Just past here, the trail went up stone steps above some rock outcrops.  In the past,  it was a rock scramble to get up but they had since built the stairs.

The trail ended shortly after at the summit parking area.  There were some cool chicken of the woods mushrooms growing on a tree in the picnic area.

From here, we got on summit trail up to the top, but there isn't much of a view here, so got on Rhododendron Trail.  I spotted a hickory tussock moth caterpillar along the trail.

There were a couple spots to catch a nice view from the trail.

But the best views were from the far end of the trail at Luther Rock.  We stopped here and took a break to enjoy the views.

Then we finished up the loop and hiked back.

We had worked up an appetite and stopped in West Jefferson for lunch at Boondocks Brewing.  They have nice covered outdoor seating so we could dine with Alex.  After lunch, we stopped at Barks and Co. so Alex could pick out some treats.  It was a tough choice, but he went with the bacon bits.  Then we headed to Boone and parked at the trailhead for Boone United Trail.  This trail leads from Boone United Methodist Church through a conservation easement along Howard Knob.

It was moderately steep, but lots of switchbacks so it wasn't too bad.

Near the top, there was a loop and I think there was a second loop, but we missed the turn and then all downhill back to the car.

We had a light dinner and then checked into the hotel in Lenoir for the evening.