Blue Ridge Parkway MST Hikes

Saturday, we took Alex back out to the mountains for a day trip for him to complete the #mst40hike challenge.  We left very early and arrived to the Blue Ridge Parkway before sunrise.  Arriving at E. B. Jeffress Park right around first light, it was too cloudy for much of a sunrise.  But the view from the overlook was nice.

We first got on the Cascades Trail and headed to Cascade Falls.

The first overlook was at the top of the falls and the second was further down.

The water level was low, but it was scenic there was a splash of fall color.  Heading back up, we got on the Mountains-to-Sea Trail for Alex to complete the Blue Ridge Escarpment hike.

Although the trail was mostly forested, we got the occasional glimpse through breaks in the trees.

The trail crossed the parkway and continued following it northbound.

We passed through an open meadow at Phillips Gap and then back in the woods.  At the next meadow, there were some milkweed follicles that had popped open to reveal the seeds.

We headed back in the woods for about another a mile.

The trail popped back out on the parkway at Benge Gap, our turnaround point.

 Sandy waited with Alex while I ran back to get the car.

After picking them back up, we made a quick stop at View Betseys Rock Falls.  With the leaves still on the trees, it was difficult to see much of Betseys Rock Falls.

But the view from the overlook was great, even if we couldn't really see the waterfall.

Our next stop was at Basin Cove Overlook in Doughton Park.  We first stopped for a couple pictures from the overlook.

Then we got on the MST heading eastbound.  In about 1.5 miles, we came to View Bluff Mountain overlook.

This spot had some really fantastic fall foliage views.

Continuing on the trail, we could soon see Bluff Mountain.

The trail came out at Alligator Back Overlook, just before climbing up.

With some switchbacks, it wasn't too steep and we took another snack break near the top to enjoy the views.

From this point, the trail headed down to the picnic area through a beautiful open area.

The trail then climbed up a small hill with a lone tree at the top.  I love that tree.

We saw a few banded woolly bears in the grass.

After passing the inn, we came to the turnaround point at the visitor center.  Sandy and Alex waited while I ran back to get the car.

We made one last stop along the parkway at Stone Mountain Overlook.

Nice views from here and the fall foliage was beautiful at the overlook.

After some pictures, we headed to Elkin for dinner at Angry Troll and then made the drive home.

Wildflowers and Waterfalls along Basin Creek

Monday was Alex's 11th birthday, so we took him for hike to celebrate.  We left early and first made a stop at Carter Falls near Elkin.  Early in the morning, no one else was here.  It was a short hike along an old road down to the falls.

It's a pretty big waterfall for so far east of the mountains.  On my last visit, it was afternoon and the sun was shining right on it.  It was looking a lot better in the early morning light.

I climbed around on the rocks for pictures and then we headed back.

From here, we made the short drive to the Longbottom Road parking for Doughton Park for our main hike.  Again, there was no one here, so were assured social distancing on our hike.  We followed Grassy Gap Fire Road for about 1.5 miles to the primitive campground and then got on Basin Creek Trail to follow it's namesake.  There were lots of wildflowers blooming in the area.

We spotted a few jack in the pulpit.

The water level was up and it was unseasonably cool, so the many water crossings on this hike would be fun.  The lush forest here was really beautiful in spring green.

There was an old chimney along the trail before the first crossing.

In about a half-mile, the crossings began and most required getting our feet wet.  Alex seemed to enjoy it more than Sandy.  Basin Creek is almost constant drops and cascades.

At the fourth crossing, we got off the trail and creek-walked and bushwhacked up to the Lower Basin Creek Falls.

The last section to get to the falls is a rock scramble, so we took turns so one of us could stay with Alex.

Then we got back on the main trail.  After the fifth crossing of Basin Creek and a tributary, there were two more old chimneys.

And shortly after, there was another chimney.  There were quite a few homesteads along Basin Creek at one time.

Soon after the ninth crossing, we could see the Upper Waterfall on Basin Creek.

The view from the trail was good, but we climbed down to the base and hung out down here for a while.

After a break, it was five more crossings to the trail's end at Caudhill Cabin.

There were also a lot of wildflowers blooming along the upper portion of the creek.

I even found some showy orchis, though they were past peak.

Canadian columbine were blooming in nice patches.

I also found a nice patch of woodland stonecrop.

And the fire pinks were really big!

We then made the hike back.

On the way home, we stopped to get Alex a hot dog for his birthday dinner.

Alex's Last Stamp

Sunday, we had breakfast at the hotel and then headed out.  We first made a stop at Riverview Falls on a tributary of New River.

It was looking good in the high water but no icicles as I had hoped.  Then we headed to New River State Park for Alex's last passport stamp.

We took Hickory Trail down to the river at the canoe launch.  Nice views of the river here and it was really flowing.

We followed Riverside Trail as it followed the river downstream.

As the trail departed from the river, it passed the Stump Family home site.

The house had burned down, but the chimney, root cellar and springhouse remained.

After this point, the trail got steep and headed away from the river.

Eventually, it connected back up with Hickory Trail.  We finished up the loop back to the car.

From here, we headed up to the Blue Ridge Parkway and parked at Basin Cove Overlook at the south end of Doughton Park.  From here, we hiked the Mountains-to-Sea Trail southbound, heading into the woods and descending behind the National Park Service office.

In about a mile, it came out at a gravel road and then crossed the parkway.  There were a bunch of icicles along the trail here.

One was particularly interesting.  In another mile, the trail crossed the parkway again and began following a gravel road.

We hiked the road for about another mile and then headed back.  The last part of the hike was uphill to the Blue Ridge Parkway but not too bad.

I got some pictures from Basin Cove Overlook.

Then we started making our way back to Boone.

Driving along the Blue Ridge Parkway, we made a stop at View Betseys Rock Falls.

With the leaves off the trees and the high water, this waterfall was looking really good.

It's really high!  From here, we headed into Boone and got Alex an ice cream cone to celebrate finishing the passport.

Then we got Chinese for dinner to eat at the room and started getting packed up.