Shot Tower New River Hike

Monday morning, we checked out of the hotel and started making our way home.  In Virginia, we got off the highway and stopped at Shot Tower Historical State Park.

It was a bit cloudy but the views were really nice.

The tower itself was closed for construction but we could walk all around.

The views of the interstate crossing over New River were really nice.

Then we headed down to New River Trail and started hiking eastbound.

The flat, crushed gravel surface made an easy hike pushing Harper in the stroller.

In a mile or so, we came to Foster Falls.  Its more of a big rapid than a waterfall, but there was a campground and other amenities here.

The Foster Falls Inn was very scenic.

There was some Dame's rocket flowering along here.

We went another couple miles and then turned around.

We stopped at Rio Grande in Hillsville for lunch and then made our way home.

Crystal Springs Hike

Saturday morning, we broke camp and then went for a hike around Claytor Lake State Park.  From camp, we took Claytor Lake Trail and did a short loop on Bent Tree Trail.

After the loop, we continued on Claytor Lake Trail.

A short spur led to an overlook with really nice views of the lake.

Where Claytor Lake Trail ended, we took the paved Lakeview Trail along the park road. 

There were some nice views of the lake from here.

At the end, we got on Shady Ridge Trail and headed back to camp.

From here, we headed into Wytheville for breakfast then parked at Crystal Springs Recreation Area.

We started off on the Boundary Trail that works its way around the perimeter of the park.

It was only moderately steep most of the way.  We saw some more fringed polygala along the trail.

Over half way through the loop, we took the spur trail up to High Rocks.

The views from up here were great overlook Wytheville.

Then we headed back down and finished up the Boundary Trail loop.

There were more wildflower blooming along the creek.

After finishing our hike, we headed back to Raleigh.

AT Hike in Bear Creek

Friday, I took Amaroq to Virginia for his first camping trip.  We got off I-81 near Rural Retreat and parked at the trailhead for Appalachian Trail.  Hiking northbound, we first went through an open area with nice views.

After the open area, we had to cross a stile that was very much not dog friendly.  But Amaroq is a great hiking dog and we made it.  The trail headed through the woods and entered Bear Creek National Scenic Area, passing a campsite in just over a mile.

The trail headed up a ridge and there were nice views.  The trees hadn't leafed out at this elevation yet, so we could still enjoy winter views. 

The trail eventually descended via switchbacks to Reed Creek and intersected Crawfish Trail.  We turned on the horse trail to make a loop.

The trail followed an old road for a while, eventually crossing Bear Creek.

After this, the trail got off the road and started heading up very steeply.  At least it wasn't too hot, but it was a strenuous climb.  At the top, the trail paralleled the AT closely for over half a mile.

We took a nice break back on Appalachian Trail and then started heading back.

Some nice wildflowers were blooming along the trail, a lot of fringed polygala.

Most of the hike back was downhill, which was nice after the steep climb on the horse trail.  There were some cows grazing in the open area when we passed through, but Amaroq was pretty tired and not too interested.

From here, we headed into Wytheville and got lunch from 7 Dogs Brewing.  Then we drove to Claytor Lake State Park and set up camp.  It was still early so we went for a short hike from camp, first on Shady Ridge Trail.

Then we took Hidden Valley Trail along the north side of the park.

There was an overlook with a view of the lake but it was pretty overgrown.

We took Claytor Lake Trail back to camp.

Amaroq laid under the picnic table while I made a campfire.  The campground host and another camper commented on what a good husky he was, but of course he was very tired from his long hikes.  After sunset, we went to bed and Amaroq did very good his first night camping.

Mill Mountain Hike and Zoo

Monday, we checked out of the hotel and headed over to Mill Mountain Park.

It was cloudy so no views from the mountain, so we took a stroll through the wildflower garden.

Lots of flowers and trees were blooming in the garden.

There was cute little pond near the entrance.

After the wildflower garden, we went for a hike down Mill Mountain Greenway and got on Big Sunny Trail.

In under a mile, Riser Trail split off and headed up to the entrance road.

The trail crossed right at the Big Ol' Bikes.

We picked up Monument Trail here and took that to Star Trail and back up.

Lots of eastern redbud was flowering near the top.

After our hike, we went through the Mill Mountain Zoo.

Near the entrance as a wallaby mom with a joey in her pouch.

It was still very cloudy but not raining.

Harper enjoyed running around and seeing the animals.

Its a small zoo so didn't take long to walk through.

One of the red wolves reminded me of Alex.

After finishing up, we headed back to the car.

We drove home, stopping for Mexican in Chatham on the way.