This sprawling beauty will be our Virtual hiking destination on the AT today!
I have been excited about the trees on this adventure ever since discovering the Bly Oak (...which I am in the process of painting...)
Love trees about as much as I do rocks!
Anyway, we have to pass a LOT of these first
(...hence the term "blazing the trail"...)
And this sign can be found on merchandising (mugs...tee-shirts...even just on bark as a wall hanging) everywhere!
(...I can see a tee-shirt or mug in my future when we reach our destination in Maine...)
We had best get started...it is a long way!
Our view as we leave the Mount Roger's Shelter.
And having now tasted Peanut Butter Clif Bars...food of hikers everywhere
let me just say
"Ya'll must be some desperately HUNGRY people...to consider these a food-source"
They are calorie/protein dense...I'll give you that.
But BLEAH!
If this wasn't a virtual trek...they would be left at the next hiker box
(boxes on the trail...leave what you don't want...take what you need)
that I came across, okay???
Since it is...I'll just have to pawn them off on some unsuspecting soul in my everyday round.
Our next stop up the trail
Burke Gardens
Located in Tazewell County, Berke Gardens has been called the Narnia of Virginia and "God's Thumbprint".
An overhead shot shows us why.
Located in the middle of a crater-like depression it is a lush green valley floor.
An oasis in the middle of nothing.
And a welcome momentary respite from the trail.
An ice cold Coke and some home-made oatmeal raisin cookies on the back porch with Mattie (the proprietor of the little store) maybe to get rid of the taste of that earlier Clif Bar whose waxy remains STILL coat my mouth...
and we are back on our way!
Hiking by Berke's Garden.
https://youtu.be/KFDb6Z2TD_Q
Burke's Garden Creek
McAfee Knob Hike
https://youtu.be/kfLZ-tmJjs0
And Dragon's Tooth
(the most photographed spot along the AT)
Chances are...you have seen a motivational photograph of someone on this rocky outcropping before...even if you didn't know where it was taken.
See what I mean?
Sunrise Hike and the Morning View from Dragon's Tooth (first person view)
https://youtu.be/D0Wa9OM-WwM
Now I read about The Keffer Oak...and it is supposedly near.
Va-42 crosses the Appalachian Trail...and you head North (which is luckily the direction we are going) continuing to the right side of Sinking Creek Bridge.
Sinking Creek Covered Bridge
From the Inside
This was a nice surprise!
From the bridge it is a half mile to The Keffer Oak.
Photos don't do it justice.
The Keffer is a 300 year old oak tree and is 60 feet tall. It is the second largest Oak tree on the AT, and has a circumference of 20 feet.
There is a cleared area with some logs beneath it to sit.
Nearby you can also see the Little Stoney Falls
Some idea of scale.
Unfortunately, there isn't a shelter near so we will head on up The Trail to
Blackhorse Gap Shelter for the night.
Beautiful trail to Blackhorse Gap.
Blackhorse Gap Shelter
See Everyone in the Morning.
Love,
"Beans"
