Photo atop Mt. Pleasant looking southwest toward the Peaks of Otter by Ken Knott.
Blue Ridge Country editor-in-chief Kurt Rheinheimer and his wife Gail woke up on Valentine's Day in 2004 looking to do something a little different in recognition of the occasion.
Since then, Kurt and Gail have hiked at least once every weekend for more than six years. Of those 300-plus weekends, they have missed 14, virtually all due to occasional balkiness from Kurt's old-man knees or achilles. For the first two years (Valentine's Day 2004 through Valentine's Day 2006) they didn't miss a single week. They completed the 546 miles of the Appalachian Trail in Virginia in the summer of 2008, and have walked more than 3,000 miles total, mostly in Virginia but including hikes in West Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Texas, Florida, Oregon and ... New Zealand!
Pinnacles of Dan up and back (?). About 5 miles.
After we climbed Grandfather Mountain a couple of years back and found it to be as difficult as anything we'd done, we put out a call, in Blue Ridge Country magazine, for views from hikers on if there were rougher trails in the Blue Ridge region.
Six-time Appalachian Trail thru-hiker and guidebook author Leonard Adkins suggested the Pinnacles of Dan as a particularly tough hike.
Cornelius Creek Trail to Appalachian Trail to Cornelius Creek Shelter and back. 9.2 miles.
We were headed toward Black Rock for lunch when we set out on this threatening day – about a mile short of where we ended up.
And things looked just fine until soo...
Henry Lanum and Mount Pleasant Trails loop. 7.2 miles.
It had been too long since we did this wonderful walk, as we more often chose the other one from the trailhead in the Mount Pleasant National Scenic Area, which takes you over the bald on Cold Mou...
From Blue Ridge Parkway at FR 191 (Salt Pond Road) to Appalachian Trail north to Wilson Creek and back. 7.6 miles.
This relatively easy, convenient-to- Roanoke walk offers pleasant walking, with a bit of up and down thrown in to keep it interesting.
Appalachian Trail from Va. 311 to McAfee Knob and back down, using the forest road from about 2 miles out. About 7 miles.
With sons David and Adam deciding to walk and run-some-too on a nine-plus-mile outing up the Andy Lane Trail to Scorched Earth Ga...
Appalachian Trail from Va. 311 to McAfee Knob, back via AT and forest road. About 7 miles.
We learned something brand new and sort of dangerous-to-real-hiking on our way back down from lunch on McAfee Knob on this afternoon punctuated by occasional mild...
Old Hotel Trail to Appalachian Trail ; AT south to Bald Knob, then back north to Hog Camp Gap. 7.7 miles.
There's probably no hike we enjoy more than this loop in the Mt. Pleasant National Scenic Area , and on this day, the added spur to the top of Bald ...
