Blue Ridge Country editor-in-chief 
Lower Hoop Hole and Roaring Run loops. 5.5 miles.
We were at Hoop Hole just a few weeks ago walking with grandson Matthew, and back again this week with the goal to cross son Eric and his son Aden as they walked in the opposite direction (clockwise, as the sign directs) on the lower loop.
Here's a measure of the coolness of the swimming hole near the top of the stream on that side of the loop: Even with an hour or more later start and both of them being good hikers, we made it up the "wrong" side, along the flat through the woods and had started down the far stream before we met them. Aden's hair was still wet, and the first thing he wanted to talk about was jumping off a big rock into a pool that was up to the top of his daddy's head.
