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!
Appalachian Trail from Va. 311 beyond McAfee Knob to Campbell Shelter and back. 8.8 miles.The deal with The Day Hiker on this cold day was to walk to McAfee Knob and then, assuming it really was too windy and uncomfortable up there, walk on the additional .7 miles to Campbell Shelter and build a fire for lunch.
And while there were momentary considerations during the warming walk of the climb, there was also the immediate decision to walk on once we took in the beautiful views from the knob.
Chestnut Ridge Loop Trail near Roanoke Mountain. 5.4 miles.
This easy, convenient-to- Roanoke walk is just off the Blue Ridge Parkway spur to Mill Mountain. It's also a pleasant trek, with little peaks into South Roanoke and Southeast Roanoke, with semi-s...
Sprouts Run/Wilson Mountain Trails loop. 8 mil es.
This pretty hike seems to remain largely a secret, though on this day it was evident that maintenance had been done, from the cutting of fallen trees to the trimming of trail-encroaching weeds.
But peru...
Maryland Appalachian Trail section from U.S. 40 north to Pogo Campsite with side trail to Annapolis Rocks and back. 8 miles.
As part of a trip to Baltimore to visit my brother Eric and attend the [Impossible Number] reunion of my high school class, we...
Urban walk from home in Southwest Roanoke to Franklin Road business strip into South Roanoke and back home. About 6 miles.
With a weekend full of good commitments (Virginia Tech's amazin' football win, lots of home fixes and clean-ups and a trip to th...
Andy Lane and Appalachian trails up and back to Tinker Cliffs area. 7.4 miles.
The Greatest Day Hiker Of Them All proves herself as such anew now and again, as in suggesting the hard climb up the Andy Lane Trail and the Appalachian Trail to Tinker Cli...
From Blue Ridge Parkway Sunset Fields Overlook: Unnamed forest road to Glenwood Horse Trail [pdf of trail information here ] to another forest road to Appalachian Trail loop. 10.8
Not The Day Hiker's favorite walk, this.
Though it seemed at the planning ...
