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!
Mt. Pleasant National Scenic Area: Henry Lanum/Mountain Pleasant loop. 7.2 miles.
The only drawback about picking this loop in the Mt. Pleasant Scenic Area is that unless you want to get really ambitious, you don't get to do the equally cool Old Hotel/Appalachian Trail loop over Cold Mountain.
Carvins Cove: Up the HiDeeHo Trail and along Brushy Mountain Trail and back. 6 miles.
A rainy day and a spur-of-the-moment turn led us to the nearly empty Carvins Cove parking lot at the base of Brushy Mountain.
A few drizzles as we got out of the car le...
Appalachian Trail along Brown Mountain Creek from U.S. 60 out and back. 5.6 miles.
This short section has long been a favorite of The Day Hiker, for its creekside walk, its freedmen settlement history and above all for the short-walk lunch spot at a s...
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 ...
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Four days of hikes: Crabtree Falls , AT , Shenandoah National Park . About 36 miles total.
On all of our hikes over the five and a half years, it's been my habit to gauge the walking pace of The Greatest Day Hiker Of Them All early on and then pro...
FR 59 to Cornelius Creek Trail to Appalachian Trail to Black Rock; AT to Apple Orchard Falls Trail to FR 59. 10.5 miles.
The heavy storms of mid-week apparently reached deep into the national forest as well as more urban areas, as about a mile shy of the ...
War Spur Trail, War Branch Trail, Appalachian Trail , Va. 613 loop. 8 miles.
This great loop hike in the Mountain Lake Wilderness is nearly as rich and varied in terrain and vegetation as the Rock Castle Gorge loop off the Blue Ridge Parkway , but without t...
