The Third Day - Along The Blue Ridge Parkway

A view of the Parkway.

I'd never seen a fence constructed like this.

At one of the many pull offs along the road, there is a bit of narrow gauge railroad laid down along with a sign talking about the railroad and timber industry in the area.

A short walk up the hill past the tracks is a waterfall.

I was amused by this sign.

The Third Day - Sherando Lake

Despite the fact that I thought the weather was going to break when the sun started shining the evening before, I awoke to a grey, dreary day. Even so, I explored the park a bit. The day use area of the park was just as nice as the campground.




Sherando Lake

The spill way over the dam.

A view of the day use area.

The bathhouse in the day use area.

Part of the Sherando Lake day use area

The Second Day - The Blue Ridge Parkway

The stats for the Blue Ridge Parkway.

This is at the first visitor center coming from the north. There is a farmstead set up to show you what a typical place might have looked like in the area.

This was a storm cell that was moving across the valley. I decided that if it cleared up afterwards, I'd set up camp rather than head back to town for a room.

Camp sweet camp. After the storm it cleared up nicely and I stayed at a State Park in Virginia. It is not only the nicest State Park campground I have ever stayed at, it is the nicest campground I've ever visited. Unfortunately, it started raining in the middle of the night again.

The Second Day - South end of Skyline Drive

This is Massanutten Mountain which runs down the center of the Shenandoah Valley.

Just some statistics regarding Skyline Drive.

The Second Day - Big Meadows

I had hoped to reach Big Meadows about halfway through Skyline Drive on the first day. I didn't make it that far. I did get there about 10 in the morning on the second day though. I went for a interpretive tour with a ranger and then wandered around the meadow for a bit. After that, I took a walk through the woods.


The visitor center at Big Meadows from the meadow.

Shots from the meadow.

They burn 1/3 of the meadow every year to keep it from becoming overgrown with brambles. This is a section that was burned about a month before I got there.

The path leading from the campground and lodge to the visitor center.

The Second Day, part 2

After a bit the weather started to clear.

At one of the many turnouts along the road.

Random stops along the way

The Second Day

The next day started off pretty overcast. The clouds were low and you couldn't see the tops of the mountains.

Starting up Skyline Drive.

A couple of miles up the road at a visitor center.

Skyline Drive

Skyline Drive

Along Skyline Drive