Hi world! Chris here. I decided to skip out on doing a Redhead Reviews this week because I was going through some old pictures to make a collage of my years at college and I came across all the pictures I took hiking this summer. Instead of going on an actual vacation (you know, because of the pandemic and what not) my parents and I just went hiking on a couple different trails through the Blue Ridge Parkway. Looking over them put me in the mood to make a blog post and I’m also about to go hiking this weekend so I’ve really just got it on the brain.

Anyways, the Blue Ridge Parkway is about 470 miles of road that cuts through the Appalachian Mountains in both North Carolina and Virginia. Along the the way, cars can stop at several overlooks to take in the view, but there are also over 100 hiking trails to explore for those that want to do a bit more than drive.

Obviously we did not go on every single trail, but we managed to get in quite a few in the two or so days we were there. At the time I was pretty bitter over the fact that my study abroad trip to Europe had been canceled (thanks Covid), but even I had a great time getting to see so many new places in nature. It was just an added bonus that most of the trails ended in a waterfall or a river making for some pretty great photos.

I hope you enjoy looking at them just as much as I enjoyed taking them. Who knows, maybe they’ll even inspire you to go outside for a bit and enjoy some of God’s handiwork for yourself.

Side Note: I will be updating this post at some point this week to include the trail names and mileposts too. Right now, I just wanted to get this up before my other daily obligations require my attention. Sorry about the delay.

Trail #1

While most of these trails aren’t in order, this actually was the very first one we tried out. It was also probably the easiest, but it still offered a lovely view of the other mountains. We even saw a deer!

Trail #2

This trail was another easy one but it offered plenty of shade to keep the air cool while we walked. It was slightly more busy than some of the others, but we were still able to get our own platform to view the waterfall and we found plenty of empty space along the bank of the creek so we could be by the water.

I love the look of these natural styled stairs. They remind me of a fairytale or maybe The Chronicles of Narnia because my siblings and I were obsessed with those movies when we were younger.

Trail #3

This was one of the harder trails that we did simply because it was so long. We went through some pretty dense forests, traveled under the road, strolled into cow pasture, and waded by a small swamp that was only present from the recent rainfall. But amidst it all, this spot was my favorite. It gives off such an air of peace and tranquility. I imagine someone coming to sit here and write in a journal or just contemplate their own thoughts. I like it.

Trail #4

This was another easy and well populated trail. I even got to pet someone’s dog because they were walking it down to see the waterfall. That simple encounter is enough to put this high on my list.

Trail #5

This trail and this tree are the exact reason we came hiking. I saw a picture of this “dragon tree” online, so when I found out it actually grew rather close to me, I had to go see it.

Once again, I am reminded of a fairytale as I think of all the cool legends that could be told to account for the formation of this tree. I almost came up with one myself when I was writing poems for my poetry class this semester. Perhaps I still will. I have a niece on the way (the first baby from any of my siblings and I’m so excited) and I would love to be able to tell her stories and give her the freedom to think and imagine just like I did as a kid.

The end of the trail was also really cool as it offered different pools to swim in from the multiple levels of the waterfall. My dad and I climbed up the rocks to get to the very top, but none of us brought extra clothes to swim in. It was still nice just to look though.

Trail #6

Story time! There were actually two trails at this particular stop and one was short and lead us to the lovely waterfall depicted below, but the other one was long and winding and had become so overgrown that we actually mistook a trail made by run-off for the actual trail and started walking along that instead. For a good long while, we were struggling through some pretty dense undergrowth just trying to find our way back to the start. While we made it eventually, we did have to hop a fence to do so which is how we knew we had wandered off the proper course in the first place.

Once again, my dad and I decided to take our own little trip along the rocks and we found some kind of trout hiding along the shore!

Overlooks

Like I mentioned before, there are plenty of overlooks to park at along the Blue Ridge Parkway. Here are the views from just a few of them I wanted to throw in!

Sorry for such a long post, but I hope it was worth your time to stop and take in some of the pictures. If you have even more time, I recommend going along some of these hikes yourself. With a lot of activities and events still unavailable because of the pandemic, getting outside is a great option to replace them. I saw plenty of other hikers wearing masks and we always tried to step to the side to let people pass so we weren’t all close to one another. Plus, these views look a lot better in person than they do on a screen.

Maybe it can be one of your New Years resolutions!

Either way, I hope you’re all doing well and that you had a great holiday this year! Here’s hoping 2021 decides not to take after 2020 and instead brings only good things. I guess we’ll see the beginning of that next week.

Until then, stay safe out there!