Summer Vacay: Knob #1

8/7/23-8/13/23

I have two criteria when deciding on a summer vacation. First, it should be somewhere cool, both in temperature and WOW factor. Second, it must keep my husband happy.  And my husband has his own criteria: it shouldn’t be too far away (due to rising gas prices and a motor home that only gets 10.5 miles to the gallon), we shouldn’t drive more than four hours each day, and we should spend several days at each location.

On the road, with Dog as our Co-pilot.

With this in mind, I searched the map until I found Spruce Knob in West Virginia. It checked my first box with an average August high of 70° and low of 50° and it was the highest peak in West Virginia with lots of trails nearby. More important, it would keep hubby happy since it was only a little over eight hours away, making it easy to travel to in two days. And to top it off, since it was a National Forest campground, it only cost $8 a night with my Senior Lifetime Pass! Spruce Knob became our final destination.

After “moochdocking” at our daughter’s house in Charlotte, we drove on to our first stop: Rocky Knob Campground on the Blue Ridge Parkway in Virginia. I was a little concerned because a) we didn’t have reservations, and b) it was our first attempt at boondocking. I shouldn’t have worried on either account.  Rocky Knob had over 100 campsites, but only about five were occupied when we arrived. We drove around a couple of times and finally chose Site T11. The campground host lit up when we told him our site number: apparently it was the most popular site in the campground (mostly because it was the only one with a little bit of cell service)! And we needn’t have worried about lack of amenities: we had a full tank of drinking water, a gas stove, and battery power for lights and charging our almost-useless cell phones. The campground even had flush toilets and a dump station. At $10 a night with my Parks Pass, we were sitting pretty.

Shhh…don’t tell everyone, but T11 is the best site at Rocky Knob!

And it was a beautiful place. I couldn’t wait to start exploring. The dogs, hubby, and I set off on a trail that took us through a hilly meadow inhabited by curious cows and to the Rocky Knob shelter and overlook on the Appalachian Trail.  I had a great time stretching my legs in this beautiful country; Brian not so much. He hobbled for days afterwards—bad knees and elevation changes don’t mix.

Meet Mario, my willing photographic subject

The next day we drove to Mount Airy, NC to visit my childhood friend Karen. Karen was the perfect hostess, showing us around their wooded acreage, feeding us a delicious lunch, and then touring us through the town of Mount Airy, home to Andy Griffith.  It was fun seeing all the “Mayberry” references, but I was most intrigued by The Rock, billed as the world’s largest open-faced granite quarry.  That is, I was intrigued until we were chased off by two employees who told us we were trespassing. (A sign at the entrance said otherwise, but we were in no position to argue.)  Our last stop and a must-stop for any visitor was at the Renfro Sock Outlet in downtown. This was a true outlet, with most of the socks selling for $2.  I ended up with almost 30 pairs and a good part of my Christmas shopping done!

Otis’s cell

Andy’s desk

The only shot I got of the quarry, taken just as we were being ousted.

Our last full day at Rocky Knob found me solo hiking the Rock Castle Gorge Trail. I was a bit skittish since this was my first long hike since I hurt my knee four months prior and there were numerous signs reminding me to be “Bear Aware”, but the hike went smoothly.  Named for the quartz crystals that were plentiful here during the time of European settlement that resembled the stone castles of England, Rock Castle Creek has cut a steep and narrow gorge into the Blue Ridge Escarpment.  Looking back on this hike, I’m not sure why I thought that this drop of 1500 feet would be a good test of my knee!

Down into the gorge and then back up, I took it slowly and carefully, singing lots of loud boisterous and off-key songs that kept all the bears away as well as any other hikers. 

The only critter track I found: elk? or maybe just cow.

I was rewarded for my courage/naivety/lunacy by two new-to-me types of fungi.  The bright yellow cluster of finger-like fungus had me scrambling to open my Seek app: Clavulinopsis fusiformis, aka golden spindles, spindle-shaped yellow coral, or spindle-shaped fairy club.

Not too far away, I found another species of fungus that needed no Seek validation: the aptly named Dead man’s fingers!  I had seen photos of this unusual fungus, but had never seen it “live.”   Apparently Xylaria polymorpha is edible if harvested when young, but no thanks.  It reminds me too vividly of the Sourtoe Cocktail of Yukon fame.

At the bottom of the gorge, I found myself on a dirt road that ran parallel to the creek.  At the end of the road, deep inside the Rock Castle Gorge Recreation Area, stood an old barn and a well-maintained two-story house.  No vehicles or evidence of anyone around—a mystery until later research uncovered the story.  This was a privately-owned section of the gorge acquired by the Conner family in the late 1880s.  The house was built in 1916 and then sold in 1954 to John Austin, hence the name: the Austin-Conner House.  Still privately owned, it occasionally is the gathering place for the family.  My guess is that is doesn’t get good cell reception.

The House in the Middle of Nowhere

Heading back up the gorge, I came upon an old chimney.  In my mind, I rebuilt the house around that chimney, adding smoke and the sound of chopping wood and squawk of chickens.  Here in this isolated hillside lived a family, eking out a living with a small plot of land.  Today, the chimney stands alone.

Remnants of an old apple orchard

After 12 miles of hiking, I had just enough energy to drive with my ever-patient husband down the Parkway to Mabry Mills, a popular attraction with exhibits describing life in rural Virginia.  This area looks much different than it did back when the mill was the focal point of the community.  That way of life is long gone.  I can only hope that the grit and determination and ingenuity of these folks is still alive today.

Tomorrow we’d head to our second “knob”: Spruce Knob in West Virginia.