Whiskeytown-Trinity-Shasta

I woke up this morning wanting to rip someone's face off. I needed to exercise. This sitting in a car thing is killing me, and unless I'm hiking 15 miles a day I'm not gonna keep the crazy away. Luckily, the hotel Siena Spa and Casino (Reno, NV) where we stayed last night had a gym, which had a treadmill. I jogged out the demons for about 30 minutes before heading to breakfast. I should be good for a few hours.

We've spent a lot of time focusing on logistics the past two days, but we finally have a new plan in place. We're heading back down South to National Park hop our way through Utah and across southern Colorado. But before we left the evergreen trees of beautiful Northern California we spent the night in Trinity-Shasta National Forest with the hope of getting some better views of Mt. Shasta. I say hope because a storm was rolling in, smothering Mt. Shasta in a swirl of grey and white.

Redding, CA

There is no National Park in Redding, CA, I know. We took a slight detour. We were actually on our way to Lassen Volcanic NP only to realize 1.5 hrs before our arrival that the main road through the park was closed and so were all the campgrounds. We've grown so accustomed to summer weather (by Boone standards) that we didn't really consider that winter, unfortunately, is still upon Northern California and the Pacific Northwest. Unfortunately this means no Crater Lake, Yellowstone, or Grand Tetons which is a little disappointing, however, it just means we need to stick to the southerly route on the way back to North Carolina.

A Day Along the Parkway: Cascade Falls & Mabry Mill

After two weeks of non-stop work and workouts, we decided to take a leisurely drive along the Blue Ridge Parkway. During a last minute decision making process we both realized that we always drive South on the parkway toward Asheville, but we've never driven North. Not sure why that is, but today we headed north, with dogs in tow,  toward Virginia with no particular destination in mind.



Our first spontaneous stop was at E.B. Jeffress Park (mile post 271.9) where we accessed the Cascade Falls Trail. This short, easy, one-mile interpretive trail follows a well-maintained gravel path through a hardwood forest, and down a short series of stone steps to view the falls from both the top (looking down the falls) and the bottom (looking up the falls).

Cascade Falls Trailhead

View of Cascade Falls

On the way back up, we passed a beautiful fire pink and a huge (5ft. tall) Solomon Seal.

Next, we made our way North to Mabry Mils (milepost 176.2) to visit the most photographed site.  This stop is an interpretive site featuring one of the most complex water flumes for its time. The gristmill is in its original location (unlike many structures along the parkway that have been relocated), and also features a blacksmith shop and saw mill. Unfortunately, it's still early in the season and interpretive programs are not yet available during weekdays.

After walking around the mill and relaxing with the dogs, it was nearing dinner time. There is a restaurant located in the Mills visitors shop, but we wanted to venture out to find some local fare. The ladies at the information desk offered up many suggestions for places to eat in Floyd (VA 8, milepost 165.3), 11 miles north along the Parkway, then five miles to Floyd once exiting. We chose to eat at a new restaurant called the The Artist's Table, which serves local, organic food. This place was such a great find and certainly worth the extra 15-mile drive! We got to eat outside on the porch with the dogs, the staff were incredibly nice, and food was amazing! We'll definitely be going back.

(Clockwise: Dudley, Hershey, Jasmine, Dinner, Dessert  Photo courtesy of Cori Holladay)

Linville Falls: Basin Plunge & Gorge Trails

Trail Mileage: 1.8 miles total (Gorge Trail + Basin Plunge Trail Combined)

Trail Location: All of the Linville Falls trails can be reached from the Blue Ridge Parkway, mile post 316. From November - April when the parkway tends to be closed, the falls can be reached from an alternate parking area off of NC 183 that remains open year round, however, the forest service roads and parking lot are not plowed in the winter.  From the visitor center, the Gorge and Basin Plunge trails are to the left and are more difficult then the other set of trails that leaves from the visitor center and to the right (Upper Falls, Chimney View, and Erwin View trails).

When we arrived at the visitor center it was nearing the end of the day, and I was hungry for dinner so we kept our time at the falls fairly short, choosing to hike only the Gorge and Basin Plunge overlook trails. As we headed up the trail, the Gorge trail is just past the Duggers Creek loop entrance. We forked left and descended a steep 0.4 miles down to the river where we were rewarded with a river front view of the Falls. 

Crabtree Falls

Trail Mileage: 2.5 miles, loop trail
Elevation Gain: 627 ft.
Elevation Loss: 574 ft.

Location: Crabtree Falls is located off the Blue Ridge Parkway at milepost 339.5

Crabtree Falls Trail

Crabtree Fall Trail Profile