Day 40 – Sharp Top Trail, Sharp Ridge Top Turns, Sharp Job on Urban Trailer Slalom – June 1, 2018

We woke this morning to blue skies and birds singing. It was time to explore the local area. We walked up toward the ranger entrance station and saw a sign pointing to a trail leading to the Sharp Top Store. It was about .4 mile away and when we got there, Karen found out there was a shuttle bus leaving in a few minutes for the top of Sharp Top Mountain. 

For six bucks, we got a one-way trip to the top. Karen had decided we’d walk back the 1.5 miles from the top. The old school bus shuttle barely made it up the very steep and very narrow road (built by the CCC in the 1930’s) and came close to scraping roadside rocks as we rounded the numerous hairpin turns.

At 3875 feet of elevation, Sharp Top Mountain was once believed to be the highest point in Virginia until surveys showed nearby Flat Top Mountain (how can this be?) was even higher at 4001 feet. The view from the top was a striking contrast to the past several days of fog and rain. 

Among our fellow shuttle bus riders was a young couple who were on their way to a shape note singing festival somewhere near Winchester, VA. Karen tried to coax them into singing a tune, but they said they really needed a couple more singers to make it sound right.

Although the return hike was all downhill, it was a very steep downhill. There were a few times during the hike when Karen was rethinking her decision, but overall it was a fun walk. 

She had my emergency whistle tucked into her pocket just in case we encountered a bear (the shuttle driver said a mother bear and her cubs had been spotted in the area recently) and we sang a few rounds of ‘Ninety-Nine Bottles of Beer on the Wall’ to warn any ursine inhabitants of our approach.

After loading up the Aliner, we went north on the Blue Ridge Parkway for about 80 miles. This part of the parkway is different from the section we’d been on earlier in NC. It still rode the ridge tops, but you could see out into the surrounding valleys and communities near the Shenandoah Valley. If all roads could be like the parkway, driving would always be a joy. 

There was almost no traffic, and the 45 mph speed limit makes it easy to take in the sights. However, with all the twists and turns, it takes a long time to travel 80 miles.

Once we left the parkway, we set a course for the big city, where Alison and Andrew awaited our arrival. Our job for the weekend is to take care of Molly the dog, while they go to NYC to visit a friend.

After a few hours on the interstate, we pulled into Friday evening traffic in Arlington. One more task awaited me: backing the Aliner into a narrow driveway from a busy rush-hour street. With Andrew and Alison directing traffic, we managed to get the trailer parked – most of the other drivers were pretty tolerant of the slight delay in their commutes, except for a surly pizza delivery guy. Dirty, smelly and somewhat unkempt, we’re ready for a few days of cleaning and reorganizing.

Next: Laundry, laundry, laundry…