AT Day 37: Virginia Creeper Trail

Daily Miles: 19.7, Total Miles: 490.4

I opted to forego another big breakfast in order to get some miles in before expected rain in the afternoon.

Once I got up and out of Damascus, I dropped down to the Virginia Creeper Trail along Whitetop Laurel Creek. I followed it for several miles on a gentle uphill gradient, sharing the trail with a few cyclists coming downhill.

A very pleasant hike on the old Carolina-Virginia railroad bed which also goes through Damascus and stretches for 35 miles. The creek was running quite high from recent rain but apparently has good trout fishing. Virginia Creeper is a woody climbing plant of the grapevine family. It attaches itself to nearby trees and can climb upwards of 50 ft.

The AT turned away from the Virginia Creeper Trail just past the long Laurel Creek Bridge. I began a climb up through the Jefferson National Forest to Beech Mountain. It started to rain harder so I found a small tent site on the hillside. A bit of a slope but will have to do.

I saw my first wildlife in some time – I met a turtle in the middle of the AT hiking southbound.