Loop
2.3 miles
Easy
Today, I took the boys to Julian Price Park to hike the Green Knob Loop Trail and spend the day in the park. We arrived at about 10:00 am. It was sunny and already quite warm. As we were getting our packs sorted out, Elijah announced that he had to poop. We were parked at an overlook on the Blue Ridge Parkway. There were no bathrooms there. I told him he would have to wait till we got into the woods.
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| From Green Knob Loop Trail |
I had intended to do the hike such that we climbed the big hill right off the bat and then the rest of the hike would be primarily down hill. However, having never been on this hike, I chose the wrong direction for my plan to be realized. As it turned out, it was a nice easy hike and probably was better in the direction we took.
We started by crossing a small bridge and the levy that creates Sim's Pond. We stopped on the far side to put Conner's boots on. He was in his Crocs. Not exactly suitable for hiking. Thankfully, his boots were in his pack so we didn't have to walk back to the car.
The first part of the hike was through thick rhododendron along a small creek.
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| From Green Knob Loop Trail |
There were several creek crossings that the boys thought were great. They excitedly jumped from rock to rock to stay out of the water.
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| From Green Knob Loop Trail |
Conner had a map of the trail and stopped to check it every five minutes to see how we were progressing.
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| From Green Knob Loop Trail |
After leaving the creek, the path climbed and descended over small hills and then down a large hill that put us walking under one of the Parkway bridges. It was about 75' above us and created a cool echo. Conner thought that was something special.
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| From Green Knob Loop Trail |
Shortly after the bridge, Elijah reminded me that he needed to poop. So we got a rock out of the creek (need a shovel) and dug a small hole. He squatted and pooped in the hole. Then we covered it up. So Elijah had his first poop in the woods.
Both boys thought it was great to drink out of their water bottles. Unfortunately, that meant stopping, digging out the bottles, drinking, then putting them back. Both boys, and daddy, need camel packs so they can drink while we walk.
After that, the hill climbed steadily for quite a long ways. Elijah's legs got tired and we had to stop at every bench so they could sit and rest. We came to a meadow that I thought was the top of the mountain. There were crab apple trees in the meadow. One of them had a bench under it, so of course, we had to stop and rest.
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| From Green Knob Loop Trail |
Then we started walking toward what I thought would be the summit on top of the meadow.
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| From Green Knob Loop Trail |
But we rounded a corner and the trail went up and up and up, back into the woods.
We were all hungry at this point and hoping for another bench where we could stop and eat. We walked and walked up that hill. Finally, near the actual top of the hill, we found a bench and stopped to eat Pringles and Pop Tarts. A nice family passed us while we ate. It was a man, his wife, and four girls of various ages. I didn't know whether to be happy for him or feel sorry for him. LOL
When we got to the top, we stopped for a picture of the boys on top of their first mountain. Hopefully their lives will be full of pictures on top of mountains they have climbed.
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| From Green Knob Loop Trail |
After that, the trail started down the hill. This is the hill I had intended to come up and it was a doozy. I reminded the boys to not run down the hill and taught them how to use their walking sticks to help keep their balance while going down. It was very steep.
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| From Green Knob Loop Trail |
Elijah fell once when he slipped on a root. It was his third fall of the day, but he never cried. Sometimes he's a tough guy.
It had clouded up, cooled off, and threatened to rain on us for most of the trail.
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| From Green Knob Loop Trail |
Toward the bottom of the hill, we came to another meadow and it started raining pretty steady. We got to the woods on the other side of the meadow just as it started raining hard. The walk through the rest of the woods was filled with dodging drips off the trees. By the time we made it to the parking area, it was raining buckets. We were all soaked by the time we got in the car and headed down to the park.
It took just over two hours to hike the 2.3 miles. That's pretty good considering this was the first time they've hiked on a real mountain trail. Plus, I walked in back and let them set the pace and stop to rest whenever they wanted to. Now I will know how long to plan for the hikes we make in the future... about 1 mile per hour.
We had planned to eat lunch as soon as we got to the park. But since it was raining, the boys played in the creek and then we played baseball in the grassy area near the parking lot. Then, since it was still raining lightly, we rode bikes in the rain. Waiting for it to stop so we could eat.
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| From Green Knob Loop Trail |
Finally, it stopped raining. We ate at a table next to the creek and listened to the thunder rolling through the mountains. It was very nice. The boys intermittently ate and played in the creek. When we were all satisfied, we decided to ride our bikes again.
We left the car in the picnic area and rode up the parkway about half a mile to the campground entrance. We rode through portions of the campground and then made our way to the boat dock where we rented a canoe and paddled around on the lake for about forty minutes. The boys thought it was cool to drag their paddles in the water and then their hands. The water was cool but not cold, and I'm sure it felt very good to them. For me though, it was like trying to paddle with anchors hanging over the side. :) Really, though, I didn't mind. I was glad they were having a good time.
Conner talked about jumping into the water. He said his life jacket would help him float. We decided that next time we go there, he's going to jump in and float. Then we can pull him back in the boat.
After paddling, we rode our bikes back to the park, ate again, played in the creek some more, and then loaded up and started home. After downing nearly a full bag of Doritos and drinking a good amount of Gatorade, Elijah fell sound asleep for the rest of the drive home. I woke him up when we pulled in the driveway. Conner lasted another ten minutes before falling asleep and dozed in and out most of the way home.
We got home about 6:30 pm. Both boys had a great day and want to go do it again tomorrow. : )
Pictures are at
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| Green Knob Loop Trail |
