Day 5 - Wednesday, 9/21/16
Today would be another day of rest for the bikes.
Our plan today was to really put Paul's titanium knee joints to the test with a hike up Sharp Top Mountain.
And they weren't kidding.
We climbed and climbed and then just below the summit we encountered this.
Thankfully we hadn't been here a week ago!
Scattered along the trail we started encountering random items laying about.
And soon we started coming up on crews of young people in matching shirts all digging out boulders, hacking at tree roots and pulling up brush.
They were an Americorp crew stationed out of Asheville NC who were two days away from the end of an eight week assignment rehabbing the summit trail. They came from all over the country, all recent college grads, some adding to resumes and others taking a year off to decide what they wanted to do with the rest of their lives. They were busting their butts for almost no pay, and apparently loving every minute!
We finally made the summit and took in the 360 degree views
Which including our starting point on the lake shore.
And learned that the Virginia Stone in the Wasington Monument came from Sharp Top Mountain, once thought to be the "loftiest" point in the state.
While sitting enjoying the view, I took advantage of the strong cell signal provided by the altitude to finally post my Day 4 trip report.
We made our way back down, and landed at the BRP visitor center where we inquired about the closest gas station for the following morning. We were told that they had reports of many of the smaller stations in the area being out of gas due to the pipeline break and that we were better off hitting the larger stations on route 460. Then we checked out the gift shop next door. Seems the lodge has given up and finally embraced their acronym (and probably selling a lot more T-shirts as a result).
A quick stop in the restroom and more vintage bathroom fixtures.
These always take me back to my elementary school days and the awful smelling yellow soap the janitors used to fill them with.
From there we took the trail back to the lodge and discovered that in addition to the tunnels on the BRP, they also have tunnels that pass under them.
We enjoyed one final dinner in the dining room, and one more evening on our back deck watching the stars come out. All in all, the POO lodge and the Skyland Resort on Skyline Drive were very nice places to spend a few nights, get in a few hikes without having to ride to the trailhead, and best of all, the nightly rates during the off peak month of September are $100 a night less than during the summer and foliage seasons.
