Edit 11/9/2008: For a McAfee Knob write up, free trail maps, and GDB files for your GPS go to hikingupward.

This is our first posting for Fratri Errabundus so forgive us if our initial posting looks a little amateurish, we are still figuring out WordPress.  We have heard many great things about posting Blogs on this site so we wanted to give it a try and as we post more we will become more acquainted with all of the various features. In the meantime we thought we would start with one of our hikes we did back in November 2007.

If you are looking for some of the best views in Virginia you need to head to Catawba, Virginia near Roanoke to hike McAfee Knob. This is one of the most photographed places on the Appalachian Trail in Virginia. We parked at the AT Parking Lot on Route 311. From the parking lot to McAfee Knob is about 3.5 miles and is not too strenuous. What is amazing are the views you have of the Catawba Valley and if you have really good eyes you can see all the way over to Tinker Cliffs, another great hike worth doing that can be reached via the Andy Layne Trail and part of the A.T.

As you can tell from the next photo you get a sense of how McAfee Knob seems to just jut out into thin air. It was a little windy this day at the top and I certainly don’t recommend getting as close as I did to the edge.  There was something exhilarating about being near the edge, although some of my more level headed friends and family would have used the term “idiotic”.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We had plenty of time to relax at the top, have lunch, and just spend a few moments reflecting on God’s beauty and what a gift that is to us. Due to the constant hustle in most of our lives we don’t often get these type of opportunities to relax for a few minutes, thank God for all our blessings, and to be with friends without the distractions of our every day world (TV, cell phones, computer, etc.).

We hope that with some of our photos, quotes, musings, you may get the urge to get out and explore some trails that quite frankly are in our own backyard.  

“We live in a fast-paced society.  Walking slows us down.”  ~Robert Sweetgall

Please feel free to view additional photos of our hike to McAfee Knob.