A Tuesday Adventure

Well, I know most of y'all were probably working today, so the Food Guy and I want you to know that we were out adventuring for all of you who are stuck working somewhere. It's a tough life we lead here in Boone, but we are willing to take one for the team and make sure that the trails and boulderfields don't feel neglected during the week.

The Food Guy's buddy Steven made the trip up here from Athens yesterday to do some climbing. It rained most of the day, so we had to drop back, punt, and think of an alternative plan. We went to a cool overlook called Howard's Knob and then went for a run/hike on the trails at the local greenway. The weather gods smiled upon us last night and in the am; there was a break in the rain long enough for the rocks at the Blowing Rock Boulders to dry out. We jumped on the opportunity, skipped watching Le Tour this am (don't worry we'll watch tonight-- my nickname isn't Maillot Dog for nothing), and jumped in the mobile dog house and headed out to the boulderfield.

We were pleasantly surprised to find some relatively dry boulders and the Food Guy and Steven managed to knock out a couple of problems at two of the main boulders before it looked like the rain was about to start up again. Check out Steven and his fancy red shoes climbing away:

I had a lot of fun running around, smelling all the cool stuff out there, and taking naps next to the crash pad.

After we left the boulders, we decided to drive up the Parkway to the Linn Cove Viaduct. This place is really cool. It's a place on the Blue Ridge Parkway where they used 8 huge sections of concrete to build the road over the side of the mountain. They used a giant crane to set each section, so the huge boulders and rock formations wouldn't be disturbed. The view is out of this world.

There is a great trail called the Tanawha Trail that runs along the Parkway and under the Viaduct. It's a 13.5 mile trail that is just begging for the Food Guy and me to run it. The mountain laurel, Rhodie, and other native plant life are really impressive.

There are also some really cool boulders on the side of the trail that you can climb out on to get a great view of the area from. You can also find some sketchy trees along the trail to climb around on if you are feeling like climbing on rocks isn't enough for you. Check out Steven showing off his tree climbing skills:

All in all, it wasn't the worst Tuesday a Yellow Dog can have. I'm pretty tired right now. I'm slowing working my way back into active dog shape. The 5 miles we put in yesterday were my longest effort after my lake vacation, so I'm a little whooped after today's adventure. I'm sure the Food Guy will find some more cool stuff for us to get into tomorrow. Wednesdays need adventuring too, right? He needs to go into the office for a bit, but I doubt that will keep us from doing something cool. Stay tuned.