McAffee Knob

“Almost heaven, West Virginia, Blue Ridge Mountains, Shenandoah River

Life is old there, older than the trees, younger than the mountains, growin' like a breeze

Country roads, take me home To the place I belong

West Virginia, mountain momma, Take me home, country roads”

I’m a sucker for the mountains- a complete sucker. Adrian proposed to me near the summit of Old Rag in the Shenandoah in April 2016. We then honeymooned in Lake Tahoe and hiked Mount Tallac in October 2017, and it only felt right to spend our first year anniversary on another mountain. This year we chose to hike McAffee knob near Roanoke, Virginia.

We decided to play this trip out the old fashioned way - a tent in the middle of the wilderness. We stayed at Explore Park Roanoke, which was absolutely awesome. Night one we set up camp and biked into town to explore some local breweries.

We woke up early Saturday in order to get to the trailhead parking lot before it got too crowded. Right across the parking lot is the trailhead for McAffee Knob, and we got going around 8am. Our hike to the Knob was wonderful. It is mostly dense wilderness but there is always an obvious trail. It was nice to see some Appalachian Trail thru-hikers and pause to think about what they must be going through. That would be a dream- although a very tough and challenging dream I am sure.

The Knob did not have as many people at the top as I would have thought. It was very peaceful, and it makes you remember how small we really are in this whole world.

Overall, this was an awesome hike, and a beautiful getaway.

Remember to love our Mother Earth - always. #appalachiantrail #mcaffeeknob #roanokeVa #virginiaisforlovers #optoutside