Skyline Parkway part 2

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Such a peaceful little town was New Market even though I-81 buzzed along in the distance down the hill from the motel.Great breakfast including what has become a favourite,waffles with maple syrup !!
Kelly was without Regis this morning so she wasnt so interesting.She had her husband in replacement and he didnt have the same spark as Regis does(perhaps she married the wrong guy,although Regis was probably already married when their show started a few years ago)
Soon it was time to hit the road again and back to the Skyway.We planned a few walks for today and the first was at Stony Man cliffs which was a quiet stroll in the forest to a rock face.The trail led on up to the top of Stony Man but we had other trails to do so it was back to the car.Again we cut what was to be over an hour out in under 45 mins.
The road was very quiet and with the top speed supposed to be 35mph the scenery goes by at a very leisurely pace.There re pull offs every mile or so sometimes looking east and others facing west.After a while you get a bit choosy as when to pull off as many of the views are similar to the previous one because even though the gaps might have been a mile by road with all the corners you drive around the real distance as the crow flies between the pull offs is often not that much.
The next trail was the Limberlost.This was a bit of a dissapointment as it was all flat and not all that interesting without any views other than the trees we walked thru.The trail was a loop and we were soon back at the car and on the way.
Stop for lunch came at the Big Meadows where there is a ranger station.The weather was becoming warmer by the minute and we enjoyed a break sitting in the sun lunching on sandwiches and fruit plus the inevitable Herseys chocolate minis which have been a staple of lunch since day one of the journey.
Before stopping for lunch we had passed the trailhead to Dark Hollows so we went back and struck out to see the 70 feet waterfall.Like many views of waterfalls you usually have to go downhill to see the best view and this was no exception.There were heaps of people on this trail and on our way down we noted the brethlessness of those coming up.
The falls were OK but the lack of water probably made them less impressive than we might have expected.
The trip uphill wasnt too bad and I dont think we were puffing as much as the locals we had seen earlier and we even overtook some on the way up !!
The last walk planned was at BearFence Mountain.Now it did say there was a patch of rocks you had to get over or as the sign stated "rock scramble".We expected perhaps a rock slide to negotiate although a couple coming out as we entered warned of a greater challenge.As we considered ourselves intrepid hikers now we ploughed on ready for anything.
The first lot of rock was relatively easy to get thru but then the challenges went up a notch.Gretchens short legs made it more difficult for her but we pressed on.At one stage with an enormous boulder over 20 feet tall ahead we had to pick our way up and over using crevices to stick our feet and lift ourselves.
The final challenge was a sheer clift at least 70 feet down to the trees and a rock face to limb with few apparent handholds.So we succumbed at this point and headed back.
This was the most strenous climb we had had and were sorry we didnt quite make it.When we got back to the road we reread the sign with the map of the trail only to find that there was another way to the vantage point with the 360deg view and it wouldnt have involved the rock scamble!!! Too late our legs were tired and we needed to head on and get some accommodation for the night at Staunton about 12 miles from the park on I-81.
We headed on and soon the end of the parkway came into view so headed off to Staunton and the Microtel.
We needed a WalMart and there was one right next door.We made our own salad dinner tonight of lettuce,cucumber(which we hadnt had for ages)red onion and a seafood mix which was very tasty.The Turning Leaf wine was still on special was so brought up to keep us going for a night or two.

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Comments

[Leebee]

Great training for the Tongariro Crossing!!!