Stay calm and creep on
Two years in a row — for this Hendershot family that’s like a tradition. We pedaled the Virginia Creeper Trail again this year for my bride’s birthday. We did it last year and you can read about it here: www.smokymountainnews.com/archives/item/18877-creep-on.
The Creeper trail is cool. It’s 34 miles long and runs — top to bottom — from just inside North Carolina near Whitetop Station to Abingdon, Va. It follows the bed of the Virginia-Carolina Railroad from Abingdon to Whitetop. We did the most popular section last year — the 17-mile descent from Whitetop to Damascus. Don’t let the 17 miles fool you; all you need to know is how to sit on a bike without falling off and where the brakes are. But the ride is gorgeous; most of it follows Whitetop Laurel Creek through the Mount Rogers National Recreation Area.
This year we decided to try something different — like actually pedaling — and to see a different part of the trail. We had tried to do a bit of the lower trail between Abingdon and Damascus years ago when Izzy was just big enough to pedal and Maddie was still in a stroller. We rented a stroller for Maddie, to tow behind one of our bikes, but Maddie was having no part of it. So Denise and Izzy rode and I strapped Maddie in our auto and we tried to catch them at different intersections. This was quite a “throw-back” adventure in its own right — using maps and estimating time of travel to try and coordinate meet-ups.
But the thing that registered most deeply with Denise was the beauty of the rolling Virginia farmlands they pedaled through. So this year we arranged for our shuttle — Blue Blaze — to drop us at Old Alvarado Station and we would pedal back to Damascus. Old Alvarado is eight miles from Damascus and about halfway between Abingdon and Damascus.
OK so I know you bikers out there are going — an eight-mile bike ride, that’s half an hour. But our buildup to the Creeper every year is a week we spend on Isle of Palms where we do a 3-mile loop once or twice a day for a week. I’ve learned in my short tenure in this life that an exercise that turns out easier than anticipated gets a much more favorable review than an exercise that was harder than anticipated. So, confident that we could do the eight miles back to Damascus, without calling search and rescue, I scheduled our shuttle.
When we got to Alvarado Station, Denise says. “Oh, I remember this,” and starts detailing the trip long ago with Izzy. It’s Mom’s birthday and she’s pretty convincing so we follow along.
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Guess what? She’s right. Less than two miles back towards Abingdon we crossed a bridge at the confluence of the south and middle forks of the Holston River and dived into the rolling farmlands Denise remembered. It was bucolic. We rode on a little enjoying the scenery — but then nervous about our now nearly 10-mile ride back to Damascus turned around.
We were in no hurry, had packed water and snacks and enjoyed a leisurely ride back to Damascus. Maybe it was too easy? We are considering going all the way from Abingdon to Damascus next year? But we’ve also heard of a “Galax Trail” in Virginia that might require some research.
(Don Hendershot is a naturalist and a writer who lives in Haywood County. He can be reached at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.)
