Blue Ridge Parkway-Little Sam Trail

We started and ended our hike at the parking lot of the Devils Courthouse on the Blue Ridge Parkway near mile marker 422.  

We may not have looked tired in this picture, but we were exhausted after hiking for almost five hours. The Devils Courthouse Trail is one mile to the top, but at 0.3 miles there a spur trail that goes to the left and takes you over the Blue Ridge Parkway on the top of Devils Courthouse Tunnel. Our plan was to climb the rest of the 0.2 miles on our return trip back, but exhaustion prevented us from doing so. 

Just before we reached our first trail junction with the Mountain-to-Sea Trail, we came to a huge patch of wild Blackberries. Unfortunately, they were not ripe for eating.

At times while on the Mountain-to-Sea Trail, our path took us through a narrow passage of armpit height undergrowth.

Gypsy and I are walking through the mountain jungle.

Going pass these yellow flowers we became mesmerized with a strong smell of butterscotch. If we had to guess what the name of these flowers was, I would say they are Buttercups.

A distant view of Mt Hardy.

After two miles of strenuous hiking, we took a break along this creek. 

Just before the junction with the Flat Laurel Creek Trail we maneuvered through this boulder garden with a high rock face to the left. We took another break here and ate some beef jerky while sitting upon the large stone you see on the right.

Some wild grass that reminded Aaron of wheat, They had heads of grain on their tops, and as you brushed past them it tickled your legs,

These mushrooms look like the pancakes Aaron cooked that sent the fire department to our house.



This hike became somewhat of a disappointment because we again failed to climb Sam Knob and didn't make it to the top of the Devils Courthouse either. We hiked every conceivable trail there was between the two elevations. What I thought to be a 4.2-mile excursion from mountain top to mountain top turned out to be much further. We walked close to 6 miles on trails that were rated strenuous, and it took much more time than I had allowed for considering we had other destinations to visit on this day. When we started our climb of Sam Knob, we asked people who were coming down how far it was to the top of the summit, and they said another half hour climb. That took the wind out of our sail knowing how far we had to walk back to the Jeep.