Monday — never an easy time for the outdoors enthusiast. After a weekend of adventure, returning to the humdrum work-a-day world can make one melancholy. To help ease the transition, every Monday we feature a 90 Second Escape — essentially, a 90-second video or slide show of a place you’d probably rather be: a trail, a park, a greenway, a lake … anywhere as long as it’s not under a fluorescent bulb.
Today’s 90-Second Escape: Escape on the AT
Two years ago, I needed a quick weekend backpack escape. I got out a map and protractor and discovered that I could get to the Appalachian Trail in Virginia is just over three hours. The stretch I hiked was from an access just north of the James River, off VA 812, north to the Punch Bowl Mountain Overlook on the Blue Ridge Parkway, for a total out-and-back distance of just under 20 miles.
I was so smitten by the hike that I added it to this year’s GetHiking! Southeast’s Classic Hikes lineup. We will hike this stretch — one way, from Punch Bowl to VA 812 — this Saturday.
Here’s a peek at my trip two years ago. For more information on Saturday’s hike, visit our GetHiking! page, here.
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