The Saturday of April 15, 2017, I took a hike on Grandfather Mountain. The goal was to enjoy the warm spring weather, see all the beautiful dogwoods and other flowering trees along the road and mingle with lots of other people on the trails. Today I saw an abnormally large number of really small children. Most were hiking bravely. A few were pouting and needing some parental encouragement. As usually happens, I got to play Ranger Bob by answering questions and giving trail directions to a couple from Ohio who were somewhat turned around and mostly lost.
My route took me from the Boone Fork Overlook on the Blue Ridge Parkway to the Tanawha Trail, then to Boone Scout trail towards Calloway Peak.
After ascending that trail, I came back to the parking lot, drove to the Rough Ridge Overlook and hiked the Tanawha Trail to Rough Ridge.
It was a nice day, not very sunny but quite warm. I had on my standard long sleeve shirt and pants, which were too much. Most other hikers had on short pants and shirts. If was a fine trip that ended at Woodlands Restaurant in Blowing Rock for a pulled pork barbecue supper.