On Virginia 311.

This section of road crosses the AT (Appalachian Trail) or the AT crosses 311 either way I did some hiking today.

From the McAfee's Knob/Dragon's Tooth Trail head parking lot I went North on the AT to McAfee's Knob, well except I didn't make it to the Knob. I took the fireroads to be different and ended up higher on Catawba Mountain than the overlook at the knob. I went to where the huge powerlines cross the mountain and from there I had the most amazing view of the Roanoke Valley.

You can't tell from the clouds behind me but that is where I went up to. When I started the hike it was a sprinkle in the parking lot up there it was snowing heavy and when I got back to the parking lot it was still just sprinkling. What a difference 1500 feet can make.

Normally from the parking lot to the Knob it is a 3.5 mile hike but I went about a mile further so my GPS said I did 9.11 miles total.

I didn't bring anything to weather protect my camera so I left it in the car but if you would like to see what the view looks like in clear weather go here. http://www.roanoke.com/outdoors/hiking/wb/xp-42910

Click on the image in that link and it will bring up a Quicktime 360 degree view.