Tales From The Creeper Trail

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Paula I. Bryant

Written by Paula I. Bryant

08:28 am 06/23/10

Doug and Vickie Poole of South Boston recently took their great-nieces to the Virginia Creeper Trail, a trail that stretches from Abingdon through Damascus to the N.C. State Line near Whitetop. The Virginia Creeper Trail is open to hiking, mountain biking and horseback riding.

The Poole’s great-nieces were so proud of themselves for biking the entire 17-mile stretch that great-aunt Vickie told them she would put something in the newspaper about them.

So this week, we offer this column space to Vickie to fill with interesting adventures and tales from the Creeper Trail.

During the weekend of June 11-13, Destiny and Danielle Gilbert traveled through the beautiful countryside of Virginia and North Carolina for a weekend of adventure and fun. They left their home in Omega with their uncle and aunt, Doug and Vickie Poole, headed to Piney Creek, N.C. where they set up camp at River Camp USA Campground right beside the rippling waters of the New River.

After getting their camper all situated, their uncle rented a canoe, and they were taken up the river and dropped off to come down the New River.

While canoeing, they experienced the thrill of gliding through Class I and Class II rapids, which proved to be very exciting to them. This was their “first time ever” getting to ride in a canoe.

During their trip down the river they saw several flocks of Canada geese in the water. They got to see the mature geese, some “teenager” geese, and even some baby geese. They also discovered some snails on the rocks beneath the flowing water of the river. Thankfully, they made the entire two-hour river ride without turning over the canoe.

On Saturday morning they started their day with a great breakfast of eggs, bacon, toast and of course, Grandma Etta’s jelly. After breakfast, they assisted with getting their bikes loaded up to head to the Virginia Creeper Trail for an adventure down the 17-mile trail.

They rode through miles and miles of very, very crooked roads to get to the drop-off site of Whitetop Mountain.

Uncle Doug and Cousin Kevin unloaded all of the bikes, and then they had to travel to the end of the trail at Damascus to leave a pick-up vehicle.

While they made this trip, Destiny and Danielle waited with their aunt and little cousin, Jackson, watching as over 300 bikers started their trek along the trail.

Suddenly, the wind began to blow, and clouds started to roll in, and before they could barely get on their rain ponchos, it started to rain…it was a storm with thunder and lightning. With the only cover to get under being a toilet station, it got crammed full very quickly.

So, Destiny, Danielle, Jackson, and Aunt Vickie huddled together behind a bench. Jackson was not very happy about the storm at all being his first time getting caught in a storm, and it was very frightening to him.

Danielle and Destiny acted very brave, even though they too were a little scared, but they could see that their Aunt Vickie had her hands full with the very frightened 3-year-old Jackson.

As the storm let up a little, some of the people left the cover of the toilet station, so Destiny, Danielle, Jackson and Aunt Vickie ran over to it. The security of this little building eased Jackson, and he calmed down. And, with the return of his father, Kevin, he was OK.

As the rain just about stopped, the anxious bikers got on their rides to head down the Virginia Creeper Trail. Unfortunately, Kevin’s chain broke, so he and Jackson were unable to make the trip down the trail. They took some little hikes, had some snacks, and played while they waited for the rest of the group to return.

The entire Virginia Creeper Trail was created on an old railroad bed of the Virginia-Carolina Railroad. It has a gentle descending grade making it a perfect trail for most bikers. The trail took them through some beautiful mountainous scenery with a mountain creek following the entire section trail.

At some points, the girls could see for miles and miles out across the mountainside. They crossed multitudes of bridges spanning the creek or deep ravines that proved to be a little scary, especially when you could see way, way down.

It rained on and off most of the trip, but the rain ponchos kept the girls pretty comfortable. The trail was extremely muddy, and everyone looked a complete mess by the end of the trip. Danielle and Destiny had enough mud on their legs to grow a small garden.

In a little over three hours, the group made it to the end of the 17-mile section of the trail.

Danielle and Destiny were so very proud of themselves for making the entire ride without getting hurt. They just couldn’t believe that they had ridden their bikes for 17 miles. They were all smiles resting assured that no one else in their classes at school had ever ridden their bikes for 17 whole miles!