May 15 Tanawha Trail Hike

Twelve hikers packed into 2 cars for the shuttle to begin our hike. The sky turned blue and early clouds dissipated. We were ready for a great day of hiking. One of my favorite parts of this trail is the approach to Linn Cove Visitors Center. The trail traverses a rocky ravine on a wonderfully constructed footbridge.



Just past the visitors center, the trail passes under the Linn Cove Viaduct. You can see this engineering marvel from another angle - under it.



I've seen shrines before but never on this trail. The shrine we saw was upon a flat rock, above the trail and featured the Virgin of Guadalupe complete with fresh roses.



We ate lunch with a stunning view of the viaduct and mountains beyond.


It was at lunch someone made the ill-fated comment, "the trail is much easier from here". That of course is usually the case but since winter there has been so much deadfall, the trail is almost impassable. Everyone bailed at Boone Fork Parking Area and walked along the Parkway except Nanci and me. We were socializing with some hikers at the parking area and they offered to drive us to Price Lake.