Today's hike was supposed to be a 13.2 mile Tanawha Trail walk. However, as we neared the trailhead, conditions worsened. The road was icy, wind was howling and there was a couple inches of snow covering the trail. With winds forecast at 30mph and temperatures rising into the 20s, we opted for a more suitable route; Boone Fork Loop Trail. It would be out of the wind for the most part and fairly level. It was also considerably shorter at 5 miles.
One of the spots on Tanawha I worried the most about was Rough Ridge. It would be exposed to the wind and has an extensive system of wooden steps and decks which would be icy. Here in the woods along Boone Fork, snow was nicely melting off the wooden steps.
Boone Fork Loop Trail begins and ends in the picnic area of Julian Price Memorial Park. There was no one else there when we started. The direction we went, took us through the campground and then into a rhododendron tunnel where Tanawha Trail comes in from the south. We continued into an open field with moderate wind harassing us. Once back in the woods, we rarely felt the wind. The trail follows Bee Tree Creek downward until it flows into Boone Fork. There we follow Boone Fork upriver.
The fork had plenty of water today, making the cascades and falls a bit more interesting. The trail is a bit rougher in spots. One ladder is needed to get through a tough spot. By now we were taking off layers and feeling pretty good. So good in fact, we hiked around Price Lake afterward.
It seemed a bit odd that we had driven here from the north on the Blue Ridge Parkway but now the BRP was gated in that direction. So we made a short detour on Rt 221 into Blowing Rock.
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