Columbus Day Exploration

This year, Columbus Day fell on 08 Oct 2012.  If you are a federal employee you know this as a non-work day.  I am certain that I am not the only one unable to think of any tradition or ceremonial way to celebrate this holiday held in honor of Christopher Columbus's discovery of the "New World".

This year I could not let it pass by uncelebrated.  As a runner I have become familiar with heading out on expeditions.  Okay, okay... mine are not necessarily uncharted lands.  And, I must admit that I or someone with me usually knows the route.  However, I find adventure and discovery every time I set out on a new trail.  With this in mind, I knew how to celebrate the day of discovery this year.  It was time to take a voyage, something that would take me somewhere that I have never been before.

I enlisted the company of my friend Mac who takes pride in finding trails and routes to explore and make his own.  He had his eyes on a particular trail and had been wanting to try it for quite a while. So off I went to pick him up while he reviewed the trail map.

Our destination was the Stone Mountain Winery.  It included an awesome gravelly mountain drive called Wyatt Mountain Road. As we drove up, I knew the mountain vistas and colorful display of leaves would be our reward for the pending changes in elevation.

When we parked we could see for miles from the vantage point of the winery, our starting point for our mountainous trek (approximately 1,700 ft above sea level).  With a bit of rain and a steep grade we were off to a slow start for the first two miles.  I began to suspect that we might get caught in a torrential downpour but I wasn't gonna be the one to mention it. Soon enough the rain receded and the mountain's grade relented. Having reached the highpoint of the trail, we soon found ourselves making quick work of  a rolling descent that fed into a fire road and an exceptionally colorful non-technical stretch of the Shenandoah trail, connecting us to the Blue Ridge Parkway.  Once on the Parkway, we saw ridge lines from miles away and peeked down on valleys below, like the view from a low flying plane.  The long straightaways in the roadway made it runner friendly, with low speed limits and unobstructed views.  We were only on the Parkway for a couple of miles before we came to one of the labeled overlooks that drivers stop at in order to appreciate the view.

The overlook seemed to be a good place to turn back.  As expected the return trip was full of awesome views and well worth the difficulty of the grade of the trail. This sociable nine mile out and back is now on my fall season must do list.

Of course a trip that begins at a winery had to end with a tasting and purchase of some excellent wine.  I hope that others make this trek, even if they don't experience it the way that I did.  The drive to the winery, the wine, and the overlook from the winery itself are experiences truly worth doing.

Like I said previously, I am not certain of how one is expected to celebrate the discovery of the New World.  But I think I found a pretty good way to not waste this federal holiday.

I would like to say thanks to Mac for researching the route and sharing it with me.
Also thank you Christopher Columbus for discovering the New World  :-)
Oh, and thank you Federal Government for declaring a holiday and giving me a day to play!!!