Taking A Walk

by Dwayne Phillips

Karen and I walked from Purcellville to Berryville, Virginia. Purcellville is in Loudon County while Berryville is the county seat of Clarke County. This is 15 miles and took six hours of walking.

Here is a photo of the Clarke County Courthouse in Berryville.

This walk was all done on Route 7. This was the first time we walked on the side of the road instead of on a trail. I was wary of walking into traffic, but this was easier than I expected. (I tend to expect the worst.)

There were several highlights to this walk. First, we climbed the eastern slope of the Blue Ridge. Route 7 ascends about 500 feet up to Snickers Gap. That is about half an hour of walking up  steep hill (maybe a 40 story building). I was tired when I reached the gap.

Just on the western side of the gap, the Appalachian Trail crossed Route 7. I believe this will be the only time we will cross this trail. Our walk will parallel it for much of the way.

We descended into the Shenandoah Valley crossing the Shenandoah River on Route 7.

Butterflies – there were many butterflies on the side of the road today.

I stopped in at the Hill High Orchard store just west of Round Hill, Virginia. This store has been here forever and is a landmark on Route 7. Their specialty is pie, so I bought a slice of peach pie. $3 – ouch! Oh well, they need to make a living, too.

Just east of Berryville I met 100 motorcycles. At first I thought this was part of Rolling Thunder, but today was Labor Day and Rolling Thunder in on Memorial Day. Just a group of motorcycle riders out on a holiday in the great weather.

I was tired after today’s walk. Six hours and 15 miles is the longest day so far. Extra fatigue from the long uphill climb. I don’t think we’ll have such a climb for quite a while. We will now be walking in the Shenandoah valley for several hundred miles.

I put two photos on Wikipedia. One was the Clarke County Courthouse (in the Berryville page) and the other was the Round Hill United Methodist Church (established 1889) in the Round Hill page.

Equipment – today was the first day I used my Eddie Bauer backpack. It works quite well. I bought this as the Reston store when it was on sale.