A rainy day, the Blue Ridge Mountains, and roaming the back roads....

The Blue Ridge Parkway ... that was one of my destinations today. The weather forecast did not call for the drizzly rain that fell most of the day in the Valley and surrounding mountains. The original forecast for a hot 90 degrees and sunny materialized into a foggy, rainy day in the mid-70s ... perfect for a solo trek. I love rainy days even in the mountains, and I enjoy camping in the rain (minus young children who turn a cozy experience into a miserable expedition because they don't want to curl up with a book in the tent and listen to the rain).


Afton was straight ahead as I headed for the Blue Ridge on I-64....


The foggy view from Afton Mountain....

The foggy view of the Rockfish Valley from the Parkway....

It wasn't weather that blocked this view. Perhaps it's time for a "Rename the Sign" contest?

The Blue Ridge near Wintergreen with wisps of clouds....

One thing about a foggy day ... the deer will be out during the day and this was no exception. I saw a number of them along the way including this one drinking from a puddle. She paid me no mind ... looked up for a moment, then went back to drinking. I moved on.... I had turned off the Blue Ridge Parkway onto the Howardsville Turnpike (background), the highway that was used years ago to cross the mountains from the Shenandoah Valley to the Rockfish Valley. I was heading down that gravel roadway through the national forest to Sherando.


Back Creek follows Howardsville Turnpike down the mountain. In the background are the mountains where I was on the Parkway before heading downward to the Valley.

At the end of Howardsville Turnpike, I pulled into the church parking lot to look back at Humpback Rock and the Blue Ridge (background)....
It was a good day.

Photos by SWAC Girl