Historic AT Route, Blue Ridge Parkway Corridor of Virginia

[Southerner]

I did the Rock Castle Gorge Loop off of the Blue Ridge Parkway in Floyd County a couple of weekends ago (a great hike, by the way, should -- Heaven forbid -- you want a break from the AT) and passed by the old Rocky Knob Shelter. It apparently dates back to the days when the AT followed the eastern Blue Ridge through southern Virginia rather than heading into the Alleghenies south of Roanoke. The re-route must have occurred sometime after the 1940s because Earl Shaffer purportedly stayed at Rocky Knob during his famous first through-hike. My question is: Does anyone know the route that the AT originally took around Roanoke and points south? I am guessing it was close to the current Parkway route, but, then again, maybe not. And, if no one knows the answer, does anyone know how I might go about finding the answer?

[Rasty]

The Iron Mountain trail was the AT around Damascus to route 16 north of Greyson.

[SevenPines]

less than two hundred clicks NE of there, the AT originally went over sharp top at the peaks of otter.

other places i know of original AT besides Iron Mtn are:

-parts of the Dobie Mtn Loop trail, near Humpback Rocks

-the South and North fork of the Moorman River in Shennandoah NP

I'm sure other people will pick up where I left off...

[Southerner]

As a follow-up, here is a link to an interesting article from the Roanoke Times: http://www.roanoke.com/news/roanoke/wb/291803

While I am sure the debate about whether Earl Shaffer truly through-hiked has already been held in another thread on Whiteblaze, what was interesting was that the article gave some hints about the route Shaffer was attempting to walk. So, apparently the trail went from Damascus to Byllesby, Byllesby to Galax (they could have combined Trail Days with the Galax Fiddlers' Convention), Galax to Pinnacles of Dan, Pinnacles of Dan to Lovers' Leap, Lovers' Leap to Mabry Mill, and Mabry Mill to Rocky Knob. Sounds like a great trail... I would still be interested to know where it went north of Rocky Knob toward Roanoke.

[HikerMom58]

Humm... thanks for sharing Southerner. I'll read it later when I get a chance.

[10-K]

The Iron Mt. Trail is a nice hike. The northern half is completely different than the southern half.

[johnnybgood]

Contact the Appalachian Trail Conservancy in Harpers Ferry . Speak to Laurie Potteiger (304)535-6331 .
Visit www.appalachiantrail.org/ to send an e-mail.

[SevenPines]

As a follow-up, here is a link to an interesting article from the Roanoke Times: http://www.roanoke.com/news/roanoke/wb/291803... I would still be interested to know where it went north of Rocky Knob toward Roanoke.

Wow Southerner, thanks for that link--it's a great article!

[Odd Man Out]

I got the book Appalachian Trail for Christmas. It has quite a lot about this relocation due to the Blue Ridge Parkway. It was apparently the catalyst for the division of the ATC in 1935 with factions let by MacKaye and Avery. After that 1935 split, MacKaye no longer played an active role in the ATC. It refers to the relocation in the 1939 ATC annual meeting (60 miles run by the Natural Bridge ATC of Lynchburg), but doesn't really say when it was done. It also mentions that the last section of the BRP relocation was completed in 1951, at the same time Avery stepped down from leading the ATC due to health reasons. This implies that the relocation was done in stages. There is a couple of pages on Shaffer's thru hike in 1948. There has always been some debate and study of his actual route. Defining a "thru hike" is hard enough now. It was even harder than as the trail route was somewhat fluid and not well defined, especially with all the trail re-building that took place in the post war era. It says that Shaffer's journal, photos, and other records are in the Smithsonian Museum of American History.

[Tuckahoe]

Could someone share more information about the trail's history and route at this time? What exactly was the reason for the change and how does the Blue Ridge Parkway affect it?

[Odd Man Out]

The BRP bagan in 1935, around the same time the original AT was "completed". However, the original route of the AT followed the Blue Ridge Mountains south from SNP. But the new BRP was to follow the same route. This would render much of the original trail a several hundred mile road walk. Recently, Jim McNeely, a lawyer from WV, researched Schaffers first thru hike as part of an investigation of the original route. You can read the story and his study here.

http://www.roanoke.com/news/roanoke/wb/291803

[Southerner]

Not to beat a dead horse, but as a final follow-up, I found exactly the information that I was looking for in Leonard "Habitual Hiker" Adkin's book:

Leonard M. Adkins, Along Virginia's Appalachian Trail (2009).

According to Adkins, north of Rocky Knob, the trail originally went through Windy Gap, into the towns of Vinton and Montvale, and then interesected the current route near Bearwallow Gap on the Parkway. Some years later, the trail was rerouted to go over Poor Mountain, through the community of Glenvar in far western Roanoke County, then up and over Catawba Mountain. Apparently, the trail went over McAfee's Knob following the re-route to Catawba Mountain and was only later re-routed over North Mountain when problems arose with the land owners (I had always assumed that the trail went over North Mountain until the famous re-route by eminent domain over McAfee's in the 80s -- I didn't realize that re-route was restoring the trail to its previous route).

It's kind of a shame, though -- the old route, especially the parts around Pinnacles of Dan, Lovers' Leap, and Rocky Knob, sounds awesome. If the trail could go through Grayson Highlands, follow the historic route, then re-join the current route in time to hit Dragon's Tooth, McAfee's, and Tinker Cliffs, what an awesome trail that would be! And, add Sharp Top and Flat Top to the trail north of Roanoke and then we would really have a world-class trail segment! Ah, things that will never happen...