Blue Ridge Parkway / Skyline Drive input

[Huli]

The book arrived in the mail last Thursday.  What a great writeup!  I feel much better about the trip now that I know where to go... and NOT go.  That extra info will really allow me to relax and ride rather than obsess over making the next legal place to stay.

One question has come up... Should I continue to train up to departure day or is there a reccomended regimine?

[Huli]

After reading the book and comparing the campground closures for 2013(http://www.nps.gov/blri/parknews/blue-ridge-parkway-releases-2013-season-opening-schedule.htm), I still need a bit of advice.  Any reccomendations (or warnings) for places around crabtree meadows campground.  It is closed this year.  I am going to call over to http://www.wildacres.org/ and see if they can describe the road leading to their campground.  If that is no go I am looking at http://www.alpineinnnc.com/.  Any guidance is much appreciated.

Huli

[Pat Lamb]

Recommendation: call your congresscritters and complain bitterly about them allowing sequestration to occur and to continue for everything except their convenience (FAA).

Politics aside, Alpine or Swiss Inn are the closest things to Crabtree.  Your other options are to try to get one of the (few) campsites at Mt. Mitchell state park, or Linville Falls.  If you're headed south and want to camp, stay at Linville, then climb up and over Mitchell.  You'll go downhill from Mitchell going down into Asheville, except for 3 miles climbing to warm up your legs, so that day will be 40 miles of mostly uphill, followed by an easy 20 mile coast down into the city.

Take lots of water.  (Stop for ice cream at Little Switzerland.)

[DanE]

For a south bound traveler who is camping, it appears the last good camping option before entering the difficult stretch going over Craggy Gardens is Bear Den campground at 324.8 (www.bear-den.com). As mentioned above, there is multiple motel, hotel, inn options at Little Switzerland at 334 to stay at.

The problem with staying at Mount Mitchell (355.4) is that it is a five mile climb off of the parkway with a degree of difficulty greater than what the parkway offers. The turn off for Mount Mitchell is 1000 feet below the summit of Mount Mitchell and most of the climbing will be done in the first three miles of the access road. Just depends on where you are in your day before you make this an option, and there is only 12 camping sights here I believe so make sure you have one reserved before you go up there.

Depending on where I was in my trip I wouldn't rule out staying at Mount Mitchell. It's just that I don't know it would be the thing to do to push on beyond Little Switzerland late in the day with 40 or 50 miles already in my legs for the day. It is ten miles from Little Switzerland to where the difficult climbing starts. And from there it is 38 miles to the US 70 intersection in Asheville before you have any options at all other than Mount Mitchell. You will be climbing from the Highway 80 intersection at 344 to Craggy Gardens at 364, that could easily take 4 hours to do.

[Huli]

Thanks for the info, I will be staying in Little  Switz.

And having a heart to heart with my congresscritters   

[DanE]

Here is a suggestion that took me a few days to figure out. Place the items you will need during the day such as snack food, rain coat, cameras in the panniers on the west side of your trip. The items that you won't be needing in the east side. The majority of the overlooks are facing the east. This way you can roll into an overlook, lean your bike against the railing in the same direction you are traveling and your stuff that you want isn't on the wrong side of the bicycle.