A Rally Of Our Own: Stony Fork Campground

Dorcas and I are attending a Country Coach rally the last weekend in May and wanted to camp somewhere the week before the rally. We invited several of our RVing friends to attend "A Rally Of Our Own". Unfortunately, most had conflicts, but Terry and Peggy were able to join us for the Memorial Day weekend. Terry suggested Stony Fork Campground in the Jefferson National Forest near Wytheville Virginia. We had never been there, but Terry said it was a nice place, so off we went. Dorcas and I arrived mid-afternoon on Friday before Memorial Day and set up on Site 47. This is indeed a very nice campground. It is nestled in the valley between Big Walker Mountain and Little Walker Mountain. It has 53 paved sites in a single loop and the East Fork Stony Fork crosses the loop four times. About half of the sites have 30 amp service and a few have water. The only drawbacks were the kids and the dogs. Since it was a holiday weekend, the place filled up, and everyone had three barking dogs and four whining kids. The kids all had bikes and delighted in circling the loop in packs as fast as they could. Kinda like short-track NASCAR for rugrats. Also, I have recently observed that the smaller the camping rig the larger the attendant dog(s). A 42' motor home will have one small yippy dog. A 10' pop-up camper will likely have three German shepherds and a black lab. Thankfully, on Monday most of the riff-raff cleared out, and it was very quiet and peaceful.

On Saturday we drove to Garden Mountain where the Appalachian Trail crosses VA 623 to perform "Trail Magic". Trail Magic is a term the AT through-hikers use to refer to surprise food or treats provided by "Trail Angels". Terry brought hot dogs, buns, chili, baked beans, chips, cookies, fruit and cold drinks for the through-hikers. We fed about 10 hungry hikers including "Spidey", "NoAmp", "Couscous", "Chili Pepper", "Happy", "Rock" and "Roll".

On Sunday we hiked the Seven Sisters trail along the ridge of Little Walker Mountain. The trail was five miles long and crested 7 minor peaks along its length, terminating, amazingly, at Site 47. About 2 miles from the finish, we met a guy walking up the hill carrying a unicycle. His plan was to walk to the crest of the trail and ride his unicycle back down the hill. I just hoped he was in control when he came back by us. It turns out he was very skilled and whizzed by us very much in command of his vehicle.

On Monday we slept late and lounged around camp. Terry helped me remove the rear slide topper awning, which had blown its roller spring. Terry and Peggy left for home about noon. I'm hoping I can get a new spring when we get to Sevierville and maybe some fellow Country Coachers at the rally can help me put it all back together. Somewhere I am going to have to borrow a pop rivet tool. (Note to self: pack pop rivet tool in coach for next trip.). Tuesday and Wednesday were both lazy days. On Tuesday we explored Wytheville, bought groceries and checked our e-mails. We wanted to do a hike, perhaps on the AT near Burke's Garden, but the weather was threatening, so we wimped out. On Wednesday it rained for sure, so we just hung out, read and did some computer maintenance. On Thursday we will pack up and drive about 175 miles down I-81 to Sevierville, TN.

Matilda is doing great. I think she has grown four pounds this week. We have not had a single "accident" in the house (knock on wood). She is doing some serious teething, though, so we have to watch and make sure she doesn't eat the tires off the coach. A Toyo 12R-22.5 is an expensive chew toy.