Overlanding Loop-A 6-Day Adventure, Jeremy Bailey

Overlanding Loop A 6-day Adventure

It doesn’t matter if we are staying for a day, week, or a month, we must pre-plan our trip to know the route, campsites, and location, so that we can manage food and gas accordingly. There are many social media groups and other resources that can help us with our pre-planning. The first thing that we try to determine is which area we would like to explore and which sites we would like to visit on the way.

The most recent trip that we made was a 6-day trek that started on Saturday morning and ended on Thursday. We needed to reach Uwharrie National Forest, NC, by Wednesday afternoon, so there was plenty of time to do some hiking on this journey. I prefer to plan my route on a laptop and then sync it with mobile phones and iPads. GAIA GPS is a preferred application. However, we also had a paper map. For this trip, we used some already established routes, and fortunately, they had several waypoints for gas stations and a few campsites on the way.

If you want to find campsites, then you can use websites like Freecampsites.net and the iOverlander app. We prefer to use free sites in the forest; however, we knew that you would need to spend some money, so we ended up spending it on a one-night cabin.

Next, we enlisted the food that we wanted for each meal on our way. We made this list to make things easier for us. It helped us to figure out what we had in our home and what we needed to purchase from the grocery store.

DAY 1: We headed out on Saturday morning with decent weather and the 4Runner packed up with most of the necessities for our 6-day adventure. The preplanned route took us West on Rt 460 and over the Blue Ridge Parkway, VA. From there we made a quick stop in Buchanan to walk on the Swinging Bridge and then over to Roaring Run Furnace to hike to the Falls. We got a bit of rain during the hike and only ran into 4 other groups of people during the short hike. After that we followed the preestablished route south west past the Pines Campground. We were running out of daylight, so we skipped Tub Run

Rd. Which is a great forest road across the mountain. That night we camped at White Rocks Campground, which cost us $8 for any site we wanted. Had we known they were having water problems (bathroom facilities were closed), we may have taken our time and camped along Tub Run Rd instead. Due to the rain, we cooked dinner under the tailgate.

DAY 2: After having breakfast under a vehicle’s tailgate due to rain, we packed up our camp and left. We made a short visit to Mountain Lake Lodge due to intense fog continued our route back to the forest. We continued to follow the forest road and found Dismal Falls. It was a very short walk to falls from the road. After having lunch, we hit the road again. We made a short stop at Saltville for some gas and also visited the Museum of the Middle Appalachians. Our route took us to the Mendota Fire Tower. The GAIA app showed a hiking trail to the top however while driving the forest road we came to a small parking area with a few other cars and it was suggested to follow a narrow trail straight up the hill. We hiked the trail and enjoyed the views from top. Next stop was Fort Blackmore, VA and finding a campsite in the forest. We were going to run out of daylight fast and were given permission to camp along Stony Creek and the main parking lot for the Devils Bathtub hiking trail. Falling asleep to the rushing water from the creek was quite enjoyable.

DAY 3: We woke up to decent weather and cooked breakfast on the TemboTusk skottle, eggs and potatoes and prepared to check off a bucket list item: hiking to the Devils Bathtub. There is a direct route of roughly 1.8 miles that takes about 2 hours, and a loop that’s roughly 7 miles. If you ever get the chance for this hike, don’t miss the left turn if planning for the direct route. Also, bring an extra pair of shoes. This hike led us to several water crossings and considering the amount of rain we had, some of these crossings involved knee deep water. Fortunately, the water was crystal clear so our only consideration was the rushing water and uneven rocks. We returned to the parking lot for lunch and then packed up to get back on the road. The route would take us to another forest road, which led to a water crossing…. without a bridge. Unfortunately, we had no idea how deep the moving water was considering how brown and murky it was. This is where it helps to be prepared for alternate routes. We backtracked to Fort Blackmore and followed an alternate route to get us to the National Tunnel State Park, VA.

It was well worth the few bucks to pay for parking at the park and we hiked down the hill to check out the tunnel. After the visit, we continued on the paved roads and headed to Tennessee. Our plan was to camp at Cardens Bluff Campground at the south end of Watauga Lake in the Cherokee National Forest, TN. However, we were told they had just closed the previous weekend for the season and found an alternate site just around the corner at the Boots Off Hostel & Campground. What a great way to end the day, and what an incredible place to stay right along the Appalachian Trail. We cooked dinner on the skottle and hung out in the main kitchen area to enjoy conversation with others. This place was definitely geared for both hikers and vehicle travelers. They had a few cabins, several campsites, and the Bunk House. There were modern outhouses as well as outdoor showers, and a large campfire area.

DAY 4: After a quick breakfast and packing up, we headed to Boone, NC to replenish some food. Most of the day would be paved roads, and we stopped in Blowing Rock for a short visit. Blowing Rock is quite the tourist town, if that’s your thing. It’s a pretty cool place to stop. Next, we followed the Blue Ridge Parkway south past Grand Father Mountain and on to Linville Falls, NC. We made the quick hike to the Falls. Eventually we followed Old NC 105 to find our campsite. The route we had showed several possible sites, and at first, we found most of the good ones taken. However, we ended up finding a perfect site overlooking Table Rock Mountain.

DAY 5: We woke up and saw the beautiful scene of sunrise. After having a delicious breakfast and packing up, we followed Old NC 105 down the mountain to Lake James. The views were outstanding on the way. We jumped on Interstate 40 and made our way to Uwharrie National Forest, NC, and got checked in at the Eldorado Outpost. There we enjoyed a lot with our friends and had a delicious dinner around the campfire.

DAY 6: Started the day with a simple breakfast and eventually headed over to one of the moderate rated trails. After the short trail ride, we headed back to camp to pack our stuff and head home. It was a full day of driving after taking several breaks along the way since neither of us were in a hurry to get back that night.

This trip was an incredible experience and allowed us a chance to recharge from our normal lives. It was the perfect time of year, while we experienced various weather and enjoyed the change of season in the mountains. Regardless of the current COVID regulations in place, we were still able to meet a variety of interesting people, hearing stories of travel and anything that did not involve work.

Jeremy Bailey

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