Blue Ridge Outdoors May 2019

M AY 2 0 1 9

FREE!

BLUERIDGEOUTDOORS.COM

Fesgutiidve 20a19l 100 BEST FESTS HEADLINERS AND SIDE STAGES BANDS TO WATCH FEST GEAR

BRANDI CARLILE CRUSHES IT AT FLOYDFEST.

EARN YOUR BREW

B E E R T R A I L S I N T H E B LU E R I D G E

INDIGENOUS TRAILS HIKE IN THE FOOTSTEPS OF THE FIRST PEOPLE

+ MAPS VS APPS + S E T H ’ S B I K E H AC K S + WA R R E N D OY L E ’ S 1 8 T H R U - H I K E S

#ShareWhatYouLove. Whether it’s craft brews from the capital city, wines from the Shenandoah or oysters pulledfrom the Rappahannock, you’ll find it here. Eat and drink what you love in Virginia. virginia.org

s e i r r e B Back are

I am DAPHNE COLE. I love taking my kayak out to watch birds along the James. I want a river that’s clean for wildlife, and our families too.

When I learned that the James River Association has helped improve the overall health of the river from a D- to a B-, and is working to make the James clean and safe for everyone to enjoy, I joined for just $35. And now I volunteer to teach youth education programs, too.

I AM A JAMES CHANGER.

BE A JAMES CHANGER.

Join today for $35, and learn about volunteer opportunities at BeAJamesChanger.org

B AC K TA L K DOG ATTACKS OLYMPIC RUNNER PRESIDENT BLAKE DEMASO b l a ke @ b l u e r i d g e o u t d o o r s . c o m E D I TO R I N C H I E F W I L L H A R L A N will@blueridgeoutdoors.com P U B L I S H E R L E A H WO O DY leah@blueridgeoutdoors.com C R E AT I V E D I R E C TO R L AU R E N WO R T H lauren@blueridgeoutdoors.com A S S O C I AT E P U B L I S H E R K AT I E H A R T W E L L katie@blueridgeoutdoors.com E D I TO R I A L & P R O D U C T I O N S E N I O R E D I TO R J E D D F E R R I S jedd@blueridgeoutdoors.com GRAPHIC DESIGNER AMELIA MCCONNELL amelia@blueridgeoutdoors.com T R AV E L E D I TO R E L L E N K A N Z I N G E R ellen@blueridgeoutdoors.com C O N T R I B U TO R S M A S O N A DA M S G R A H A M AV E R I L L A.K. CLEMMONS DA N I E L D E W I T T KIM DINAN

S I E R R A G L A D F E LT E R WA L LY S M I T H DAV E S TA L L A R D S A R A H VO G E L M I R N A VA L E R I O

C O P Y E D I TO R S JULIA GREEN, ROBERT MCGEE ADVERTISING & BUSINESS S E N I O R AC C O U N T E X E C U T I V E

M A R T H A E VA N S

martha@blueridgeoutdoors.com AC C O U N T E X E C U T I V E H A N N A H C O O P E R hcooper@blueridgeoutdoors.com AC C O U N T E X E C U T I V E K A R L K N I G H T karl@blueridgeoutdoors.com AC C O U N T E X E C U T I V E TAY LO R L E A L taylor@blueridgeoutdoors.com B U S I N E S S M A N AG E R M E L I S S A G E S S L E R melissa@blueridgeoutdoors.com D I G I TA L M E D I A O N L I N E D I R E C TO R C R A I G S N O D G R A S S webdir@blueridgeoutdoors.com D I G I TA L C O N T E N T S P E C I A L I S T

S H A N N O N M C G OWA N

shannon@blueridgeoutdoors.com C I R C U L AT I O N I N Q U I R I E S circulation@blueridgeoutdoors.com

Very unfortunate that this happened to her. Insult to injury is the hate she has received after this.

If you own a dog of a certain breed, how about direct your hate to the owners of the dogs that statistics say need to be better owners instead of the victims represented by the statistics. —David Price

BIKE REGISTRATION FOR CYCLISTS? If cyclists have to pay to ride their bikes on roads, then they should be allowed to ride on highways, and it should be the obligation of the municipality to make highway sharing safe for cyclists. —Bret Struggle If the money raised would truly be designated for bike safety and not funneled into other programs, that would be okay. —Becky Frye We tried this in Oregon, and it didn’t raise enough to make a dent in infrastructure needs. And since most road funding is devoted to maintenance, cars and trucks do orders of magnitude more damage to roads than bicycles. —Joe Jacobs

88 POUNDS OF PLASTIC IN DEAD WHALE Anything in a stream goes into a river. Eventually, everything in a river ends up in the ocean. Sadly, I don't agree that most people are environmentally conscious. I think that most people will put profits, income, and even convenience above environmental protection.

—Diane Keel Davis

FLY FEMALES Congrats to these ladies for making a living in this tough industry.

—Tim Long

A few of us began this 40 years ago! Where were you?

—Catherine Tucker

SUMMIT

PUBLISHING

116 WEST JEFFERSON STREET C H A R LOT T E S V I L L E , V I R G I N I A 2 2 9 0 2 5 6 C O L L E G E S T R E E T, S U I T E 3 0 3 ASHEVILLE, NORTH CAROLINA 28801

B LU E R I D G E O U T D O O R S . C O M

©2019 Summit Publishing, LLC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

STOP THE $23 MILLION ROAD TO NOWHERE Rocky Fork was never intended to be an RV park. It was purchased by the Conservation Fund to be a wild, remote mountain park. A road would completely destroy the Rocky Fork experience. —Steve Koranda Putting a visitor center in a wetlands would destroy the habitat of rare synchronous fireflies at Rocky Fork. There are much better sites for visitor centers just down the road.

GOT A STORY IDEA OR COMMENT? submit@blueridgeoutdoors.com B LU E R I D G E O U T D O O R S . C O M

SPRING ON THE EAST

Ah, #Vanlife in the springtime. We’re looking forward to long days on the Appalachian Trail, surfing at Folly Beach, and biking through the forests of Pisgah. Take a look at the gear that keeps us going through each new adventure.

MAY 2019

G E A R W E ’ R E LO V I N G

SEA TO SUMMIT: WOMEN’S ETHER LIGHT XT INSULATED AIR SLEEPING MAT & WOMEN’S JOURNEY SLEEPING BAG

This new woman-specifi c sleep system offers a wider hip area, narrower shoulder area, and additional Thermolite insulation. The mat pairs perfectly with the shape of the sleeping bag. Our favorite thing about this system is the feel of the bag (think comfy sheets) and the added warmth. $190-$210

BIG AGNES: BIG SIX CAMP CHAIR

Sitting a comfy 18 inches off the ground, Big Agnes’ brand new chair is ideal for relaxing outside the van or adding comfort to a backpacking trip. Weighing just three pounds, three ounces, it’s easy to set up and break down and it collapses small enough to fi t in your truck, van, or backpack. $150

STIO: ALPHA ALPINE JACKET

Our new best friend for all of our stopand-start andstart adventures, this technical shell eliminates our need for constant layering changes. At nine ounces, it’s easy to stash in a backpack. It’s reversible, too, so when we get one side dirty and a washer is far away, we still have a whole new jacket on the other side. $289

—Emily D.

TA L K B AC K TO U S H E R E : M AY 2 0 1 9 | B LU E R I D G E O U T D O O R S . C O M

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SNOWSHOE SNOWSHOE, WV JUNE 6 - 9, 2019

TICKETS NOW ON SALE W A N D E R L U S T.C O M FIND YOUR TRUE NORTH

M AY 2 0 1 9

You Don’t Need a Reason, For Festival Season.

When the weather warms up, so does the music.

You’ll find dozens of festivals all across the state in Virginia State Parks.

PHOTO BY LEAH WOODY

F E AT U R E S 30 FESTIVAL GUIDE 2019 Call your friends, grab your tickets, and get ready to go. Our 16th annual Festival Guide highlights the 100 best fests in the Blue Ridge— along with our favorite headliners and side stages, fest gear, and must-see acts.

47 EARN YOUR BREW Burn calories on beautiful trails, and then drink craft beer. We’ve paired 11 beer trails with classic adventures along the way. For added fun, explore four of the region’s cider, wine, and spirits trails.

57 INDIGENOUS TRAILS Hike in the footsteps of

the indigenous peoples whose land we recreate on. New efforts are underway to map and understand the land beneath our boots.

mountain biker • A.T. legend Warren Doyle hangs up his boots after 18 thru-hikes • A.T. Ridge Runners are the unsung heroes of the trail

D E PA R T M E N T S

ON THE COVER

9 FLASHPOINT Maps vs. Apps: What role do print maps play for outdoor adventurers in the digital age?

15 QUICK HITS Seth’s Bike Hacks—Meet YouTube’s most popular

Catch Brandi Carlile at festivals across the Blue Ridge in 2019, including Bonnaroo, FloydFest, Railbird, and Moon River.

Photo by Dréa Atkins @dreaphotoartistry DreaPhotoArtistry.com

F I V E -T I M E C H A M P S Western Carolina University won Blue Ridge Outdoors Magazine's 2019 Top Adventure College Contest. It's their fifth victory. Finishing second was Lees-McRae, winner of last year's contest. Over a half-million votes poured into this year's contest.

Read why these schools were voted tops in the mountains at BlueRidgeOutdoors.com.

800-933-PARK (7275) | www.virginiastateparks.gov

M AY 2 0 1 9 | B LU E R I D G E O U T D O O R S . C O M

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Fast Bikes, Slow Food

MEET THE ADVENTURE FARMERS BEHIND PEDAL TO PLATE

BY NOAH POULOS

O

utdoor adventure is often adrenaline-fueled and fast-paced. Sometimes, though, it is important to slow down, especially when it comes to our food. That's what Sarah and Morgan Decker, the owners of Root Bottom Farm in Madison County, N.C., believe. Sarah and Morgan have biked over 3,000 miles together across the Southeast and can also regularly be found paddling, skiing, or hiking the Appalachian Trail when they’re not working on their farm. In being a part of the local, sustainable agriculture of Western North Carolina, the Deckers have found a balance between the thrill of adventure, and the joy of slow food. BRO talked with Sarah Decker to learn more about her family’s endeavors both on and off the farm.

Q: WHAT GOT YOU INTO FARMING? A: I grew up on a small family farm and married a

farmer. My husband, Morgan, has been farming for 11 years in Utah, Vermont, and now North Carolina for the past 8 years.

Q: WHAT DO YOU GUYS SELL? A: We do non-spray, organic vegetables and fruit.

We also have a line of low-sugar jams. We use fruits both from our farm and berries that I wild harvest in our jams. Eventually we are hoping to be just an orchard and berry farm.

P E D A L T O P L AT E C Y C L I S T S W O R K U P A N A P P E T I T E W H I L E B I K I N G T H E B A C K R O A D S O F R U R A L M A D I S O N C O U N T Y, N . C . F O R 3 5 T O 4 6 M I L E S . A F T E R WA R D , T H E Y E N J O Y A F A R M - F R E S H , L O C A L L Y - S O U R C E D F E A S T AT R O O T B O T T O M FA R M .

Q: HOW DID YOU GET INTO OUTDOOR ADVENTURE SPORTS? A: We were both raised in outdoor families,

Plate and we’ve sold out every year. The farms also partner with local non-profits and have donated 10% of sales to the Friends of Madison County Animals and the Community Housing Coalition. We love to keep it small and with all the farmers, volunteers and riders we feed just under 100 people in front of our renovated tobacco barn.

Morgan out West and myself in Virginia. I was the long-distance hiker and Morgan the long-distance biker. When we met we started doing bike tours together including a trip from our farm to Key West that was around 1,200 miles for our honeymoon.

We also make sure to go out West every year to ski and raft locally in NC.

Q: HOW DO YOU MANAGE TO FIND THE BALANCE BETWEEN PRIORITIZING EXTREME OUTDOOR RECREATION AND OWNING AND OPERATING A FARM? A: It is just really important to us. We schedule

our trips around my schedule as a professor and around slower times on the farm. Also living in Madison County allows us to be connected to the outdoors and the local food system. The closer we can be to our local food, the better it is for everyone. We also believe that as athletes good food is good fuel, so prioritizing healthy, local food makes us perform better as well.

Q: WHAT CAN YOU TELL ME ABOUT YOUR ANNUAL EVENT, PEDAL TO PLATE? A: Pedal to Plate is a bicycle tour through Madison

County that takes cyclists to four or five small farms.

They’ll receive a guided or self guided tour that shows the ins and outs of each farm. People who come out can sample products at each farm on the tour, so they’re fed all day long. The tour ends at Root Bottom with a feast that is almost 100% locally crafted by two local chefs, one of whom operates a homestead on the tour! The whole idea is to get people excited about cycling, community, and local food. This is our fourth year hosting Pedal to

Q: WHAT IS THE RIDE LIKE? A: It is a 35-mile route with an average 3,300-foot

elevation gain, so it isn’t exactly easy. We also offer optional routes that are more challenging at 46 miles with a 4,400 foot elevation gain. Needless to say, everyone is pretty hungry by the time we gather to eat. While the ride is challenging, it is a very relaxed event and we’re very excited for this year!

Pedal to Plate will be held on Sunday, September 9 this year. You can learn more about Root Bottom Farm and the Pedal to Plate event at RootBottomRarm.com/PedalToPlate.

FLASHPOINT

GETTING THERE

PHOTO COURTESY OF ROCKGEIST

MAPS VS. APPS

WHAT ROLE DO PRINT MAPS PLAY FOR OUTDOOR ADVENTURERS IN THE DIGITAL AGE? PISGAH MAP COMPANY’S PETE KENNEDY HAS A FEW IDEAS.

BY DAN DEWITT

PETE KENNEDY HAS NEVER WORRIED ABOUT HIS

ability to make good maps.

When the first batch of his first product arrived from the printer a decade ago, he could see that, of course, it covered the basics — contours, summits, and trails. It was also clear and uncluttered, or as Kennedy likes to say, “easy on the eyes.”

But more than that, he had packed his map with so many details gleaned from his hours in the woods and had taken so much care in his choice of colors, symbols and fonts, that the result was a sheet of tear- and waterresistant paper that could “speak to people,” said Kennedy, 48, owner and sole cartographer of Asheville’s Pisgah Map Co. Still, Kennedy often deals with the existential question for his company

that tends to come up whenever outdoor types gather: With the steady improvement in digital technology, do we actually need old-fashioned paper maps?

Based on the sales of his products and rave reviews from many of his customers, the answer seems to be “yes,” and for many of the expected reasons — the size, scope, reliability, and unbeatable look and feel of paper.

“For the first five or six years of doing this,” Kennedy said, “I kept asking myself, ‘Am I really doing this?

Can I really build a business on paper maps?'"

First consider all that Kennedy is up against. Other than help from an occasional part-time employee and his distribution- and bookkeepingguru wife, Haven, he works alone.

From a bunker-like basement office in his North Asheville home, he not only faces off against national map companies but an ever-growing array of ever-improving digital mapping sites and smartphone apps.

Bulky guidebooks have all but disappeared from pack pockets on the Appalachian Trail, replaced by the Guthooks Guide app. Want to explore a less famous trail? Sites such as Gaia GPS, Avenza Systems, Trailforks and AllTrails offer access to vast collections of digital maps for a fraction of the cost

of building a comparable paper-andink library.

Bob Levy, an avid hiker who has taught digital navigation classes for the Carolina Mountain Club, said that accessing AllTrails on his home computer gives him plenty of perspective for planning hikes.

“I can bring up a map that covers as much or as little of the area as I like. I can load trails and draw new trails,” said Levy, board chairman of the libertarian Cato Institute and a parttime Asheville resident. “I can even print a map that displays as little or as much as I want.”

He downloads digital trip maps on his phone, which frees him of dependence on cell phone service and allows access with little drain on his phone battery — two of the longstanding knocks against digital navigation. Supplementing AllTrails with the MotionX app during hikes, he gets real-time elevation-gain updates that no traditional map can provide. As a backup, he carries not a paper map, but a phone recharger.

“I find that everything I want to do, I can do on phone-based apps,” he said.

The Outdoor Industry Association, which tracks spending in many outdoor recreation sectors, has no information on the market share of digital mapping sites. But nobody, least of all Kennedy,

doubts this is expanding, as is the number of hikers, cyclists, anglers, hunters and paddlers that, like Levy, are comfortable using them exclusively.

Kennedy has a fighting chance in this market because he loves getting out in the woods as much as his users do. He knows what they want in a map, knows the territory he puts on paper.

It’s what makes his maps better than his competitors’, said Bill Sanderson, a retired high school biology teacher who serves as Levy’s counterpart at the Mountain Club, leading courses on traditional map-and-compass navigation.

“That’s why I like his maps so much,” Sanderson said, referring to the touches that display Kennedy’s deep familiarity with the southern Appalachian Mountains. “He’s obviously someone who knows the area well enough to put those kind of details in.”

That Kennedy spends a lot of time in the woods was obvious in a recent visit to his home office. A collection of kayaks was stacked against a storage shed. When Kennedy answered the door, he showed off the fit, compact build of an avid mountain biker, trail runner and paddler.

There is a double irony in the actual production of maps. For all the talk about his own and his customer’s

M AY 2 0 1 9 | B LU E R I D G E O U T D O O R S . C O M

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GETTING THERE love of the outdoors, Kennedy said, each new release requires “hundreds of hours” cooped up inside, time he squeezes in between his duties as a full-time GIS mapping instructor at Asheville-Buncombe Technical Community College and father to fiveyear-old twin daughters. And products cast as a low-tech choice can only be produced using advanced mapping software.

In his office—cluttered with his collection of paper maps and illuminated by a television-sized computer monitor—he shows how this software allows him to build maps in layers. The template of contour lines, roads, and name-worthy natural landmarks is downloaded from the federal Geographic Names Information System, or GNIS. He imports the boundaries of state parks and national forests from other public sites and refines them with the detailed property lines available at county websites. He checks the accuracy of trails against hikers’ online trip reports that include routes tracked with global positioning system (GPS) devices.

When he learned mapping at Clemson University, where he received a master’s degree in forestry, such tasks often required writing code and hand-drawing lines. “Now it’s point and click,” he said.

Not so with the other part of the job, the part that taps into his knowledge of the woods and even occasionally requires him to visit them.

He is aware, for example, that the subject of his most popular map, Pisgah National Forest’s Pisgah Ranger District, includes regions that are short on outdoor attractions. So he focused on the part that is packed with them, allowing him to use a larger scale, and to reserve the flip side for a zoomed-in view of the district’s Bent Creek Area, a magnet for local mountain bikers.

Knowing that a growing group of cyclists seeks out the district’s gravel roads, he marks precisely where the pavement ends, points that don’t show up on most other maps or on public sites. To make sure he has these just right, he heads out with a GPS device and “puts boots on the ground,” he said.

Sometimes he builds maps on contract. That first one, for example, was a map of Waterfalls of North Carolina, created to accompany Kevin Adams' book of the same name.

But his main product is a trail guide

series that, so far, focuses on seven of the most popular natural areas of the southern Appalachians, including Pisgah Ranger District, Dupont State Forest and the Blue Wall of upstate South Carolina. He is in the final stages of producing a map of the French Broad Region, north of Asheville, which includes the names of the rapids on the Nolichucky River.

He chooses such details as a writer would—enough to tell the story, not so many that it bogs down the narrative.

“It’s like doing a research project or a book,” he said.

And just as authors have accepted that digital formatting is a fact of life, Kennedy can’t afford to be a paperand-ink purist. Though his main business is selling paper maps for $14 each at pisgahmapcompany.com and at stores throughout the region, he also publishes his products on Avenza.

Many of his fans use these versions in conjunction with the paper variety.

But like most readers, they say you sometimes just can’t beat a hard copy.

Eric Wever, who with his wife, Erinna, owns Pisgah Productions, said Kennedy’s paper maps are integral for planning the races his company stages, including its signature event, the Pisgah Mountain Bike Adventure Race. To make this a test of both endurance and navigation skills, Wever doesn’t draw a specific route but picks five points on a map. He leaves it up to racers to figure out how to reach at least four of them before returning to the finish line. Creating a challenge that is super tough but not quite impossible requires a feel for the landscape that is best acquired through Kennedy’s maps, one of which he keeps posted “on the wall in front of my desk 365 days a year,” he said. “I just move those little dots around until I get what I want.”

Racers don’t learn of these waypoints until they arrive at the starting line, where they huddle around a piece of required equipment for the race, a Pisgah Map Co. map.

“They’ll put tiny rocks on all those places I’ve had on my map for a year, saying ‘How the hell are we going to get there?’" Wever said.

Levy is strictly a day hiker and acknowledges that he might use a paper map if he ever decides to take on an extended trip. Greg Hardy’s business and passion, bikepacking, is all about extended trips. He’s the owner of Rockgeist, near Asheville, M AY 2 0 1 9 | B LU E R I D G E O U T D O O R S . C O M

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GETTING THERE which makes bags and other gear for his sport. With a doctorate in materials science, he’s plenty tech-savvy, but wouldn’t think of embarking on one of his adventures without the assurance of a paper map—preferably Kennedy’s, but other brands when cycling in regions that Pisgah Map Co. doesn’t cover. While navigating the dizzying climbs and descents of the 500-mile Colorado Trail, for example, he reached the potentially disastrous point where he was stopped short by a fire closure.

“It’s brutal,” he said, of the trail.

“It covers the kind of terrain where you don’t want to backtrack and the reroute was way off the preloaded map on my Garmin. Fortunately I had a paper map so I could use that to get back on track.”

“I love (Kennedy’s) maps,” said Katie Scheip, a ranger at North Carolina’s Chimney Rock State Park and a former student of Kennedy’s at A-B Tech.

Serving on search-and-rescue teams on the job and as a volunteer with the Henderson County Rescue Squad has exposed her to the value of Kennedy’s paper maps, which both agencies use to coordinate their efforts. Her

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PETE KENNEDY INSPECTS A MAP OF PISGAH N AT I O N A L F O R E S T AT H I S O F F I C E I N A S H E V I L L E , N.C. / PHOTO COURTESY PETE KENNEDY

work has also given her a close-up view of the hazards of thoughtless dependence on navigating by smart phones.

“I see that with a lot with the people we end up looking for,” she said.

B LU E R I D G E O U T D O O R S | M AY 2 0 1 9

“Usually how it happens is, somebody goes into the woods and they think they know where they are going and their battery starts to die or they don’t have a good cell phone signal. So when their phone is just about to die,

they call 911.”

Reliance on small digital maps also carries a more subtle danger for outdoor enthusiasts, Sanderson said, a failure to appreciate their place in the broader landscape. Like drivers who automatically punch their destinations into Google Maps, hikers who rely on apps can get from one point to another without ever learning about their surroundings. It’s a practice that may be fine for meeting friends at a bar or showing up at work appointments, but it defeats the whole purpose of a sport like hiking.

“Maybe it’s tactile, maybe it’s the broad view. But all of those things just make (paper maps) so much superior, at least for learning. If someone who has never had the experience of using a map or compass just picks up a phone with GPS and thinks they can navigate, I don’t think they ever really understand the lay of the land.”

They can get to the end of the book, Kennedy might say, but never understand the story.

C e l e b rat i n g 5 0 Ye a r s o f L ov e 6/1 - DAIRY DAY - LOUDOUN HERITAGE FARM MUSEUM

6/2 - STRAWBERRY FIELDS FOREVER - WEGMEYER FARMS

6/7 - 6/8 - WOODSTOCK IN THE GAP - HILLSBORO OLD STONE SCHOOL 6/13 - FITNESS ON THE PLAZA - ONE LOUDOUN

6/15 - SUBURB THE MUSICAL TAILGATE PARTY - STAGECOACH THEATRE 6/21 - LOVING v. VIRGINIA PANEL - JOHN WESLEY CHURCH

6/21 - FLOWER CROWN MAKING - WATERFORD CORNER STORE 6/22 - COMMUNITY CAMP OUT - ALGONKIAN REGIONAL PARK

6/29 - THE LOVE BUG MOVIE - TOWN OF LOVETTSVILLE TOWN GREEN 7/4 - 4TH OF JULY - TOWNS OF MIDDLEBURG & LEESBURG

7/6 - VINTAGE FLEA MARKET - THE OLD LUCKETTS STORE

7/13 - PURCELLVILLE WINE & FOOD FESTIVAL - FIREMAN’S FIELD CENTER 7/18 - DC101 THIRSTDAY - OCELOT BREWING COMPANY

7/27 - POLO IN THE PARK - LILLY PULITZER THEME - MORVEN PARK 8/4 - PEACH DAZE FUZZTIVAL - GREAT COUNTRY FARMS 8/10 - TASTE LEESBURG - DOWNTOWN LEESBURG

8/17 - SUMMER OF LOVE MUSIC FESTIVAL - B CHORD BREWING COMPANY

Follow us on Tour : visitloudoun.org/summeroflove

QUICK HITS

OUTDOOR NEWS

BY JEDD FERRIS + KIM DINAN

8.8 Percent of drop in visitors on the Blue Ridge Parkway in 2018 from the previous year. The decline means the Parkway is no longer the most visited national park in the country. That title now belongs to Golden Gate National Recreation Area in San Francisco. The drop rwas likely the result of heavy rainfall last year and weather-related closures in January, April, September, and December of 2018.

MOM FIGHTS OFF COUGAR A Canadian woman credited her mom instinct with fighting off a cougar that attacked her seven year old son in March. Lockhart jumped on top of the animal and attempting to pry its mouth off of her son's body. The cougar released its grip and ran off.

SAY HI TO THE OMELETTE GUY An all-you-can-eat breakfast awaits hungry Appalachian Trail thru-hikers in the White Mountains of New Hampshire.

That’s where you’ll find Carl Spring, better known on the A.T. as “The Omelette Guy.” At first, Spring brought candy bars and sodas out to the trail, but he soon realized it would be better for the hikers and cheaper for himself if he served hearty egg scrambles and omelettes. Now, Spring’s trailside tent has become a sought-after stop on the A.T. He serves approximately 1,400 hikers meals every season.

DELAWARE 5K FIGHTS ADDICTION At the Delaware-based Attack Addiction 5K, more than 800 doses of the overdose antidote Naracan were made available to the public.

SELFIE EPIDEMIC At least 259 people died between 2011 and 2017 while attempting to take selfies. The average age of those who died was 23 and that nearly 73 percent were male. Recent high profile selfie deaths include an Indian couple that fell 800 feet while posing for a photo in Yosemite National Park and an Israeli teen who plunged to his death in Yosemite taking a photo of himself while hanging off a rock.

AUTOPSY: HYPOTHERMIA Sue Clements, who went missing on a trail near Clingmans Dome in Great Smoky Mountain National Park last fall died of hypothermia, her autopsy reveals. Clements was returning on a hike to Andrews Bald when she got lost and failed to meet her daughter in the trailhead parking lot.

KENTUCKY SINKHOLE A giant sinkhole, nearly the size of a football field was found on the property of the Louisville Zoo in early March. No cause was identified and fortunately no humans or animals were injured by the big ditch that measured approximately 50 yards by 85 yards and about 50-feet deep, according to officials. The day before, a 3.4 earthquake was reported in neighboring state Tennessee, but correlation could not be confirmed.

THE TRIPLE CROWN AT 71 71-year-old Mike Fagan is attempting to complete the Triple Crown of Hiking in one year. The goal includes hiking every mile of the Appalachian (2,189 miles), Pacific Crest (2,654 miles), and Continental Divide (3,100 miles) Trails, totaling 7,700 miles. Fagan spends much of his time promoting wellness to increase longevity; he owns a health food store in Billings, Montana, and he also hosts a local radio show called “Let’s Stay Healthy.” He’s using the Triple Crown hike to inspire others to stay active as they age. Fagan started his northbound journey on the A.T. in February. Follow his progress via GPS at Gold Canyon Heart and Home (gchh.org).

STOP ROCKY FORK’S $23 MILLION ROAD TO NOWHERE Rocky Fork State Park is Tennessee’s wildest state park.

Located near the Tennessee-North Carolina border just south of Erwin, the park was created to provide a wild, primitive mountain experience. But last November, the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation presented plans for a steep 24-foot-wide, two-lane, paved road that would extend to a proposed RV campground.

The accompanying photo shows the approximate route of the proposed road, now estimated by TDOT to be a $23 million project, designed so as to be able to accommodate RVs and 4,000 to 8,000 vehicles per day. The road would require extensive use of retaining walls and permanently damage one of the most pristine watersheds remaining in Appalachia. Learn more at RockyForkJournal.com and the Rocky Fork Almanac on Facebook. —Frances Figart

“NOBODY HAS EVER MADE THIS MOVIE.” —Eddie Mensore, writer and director of the feature film Mine 9 to the Associated Press. Mensore, a native of New Martinsville, W.Va., made the fictional film about nine miners trapped in an Appalachian mine after a methane explosion, but he was inspired by mining tragedies in his home state and across Appalachia. Part of the movie, starring Kevin Sizemore, was filmed at an actual mine in Buchanan County, Va. M AY 2 0 1 9 | B LU E R I D G E O U T D O O R S . C O M

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B LU E R I D G E O U T D O O R S | M AY 2 0 1 9

QUICK HITS

SETH'S BIKE HACKS

THE TRAIL TO YOUTUBE FAME MEET SETH ALVO, FOUNDER OF ONE OF THE MOST POPULAR MOUNTAIN BIKE CHANNELS IN THE WORLD

BY MICHAEL WELCH

IF YOU’VE EVER SEARCHED FOR MOUNTAIN

biking videos on YouTube, you’ve seen the work of Seth Alvo. Today, the creator of Seth’s Bike Hacks has a following of more than 1.1 million subscribers, making his channel the second biggest devoted to mountain biking and the biggest one man show by far. Like most YouTube success stories, he didn’t plan for it to turn out that way.

Alvo’s introduction to mountain biking occurred in Long Island with his dad. There were no mountains, but they had a few hills and a small bike trail a few miles from the house. At the time, he had no idea how serious some people were about the sport, but he

was certain of one thing: “Road biking was for losers, so of course we were mountain biking.” Chuckling, he admits that “now my views are a little more nuanced.”

The more time he spent on two wheels, the more types of riding crept into his life. If you’ve watched his videos, you won’t be surprised to learn that he discovered street and BMX riding in middle school and it was his main focus through his high school years. It’s clear from his crisp style and tolerance for risk — both things that would come in handy for starting his channel.

Of all places, Seth’s Bike Hacks emerged from the flatlands of Florida. Alvo had started doing web development on the side, but by his mid-20’s he was doing it full-time and he had started his own company.

Business was good, so he moved to Florida, where he figured he could afford a house. It turns out it’s only cheap relative to New York, but the weather was always great. He was working in coffee shops as a web developer and riding his bike in his free time. Everything was great living in the Miami metro area, until it wasn’t

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SETH'S BIKE HACKS enough.

“I just really caught the mountain biking bug again, hard, and I was itching for more variety. I stayed in Florida as long as I did thanks to the incredible trail work done by builders in the area.” Trail systems like Santos and Markham featured not only great jump lines but extensive North Shore-style elements to get riders around or over the sand and mud pits that are part of the Florida landscape. In fact, when Alvo first rode at Vancouver’s Mount Fromme, he felt right at home. “I had already ridden stuff like that before.

There’s just a lot more gravity involved up there.”

Still, Florida was no Fromme, and Alvo started his YouTube channel because he was bored. In the early days, it was mostly repair tips, tutorials, product reviews, and backyard shenanigans. It wasn’t long until he had built up a small but passionate following and he felt obligated to continue.

Fans of Seth’s Bike Hacks recognized they had found something special, and they regularly told him he should have a lot more subscribers.

His response? “What’s a subscriber?”

While he had no clue what he was doing on YouTube, he would wake up every morning to an inbox full of video requests, which validated the time and effort that he put into each edit. “I really enjoy editing and putting stuff together.

I like being creative, and of course, I love mountain biking.”

It took Alvo a long time to consider the possibility of making a living with his videos. He got to 10,000 subscribers and hadn’t even turned YouTube’s monetization feature on. “I kind of felt bad about it, but I turned it on just to see what would happen.” He was expecting a payout of pennies on the dollar, but the first month he earned $350. With the channel experiencing steady growth, it wasn’t hard to extrapolate what might happen if he kept the pedal to the floor.

Before he knew it, he was spending less and less energy on web development. He was turning down new clients and firing difficult ones to free up more time for editing. “A lot of the people around me thought I was crazy spending so much time making YouTube videos. I had my own business, and plenty of people warned me not to screw up a good thing.” It was too late. After a taste of something he loved, his heart was no longer in

web development. “Any time my phone would buzz in my pocket, I had that sinking feeling — what crashed, what got compromised, what fire do I have to put out today?”

Alvo had just gotten married in 2016 and he and his wife were itching for a move. They honeymooned in Alaska. It was the first time she had seen mountains, and she didn’t want to leave. With her job in the medical world and his burgeoning YouTube channel, the pair realized they could live anywhere they wanted.

After some deliberation and a quick visit, Asheville, N.C. seemed like a perfect fit. It was halfway between their families in New York and Florida, it offered year-round riding opportunities, and it was cheaper than options like Colorado and California. What followed was a huge leap of faith, but Alvo had to trust his projections. The pair sold their Florida house in just a week and moved to Asheville that April. “Now that I’ve discovered how good the riding really is here, I’m just so glad.” When he’s not enjoying the huge variety of trails that Brevard has to offer, Alvo loves going to Tennessee to ride Windrock Bike Park, which he calls “Pisgah on bath salts. It’s so raw, and you’re free to shred harder because they’re dedicated bike trails.”

These days, there are quite a few mountain bikers with YouTube channels, but no individual has achieved anywhere close to the following of Seth’s Bike Hacks. Not surprisingly, people have lots of different notions about the life of a professional YouTuber and what it takes to be successful. “When people watch my YouTube videos, they don’t see everything going on behind the scenes.

Naturally, they assume that my job is really easy and that it was all luck that got me here. All YouTubers experience it. As a viewer, it’s hard not to see a self-important asshole with a vlogging camera pointed at themselves just hitting record and walking around all day.” The reality is far different.

Alvo has worked quite a few different jobs, and while he wouldn’t trade his current profession for any of them, he’s not just raking Benjamins into a plastic bag four times a month.

“It’s actually working like crazy to come up with ideas, get people together, organize things, make things happen.”

While he regularly collaborates with other mountain bike channels, Seth’s Bike Hacks is a one man show with

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SETH'S BIKE HACKS a demanding production schedule.

Monday and Tuesday are shooting days, and he spends Tuesday night organizing footage meticulously.

Wednesday involves writing the video script, recording a voiceover, and editing it into a polished form. It’s frequently a 16-hour day, but it’s a detail that differentiates his videos and gives them a professional touch. Thursday is an editing day that begins at 6am, and he does his best to finish by 2pm because he’s just worked a marathon.

Friday is an administrative day, reserved for emails, calls, meetings, and contracts.

“I run it like a business. If you want it to be a living and you want it to be long term, you have to take it seriously.

It’s work, and the hardest part is that most people don’t think of it that way.”

How can he be so sure? All it takes is a glimpse into his inbox to see that viewers think he has unlimited time. He gets bombarded with questions about which bike someone should get based on their specific criteria, or people wanting him to help them learn a new skill. There’s also a healthy dose of advice, including an alarming number of people with the brilliant idea that he

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should make a video every day instead of once a week.

Despite his obvious talent, Alvo is quick to point out that his channel is capitalizing on current entertainment trends that are driving the popularity of YouTube as a platform. Entertainment used to be produced by large broadcasting companies whose executives decided what people wanted to see. Just look at TV shows or news anchors — the people you see on broadcast television are as close to flawless as possible. Until recently, viewers didn’t have any other options.

YouTube is powerful because it puts the choice of what to watch directly in the hands of the audience. The results are profound. “The thing is, when you just put a bunch of stuff out there and you let the audience choose for themselves, it turns out that they like people that are genuine. They can see themselves doing what I’m doing. I’m a short Jewish dude from New York with gray beard hair — I don’t look like an athlete. It’s more inspiring when they see me do it than when they see a god do it. I think that’s the case with every category on YouTube. There’s somebody who fills that niche.”

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He’s clearly being modest, and he’s a far better rider than most of us will ever be. Many of his videos include screaming fast downhills or huge jumps, and there’s even one where he learns to backflip. While the average rider may never have a backflip in their bag of tricks, Alvo makes an important point. His videos are entertaining and easy to relate to because he isn’t putting on any airs. He caters to riders of all skill levels, and he keeps it real by frequently showing his failures right next to his successes.

Alvo has come a long way since starting his channel, and his following continues to grow. The next generation of riders is emerging, and they’re getting their information on trails, bikes, and tricks from YouTube. Alvo might never compete in Red Bull Rampage and glamorous edits of those top-tier riders will always have their place, but the comments on his videos prove that he inspires people to get out and ride a bike. Without a doubt, Alvo and Seth’s Bike Hacks are going to continue to make waves in the mountain biking world.

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A .T. R I D G E R U N N E R S

NOT YOUR TRASH COLLECTOR MEET THE RIDGERUNNERS— GUARDIANS OF THE APPALACHIAN TRAIL

BY ELLEN KANZINGER

HIKING SEASON HAS FINALLY ARRIVED, and

Ridgerunners are already out along the Appalachian Trail. Those chosen for the seasonal position hike and camp along sections of trails, speaking with hundreds of visitors about the importance of maintaining the trail and minimizing human impact.

From Georgia to Maine, there are about 50 Ridgerunners employed by the Appalachian Trail Conservancy, local trail clubs, or agency partners.

The season varies depending on location but generally runs sometime between March and October.

BRO spoke with several experienced Ridgerunners about what drove them to this job and how hikers can minimize their impact on the trail.

THE THRU-HIKER “I actually began my love of the Appalachian Trail back when I was a teenager,” Lauralee Bliss said. “My family would go down to Shenandoah National Park and I had a ranger tell me about this trail that ran from Georgia to Maine. I said, 'I want to do that one day.'”

Bliss completed a northbound thru-hike in 2007 with her son, who was 16 at the time. Then from 2008 to 2011, she worked on completing a solo southbound section hike.

“Hiking the trail, meeting the wonderful people, and seeing the trail for myself, I really wanted to do something with that,” Bliss said. “I wanted to give back.”

That’s when she decided to apply for the Ridgerunner program. Bliss started in Maryland her first year, covering all 41 miles in the state, before working in Shenandoah for five seasons.

Depending on how far from home she was, Bliss either worked five days on and two days off or 10 days on and four days off. When she wasn’t on the trail, she was back home cleaning

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B LU E R I D G E O U T D O O R S | M AY 2 0 1 9

her gear, figuring out her food, and preparing to go back out on the trail.

“Ridgerunners get paid for eight hours but they’re out for 24 hours,” Bliss said. “During the day, you’re out patrolling on the trail and being that info person for hikers. And then at night, you’re at the shelter. You’re sharing about Leave No Trace and you’re doing some cleanup. A lot of people think I’m getting paid to hike the trail. That’s not true at all. You’re not out there to hike, you’re there to help.”

For others interested in the program, Bliss recommended lots of hiking experience and familiarity handling a variety of situations, from bad weather to knowledge of the side trails in the area. However, she cautioned that the ridgerunning program isn’t for every hiker.

“You have to be assertive,” she said. “You need to be an advocate.

You don’t want to be sitting there as a ridgerunner, saying nothing, as you’re seeing somebody polluting a stream.

You don’t want to yell at them, but you want to do it as an authoritative resource. We’re not out there to be

mean, we’re not out there to be the law. We want to help you, we want to help the trail, and we want everyone to enjoy it together.”

THE TRAIL MAINTAINER For years, Dave Youmans has been involved with trail maintenance in some form or another. He has worked as a volunteer maintainer of the Andy Layne Trail for several years and as a crew leader for the ATC’s Konnarock Volunteer Trail Crew.

In April, he started his third season as the Ridgerunner for the Catawba Mountain section of the trail, encompassing the Virginia Triple Crown.

“Ridgerunners patrols this section precisely because of the sheer volume of hikers,” Youmans said. “Being a resident, and already a volunteer maintainer, the opportunity to educate hikers here around Roanoke was exciting, as well as a natural fit.”

Youmans received Wilderness First Responder training and attained a Master Educator certification in the Leave No Trace principles before the season started.

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A .T. R I D G E R U N N E R S “Most days are spent hiking in all weather conditions, speaking to, in some cases a hundred people or more,” he said. “Obviously, I'm not speaking to every soul on the section that day, but I greet the vast majority.”

In all of those interactions, Youmans said there is some confusion from other hikers as to what his role is on the trail.

“One major misconception is that we are somehow law enforcement,” he said. “My primary job is to teach people how to enjoy the trail while realizing the cumulative effect/damage caused by large numbers of users. My dream is that folks, more often than not, take the simple steps that reduce the negative human impact on our valuable public resource. The so-called rules were only put into effect as a desperate attempt to curb some of the more unfortunate effects of overuse.”

MORE THAN MILES When Sara Leibold found out she would be a Ridgerunner for the “rollercoaster” section of the A.T. from the end of Shenandoah National Park to Harpers Ferry, W.Va., she didn’t

remember that section being all that difficult from her 2011 thru hike.

But concentrating on that one section, she noticed the up and down, up and down.

“When you thru hike, you’re just making miles,” she said. “You kind of take it for granted how nice it is and how clear it is because of all the volunteers and maintainers do. When I was a Ridgerunner, I could really see the impact and appreciate a lot more than when I was just hustling right through an area.”

After her first run, Leibold knew what to expect each day and spent her time documenting areas that needed maintenance or problematic campsites.

“I felt really confined to my area at times. But also I was able to really learn that area. So, I had favorite spots that I would get to every day and look forward to.”

“A lot of times you’ll find piles of crap near the trail,” she said. “People will leave their toilet paper. That’s not okay. Then I’m having to bury someone else’s crap and pack out their toilet paper.”

Maury Hudson, who just started

her third season as a Ridgerunner in Great Smoky Mountains National Park, said being able to properly take care of trash and waste is one of the biggest ways a hiker can help the trail.

“Now that I have a trowel, have used a trowel, and have buried left

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behind poop from a lot of other people, I know that it makes a major difference.

It’s an easy thing that everyone should have. We’re not out there to be trash collectors.”

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38,000 MILES OF TRAIL

18 THRU-HIKES

WARREN DOYLE HANGS UP HIS BOOTS AFTER 38,000 MILES ON THE A.T.

MASON ADAMS

WARREN DOYLE KNOWS HOW THIS STORY should

begin.

“A 46-year-old love affair ended last summer,” he says, staring at me across a hardwood table at his folk school in eastern Tennessee, midway between Mountain City and Damascus, Virginia.

Doyle is celebrating the completion of 18 thru-hikes of the Appalachian Trail, but his final 100 miles were the toughest.

On his 18th thru-hike last year, Doyle wasn't sure he could complete the 100mile section from the White Mountains to Mount Katahdin.

“I’ve never been so nervous about a hike. I’ve hiked over 38,000 miles of trail.

All I had was 100 miles left, and I didn’t know whether I could do it or not.”

It turned out he could—you hike with your legs, not your belly, as he says.

But the completion marked Doyle’s final

thru-hike.

“The thing I believe is noteworthy is that I’m not a trust fund baby,” Doyle says. “I don’t collect benefits. I was a first-generation college student. I traversed the Appalachian Trail 18 times without ever losing a job. I raised two kids and helped put them through college. And that, that demographic is pretty amazing.”

Doyle sunk his life savings into his 5-acre folk school, and that’s where he plans to spend the remainder of his warm seasons. In the winter, he rents leftover timeshares for $7 per night, “living in the lap of luxury in Ocean City, Myrtle Beach, using someone else’s WiFi and TV.” “I decided to lead a life of practical poverty from age of 60 for the rest of my life,” Doyle says with a grin. “It’s another great adventure.”

WARREN DOYLE’S 18 THRU-HIKES OF THE

Appalachian Trail came between between 1969 and 2018. The first set a speed record. Not only did Doyle leave a mark with his own hikes, but he’s also trained a generation of hikers through his Appalachian Trail Institute. Jennifer

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38,000 MILES OF TRAIL Pharr-Davis attended the institute before the first of her three (so far) thru-hikes.

Doyle called a contra dance at her 2008 wedding, and he played a supporting role in her record-setting 2011 hike.

“Warren spends a lot of time on the emotional and mental preparation,” Pharr-Davis says. “I learned how to think about the trail, and to realize that I would have to be really adaptable but also really stubborn. He talked a lot about reasons why people quit. It’s often that they’re not having fun, or miss someone at home, or the trail is something other than they thought it would be. You go through that very thoroughly, and it helps you anticipate emotional hurdles you’ll encounter on the trail.”

Doyle was just 13 when his 16-yearold sister died of a brain aneurysm. He set out to make up her loss to his parents by becoming an achiever. He became the first of his family to go to college, and the summer after his junior year he won a work scholarship from the American Friends Service Committee, a Quaker peace and social justice organization, to work in a boys orphanage in the mountains of interior Jamaica.

The next year, the Quakers sent him to Don West’s folk school in southern West Virginia. Although Doyle continued college, earning his master’s degree and beginning a Ph.D. program, his time in Jamaica and Appalachia kept gnawing at him.

“I had to do something that no one was telling me to do—no rewards, no cheerleaders, no scholarships, something I wasn’t going to get paid for, or any extrinsic reward,” Doyle says.

So in 1969, at age 23, he set out on his first thru-hike.

“That first hike, I was somewhat naive,” Doyle says. “It was hard. I cried a lot. I had the determination. Thank God I had the temperament. And I was open.

I said to the trail, ‘Do what you will with me. I trust everything about you.’ I trust the trail. I trust the mountains. It knows no institutional restraints. It will help you live in harmony with yourself.”

Doyle quickly fell behind his schedule but caught back up in Vermont. By the time he reached Katahdin, he’d set the speed record for the Appalachian Trail.

UPON COMPLETING HIS RECORD-BREAKING

hike, Doyle received a chilly reception from the Appalachian Mountain Club in Connecticut.

“They’d have nothing of me because I walked the trail ‘the wrong way,’” Doyle says. “I didn’t see anything because I walked too fast. I didn’t walk too fast; I

walked 15 to 17 hours per day at 2 miles an hour. That’s not walking fast, it’s walking long.”

Doyle persisted in his efforts to give back to the trail by sharing it with others. He started a group that hiked the Connecticut stretch of the trail by tackling it on seven consecutive Sundays in the fall. On a lark, somebody suggested doing all 56 miles in a 24hour period, and so Doyle led his first expedition of 12 people along the trail.

He expanded the idea to the entire trail, leading expeditions of thru-hikers for decades to come.

Through the ‘80s and ‘90s, Doyle raised his children, focused on higher education, and completed two section hikes by knocking out 30 to 35 miles per day over two- to three-week periods every year. He conducted group thruhike expeditions through the 2000s.

NOW, HE’S FINISHED WITH THAT ERA OF HIS LIFE.

“I set the terms. It was not imprisonment.

I set my own commitment. No one was telling me to do this,” Doyle says. “It’s just a whole different mindset to walk the entire Appalachian Trail. It’s not recreational. Now, I’m just hiking when I feel like it.”

Doyle may be done with thruhiking, but he’s continuing to run his Appalachian Trail Institute and folk school. And the trail he blazed has made him a legend among the thru-hiking community.

“I think he’s probably up there in the top three or five most important hikers,” says Cindy Ross, a friend of Doyle and triple crown backpacker who has completed the Appalachian Trail, Pacific Crest Trail and the Continental Divide Trail. “There’s a lot of people who know who Warren Doyle is and treat him like a legend. Benton MacKaye and Myron Avery and the people who created the trail are very important, and Earl Shaffer, the first guy to hike the trail. And I think Warren Doyle is right up there with them.”

Pharr-Davis says Doyle’s impact on the trail has evolved over time—as a record setter, for his outspoken opinions, and through his training programs.

“His legacy is very much like the topography of the trail, with ups and downs, highs and lows, and a very real very human journey,” Pharr-Davis says.

“The Appalachian Trail has a lot of personalities connected to it throughout its history and its duration, but I think there’s only going to be one Warren Doyle.”

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l a Fesgutiv ide 2019

Do Your Fest

100+ Essential Blue Ridge Festivals

BY JEDD FERRIS

Call your friends, grab tickets, and get ready to go. Within our yearly guide of more than 100 Blue Ridge festivals we’ve highlighted outdoor galas for all interests, bringing you the nitty gritty on the region’s best experiences in music, craft beer, art, and adventure.

decades ago by a group of local western North Carolina boaters with great taste in music. In its 20-plus years the paddler party has remained one of the region’s favorite low-key fests, staying relatively intimate at the Hot Springs Campground but featuring an impressive line-up of roots music and plenty of chances to play on the river. Best of all, it’s a party with a purpose: Through the years the fest has raised boatloads of cash for river access protector American Whitewater and a handful of other local charities.

This year catch sets by Doom Flamingo, Acoustic Syndicate, Sol Driven Train, and Alanna Royale. Also, enlist some friends for the French Broad River Raft Race, a nine-mile, class I-IV run that boasts distinction as the biggest mass start raft race in the Southeast.

FRENCHBROADRIVERFESTIVAL.COM

SpringDig

and Larkin Poe will play alongside artists covering African roots sounds and experimental dance movements. Beyond the tunes, LEAF is designed to be interactive with more than 50 healing arts workshops on a range of topics from yoga and holistic health to permaculture and ancient earth skills. In addition to the festival’s annual fall return (October 17-20) to Camp Rockmont, organizers will also host LEAF Downtown AVL at Asheville’s Pack Square Park on August 2-3. THELEAF.ORG

Shaky Beats Music Festival AT L A N TA , G A . • M AY 1 0 - 1 1

EDM and hip-hop sounds will be blaring throughout Atlanta’s picturesque Central Park. Topping the bill: Rufus Du Sol, Big Gigantic, Martin Garrix, and Galantis.

SHAKYBEATSFESTIVAL.COM

B E R K E L E Y S P R I N G S , W.V A . • M AY 3 - 5

North Carolina Brewers and Music Festival H U N T E R S V I L L E , N . C . • M AY 1 0 - 1 1

Virginia Creeper Fest

Groove into spring with this fun little fest that takes place at Sleepy Creek on the Potomac. Acts on the bill include Jeff Austin Band, Rumpke Mountain Boys, Jon Stickley Trio, and Drew Emmitt and Andy Thorn of Leftover Salmon.

ABINGDON, VA. • APRIL 27

SLEEPYCREEKPRESENTS.COM

Celebrate Virginia’s beloved 34-mile rail trail with a full day of fun, featuring live music, food trucks, local beer and wine, and plenty of recreation opportunities, including bike rides, yoga, and kayak and SUP clinics. VACREEPERFEST.COM

Cheat River Festival

High-energy bluegrass bands will be picking and nearly three-dozen inventive craft breweries will be pouring at this popular event on Huntersville’s historic Rural Hill. Acts on the bill: The Infamous Stringdusters, Donna the Buffalo, Scythian, and River Whyless. NCBREWSMUSIC.COM

A L B R I G H T, W .V A . • M AY 3 - 4

Aiken Bluegrass Festival

This big annual waterfront party is filled with arts, boating, bluegrass, food, and fun, all to support the Cheat River watershed. Paddle in the Downriver Race, run a 5K, and catch tunes by Vince Herman and the Hillbilly Gypsies.

A I K E N , S . C . • M AY 1 0 - 1 1

Roots mainstay Donna the Buffalo hosts this longstanding family-friendly fest on a 75-acre farm near the main cities of the North Carolina Triangle. Headliners include Lukas Nelson & Promise of the Real, Turkuaz, and Giant Panda Guerilla Dub Squad. A fall version also takes place October 3-6. SHAKORIHILLSGRASSROOTS.ORG

CHEATFEST.ORG

Aiken continues to up the ante at this annual progressive bluegrass bash. This year catch soaring string jams from Del McCoury Band, Keller and the Keels, Billy Strings, and many more. LOVEABF.COM

Blues, Brews & BBQ

Maryland Craft Beer Festival

YO R K T O W N , VA . • M AY 4

F R E D E R I C K , M D . • M AY 1 1

Forty breweries will be pouring more than 200 different beers—all made in the great state of Maryland.

Beale Street Music Festival

Enjoy a sweet spring day filled with full plates of BBQ, more than two dozen craft beers poured by local breweries, and tunes by some of the best blues players in Hampton Roads.

VILLAGEEVENTS.ORG

Shakori Hills Grassroots Festival of Music and Dance S I L K H O P E , N . C . • M AY 2 - 5

M E M P H I S , T E N N . • M AY 3 - 5

Sounds ring through the streets of this historic musical city. This year Beale Street’s line-up features sets by Dave Matthews Band, the Killers, and Cardi B.

Untappd Beer Festival C H A R L O T T E , N . C . • M AY 4

MDCRAFTBEERFESTIVAL.COM

Domefest M A S O N T O W N , W.V A . • M AY 1 6 - 1 8

Jam outfit Pigeons Playing Ping Pong hosts this three-day festival at Marvin’s Mountaintop. Additional acts include Aqueous, the Magic Beans, and Litz. DOMEFESTIVAL.COM

Shaky Knees Music Festival

Approximately 150 breweries from across the country will bring their best liquids to Charlotte’s Bank of America Stadium for this huge beer fest, hosted by the North Carolina-based beer networking app Untappd.

AT L A N TA , G A . • M AY 3 - 5

UNTAPPD.COM/FESTIVAL

G E T T Y S B U R G , PA . • M AY 1 6 - 1 9

Atlanta’s eclectic rock throwdown at Central Park hosts big names including Beck, Tame Impala, Cage the Elephant, Gary Clark, Jr., and Maggie Rogers.

Best MultiCultural Experience LEAF

This festival, serious about traditional bluegrass, celebrates its 78th running with Steep Canyon Rangers, Rhonda Vincent and the Rage, and Balsam Range.

SHAKYKNEESFESTIVAL.COM

B L AC K M O U N TA I N , N . C . • M AY 9 - 1 2

GETTYSBURGBLUEGRASS.COM

MEMPHISINMAY.ORG

Best River Fest

French Broad River Festival H O T S P R I N G S , N . C . • M AY 3 - 5

This mainstay regional festival was started more than two

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LEAF celebrates arts and cultures from around the world.

Twice a year, in the shadow of Mt. Mitchell, traditions from around the world are represented through interactive exhibits, activities, food, and especially music. Well-known headliners like Shovels & Rope, India.Arie, Trevor Hall,

Gettysburg Bluegrass Festival

Dominion Riverrock R I C H M O N D , VA . • M AY 1 7 - 1 9

Held on the banks of the James River in downtown Richmond, Riverrock is a huge outdoor sports and music

festival featuring plenty of opportunities to play and groove.

Run the James River Scramble 10K, ride the MTB time trial, send a rock wall, and catch sets by the Chris Robinson Brotherhood and Billy Strings. DOMINIONRIVERROCK.COM

Dr. Ralph Stanley's 49th Annual Hills of Home Festival C O E B U R N , VA . • M AY 2 3 - 2 5

Best Trail Party

A Memorial Day weekend tradition, Ralph Stanley II leads his legendary late father’s band, the Clinch Mountain Boys, at this bluegrass festival at the Stanley old home place in southwest Virginia. DRRALPHSTANLEYFESTIVAL.COM

DA M A S C U S , VA . • M AY 1 7 - 1 9

RoosterWalk Music & Arts Festival

Trail Days

For hikers and outdoor enthusiasts of all interests, Trail Days is a must-do festival. Since 1987, the sleepy Virginia town of Damascus has hosted this wild party, which acts as a big family reunion for Appalachian Trail thru-hikers from different generations. Every year approximately 20,000 people descend on “Trail Town, USA” to trade boot-worn stories by bonfire, dress up in crazy costumes and march in a parade, check out a variety of gear booths, and get rowdy at the campgrounds in the evenings. The fest also features films, talks, and presentations by A.T. legends of yesteryear, live music from regional roots acts, and plenty of displays of Trail Magic—with locals providing food and gear repairs for hikers currently on the A.T. TRAILDAYS.US

Hangout Music Festival G U L F S H O R E S , A L A . • M AY 1 6 - 1 9

Dance with the sand between your toes to the sounds of Travis Scott, the Lumineers, Khalid, Vampire Weekend and many more at this big bash on Alabama’s Gulf Coast.

HANGOUTMUSICFEST.COM

Songsmith Gathering B R E VA R D , N . C . • M AY 1 8

Returning for a second year, this emerging day festival celebrates the skill of songwriting with performances by some of the best in the business. David Crosby headlines with additional sets by Hush Kids, Sarah Siskind, the Suitcase Junket, and Erin Rae. SONGSMITHGATHERING.COM

A X T O N , VA . • M AY 2 3 - 2 6

and psychedelic rock into the mix, including the String Cheese Incident, Marcus King, and Tyler Childers. DELFEST.COM

Long Creek Music Festival L O N G C R E E K , S . C . • M AY 2 4 - 2 6

If you like low-key music festivals, escape to South Carolina’s Sumter National Forest and catch tunes at the Chattooga River Resort & Campground. LONGCREEKFEST.COM

Excellent for all ages, RoosterWalk is an intimate roots and jam-based gala held on an idyllic farm near Martinsville that features a top-notch line-up of national acts in a setting that’s friendly for the whole family. Bands this year: Galactic, Shovels & Rope, and the Marcus King Band. Don’t miss the latter’s special collaboration with bluegrass phenom Billy Strings, dubbed Kings and Strings. ROOSTERWALK.COM

Ole Time Fiddler’s & Bluegrass Festival

Papa Joe's BanjoBQue Music Festival

This fun street festival in Brevard will feature live tunes from Sister Sparrow & the Dirty Birds and Chatham Rabbits, as well as a parade and 10K/5K run. WHITESQUIRRELFESTIVAL.COM

AU G U S TA , G A . • M AY 2 4 - 2 5

This growing festival, now at Lake Olmstead Park, features a serious BBQ cook-off, an impressive line-up of craft beer, and killer tunes from Greensky Bluegrass, Old Crow Medicine Show, Leftover Salmon, Deer Tick, and the Infamous Stringdusters—all to honor the late Joe Pond and his love of ‘cue and bluegrass. BANJOBQUE.COM

Best in Bluegrass DelFest

C U M B E R L A N D , M D . • M AY 2 3 - 2 6

DelFest honors living bluegrass legend Del McCoury—once a member of genre founder Bill Monroe’s Blue Grass Boys—who turned 80 this year. Del and his band headline the festival in the scenic Potomac River Valley of western Maryland with help from a generation-spanning line-up of top-notch pickers, this year featuring Sam Bush, Railroad Earth, and Sierra Hull. To avoid string overload, organizers also added some Americana

U N I O N G R O V E , N . C . • M AY 2 4 - 2 6

Approaching its 96th year, the longest running fiddler’s convention in North America will once again feature the most authentic pickers in the mountains. FIDDLERSGROVE.COM

White Squirrel Festival B R E VA R D , N . C . • M AY 2 4 - 2 6

Virginia Trail Festival S T O K E S V I L L E , VA . • M AY 2 4 - 2 7

Fat tire freaks from around the region come together for a big hang at Stokesville Campground throughout a long weekend that includes some epic rides during the day and kicking back by campfires with fat-tire-loving friends at night.

MTNTOURING.COM

Gears and Guitars Festival W I N S T O N - S A L E M , N . C . • M AY 2 3 - 2 6

Held in conjunction with the Winston-Salem Cycling Classic, this growing festival features four days of music and family fun at Bailey Park. This year the band line-up features Stone Temple Pilots, Drive-By Truckers, North Mississippi Allstars, and Trampled by Turtles. GEARSANDGUITARSFEST.COM

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MAY 23-26, 2019 POP’S FARM, MARTINSVILLE, VA

GALACTIC • SAM BUSH • SHOVELS AND ROPE THE MARCUS KING BAND • BILLY STRINGS STEEP CANYON RANGERS • TURKUAZ

KING & STRINGS (MARCUS KING AND BILLY STRINGS) BIG SOMETHING • SIERRA HULL • GHOST LIGHT THE LIL SMOKIES • THE STEEL WHEELS • YARN ROOSEVELT COLLIER BAND • MOUNTAIN HEART THE BLACK LILLIES • THE JAMMY JAM (HOSTED BY THE LIL SMOKIES) ‘YARN MORRISON’ • KENDALL STREET COMPANY • RUNAWAY GIN THE TRONGONE BAND • FIRESIDE COLLECTIVE • SOUTH HILL BANKS

THE VEGABONDS • PALMPALM • DISCO RISQUÉ • STATE BIRDS SANCTUM SULLY • C2 & THE BROTHERS REED • KATE RHUDY • ADAR

THE FOLLY • CHAMOMILE & WHISKEY • AFTER JACK • PROSPERITY’S FOLLY

THE DROVE • JULES & THE AGREEABLES • PHCC JAZZ BAND • MHC PRAISE BAND • AARON CROWE ARTISTS AT LARGE

JOHN COWAN / ROOSEVELT COLLIER / WALLACE MULLINAX / JOSH SHILLING / ED TOTH

“MORE THAN A FESTIVAL”

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Graves Mountain Festival of Music

the Lumineers, and Kacey Musgraves.

S Y R I A , VA . • M AY 3 0 –J U N E 1

BONNAROO.COM

Fans of the High Lonesome Sound flock to Graves Mountain Lodge, set near Shenandoah National Park, to enjoy a packed line-up of world-class pickers. This annual event offers a peaceful festival experience—the chance to sit and watch some of the best in bluegrass on a stage near a flowing creek with the Virginia Blue Ridge in the background. This year’s line-up: Mo Pitney, J.D. Crowe & the New South, and the Lonesome River Band.

Cold Mountain Music Festival at Lake Logan C A N T O N , N . C . • M AY 3 1 –J U N E 1

Now expanded to two days, this fest features a rock solid line-up of tunes on a gorgeous 300-acre property surrounded by the Shining Rock Wilderness. Catch sets by the Milk Carton Kids, Calexico, Yonder Mountain String Band, and J.S. Ondara.

COLDMOUNTAINMUSIC.ORG

GRAVESMOUNTAIN.COM

The Crooked Road’s Mountains of Music Homecoming

Mountain Music Festival

SOUTHWEST VIRGINIA • JUNE 7-15

O A K H I L L , W.V A . • M AY 3 0 –J U N E 2

ACE Adventure Resort hosts this fest that mixes music and adventure, pairing a deep roster of jam bands with access to world-class whitewater and a top-notch trail network in West Virginia’s New River Gorge.

Ride, paddle, and listen to sounds from a stacked line-up that includes Tyler Childers, the Floozies, Big Something, and the Werks.

MOUNTAINMUSICFESTWV.COM

Nelsonville Music Festival NELSONVILLE, OHIO • JUNE 6-9

With big names and small-town charm, this festival takes place in the hills of southeast Ohio on the campus of Hocking College.

Bands: Death Cab for Cutie, Mavis Staples, the Breeders, Tyler Childers, and Mandolin Orange. NELSONVILLEFEST.ORG

Spoleto Festival USA C H A R L E S T O N , S . C . • M AY 2 4 -J U N E 9

Late spring is a great time to be in Charleston, as the Spoleto Festival fills the historic city’s theaters, churches, and outdoor spaces with a variety of music, dance, theater, and visual arts. SPOLETOUSA. ORG

Beer City Festival ASHEVILLE, N.C. • JUNE 1

The culminating event of Asheville Beer Week (May 24-June 1; avlbeerweek.com), this festival at Roger McGuire Green features a couple thousand craft beer fans tasting the goods from 30 breweries while soaking up some great local music.

BEERCITYFESTIVAL.COM

Carolina Country Music Festival MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. • JUNE 6-9

Florida Georgia Line, Thomas Rhett, and Dierks Bentley lead this huge country bash on the beach.

CAROLINACOUNTRYMUSICFEST.COM

Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival MANCHESTER, TENN. • JUNE 13-16

The pace setter for the current explosion of multi-band mega fests that have popped up across North America and beyond, Bonnaroo brings tens of thousands of music fans to a 700-acre farm in the middle of Tennessee for an eclectic, high-profile musical marathon. This year the festival is covering everything from hip-hop and electronica to indie rock and Americana.

Top billing goes to Phish, Childish Gambino,

Appalachian roots run deep at this nineday celebration of bluegrass and traditional mountain music, which features more than 25 concerts and 70 cultural experiences around southwest Virginia. MTNSOFMUSIC.COM

HoustonFest GALAX, VA. • JUNE 7-8

Big names in bluegrass perform at this growing festival at Felt’s Park that was created to honor the late Houston Caldwell.

Acts include Shenandoah, Dailey & Vincent, and EmiSunshine. HOUSTONFESTGALAX.COM

W.C. Handy Blues & Barbecue Festival H E N D E R S O N , K Y. • J U N E 1 2 - 1 5

Grab a plate, then groove to some of the best blues artists in the country at this festival that’s been jumping for more than a quarter century. Legends representing sounds from the Delta to the hill country to the city will take the stage at the scenic Audubon Mill Park on the Ohio River. HANDYBLUES.ORG

Sierra Nevada Beer Camp MILLS RIVER, N.C. • JUNE 8

It doesn’t get much more fun than day camp for beer-loving adults. Sip special Sierra Nevada beers created just for the event, and then challenge your friends to rounds of keg bowling, human foosball, and obstacle course races. SIERRANEVADA.COM/BEERCAMPMILLSRIVER

Firefly Gathering MILLS RIVER, N.C. • JUNE 13-16

Taking place at Deerfields in Mills River, the largest primitive skills gathering in the country features a long weekend of outdoor discovery. At Firefly you can connect with your natural surroundings through classes and workshops in homesteading, survivalism, plant identification, and much more.

FIREFLYGATHERING.ORG

Atlanta Summer Beer Festival AT L A N TA , G A . • J U N E 1 5

Craft goodness will be flowing at Historic 4th Ward Park at this annual event featuring more than 150 different beers from breweries based in Georgia and beyond.

ATLANTASUMMERBEERFESTIVAL.COM

Hops in the Hills Craft Beer Festival MARYVILLE, TENN. • JUNE 21-22

Craft breweries from the South and beyond will be pouring their best beers at this annual festival in Maryville. You can also nosh on M AY 2 0 1 9 | B LU E R I D G E O U T D O O R S . C O M

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World-famous distilleries. Small-town charm. True Southern hospitality. Visit Bardstown, Kentucky, and get to know the town and the people who make the world’s finest bourbons.

Plan your trip to the Bourbon Capital of the World.®

VISITBARDSTOWN.COM

new jam bash with a deep line-up that includes Greensky Bluegrass, Umphrey’s McGee, the Infamous Stringdusters, Lettuce, and Railroad Earth. 4848FESTIVAL.COM

local food offerings and play games like giant beer pong and cornhole. HOPSINTHEHILLS.COM

Williamsburg Live

Best Family Jam

WILLIAMSBURG, VA. • JUNE 21-22

Red Wing Roots Music Festival

Norah Jones and Emmylou Harris lead the line-up at this new gala at the Lawn of the Art Museums of Colonial Williamsburg with help from Mandolin Orange and Parker Millsap. VAFEST.ORG/WILLIAMSBURG-LIVE

M O U N T S O L O N , V A . • J U LY 1 2 - 1 4

Virginia string band the Steel Wheels host this annual gathering at Natural Chimneys Park in the Shenandoah Valley. The line-up is always impressive, featuring a full slate of Americana and bluegrass heroes, and the atmosphere is intimate and friendly, meaning parents can feel good about bringing little ones to the party. The festival’s two main stages are within sight of each other, and the entire grounds are configured into a close-knit village, making everything—vendors, beer garden, local food booths—always easy to access. This year grownups can dig the sounds of Mandolin Orange, the Wood Brothers, and First Aid Kit, while little ones enjoy activities in the Shady Grove kid’s area and get to hear music for youngsters on the Kinfolk Stage. REDWINGROOTS.COM

ROMP: Bluegrass Roots & Branches Festival O W E N S B O R O , K Y. • J U N E 2 6 - 2 9

ROMP bridges generations of bluegrass musicians, mixing seasoned veterans like Del McCoury and Ricky Skaggs with progressive string favorites including Trampled by Turtles and Billy Strings. ROMPFEST.COM

Back Home Appalachian Arts & Music Festival N E W M A R T I N S V I L L E , W.V A . • J U N E 2 8 - 3 0

A big-time bluegrass and roots music bash takes place over three days in the Mountain State. Catch sets by the Allman Betts Band, Travelin’ McCourys, Jeff Austin Band, Michael Cleveland & Flamekeeper, and Billy Strings.

BACKHOMEFESTIVAL.COM

Bayou Boogaloo Music & Cajun Food Festival

Best Southern City Fest Sorrento’s Dining Complex in Banner Elk.

Forecastle Festival

AVERYCOUNTY.COM

L O U I S V I L L E , K Y . • J U LY 1 2 - 1 4

NORFOLK, VA. • JUNE 28-30

Festival for the Eno

The sounds and eats of New Orleans come to the Norfolk waterfront. Enjoy your fill of crawdads, jambalaya, po’ boys, and beignets, as well as some of the best bands coming out of the Crescent City, including the Dirty Dozen Brass Band and Dumpstaphunk. FESTEVENTS.ORG

D U R H A M , N . C . • J U LY 4 A N D 6

Avery County Wine & Beer Festival

4848 Festival

BANNER ELK, N.C. • JUNE 29

S N O W S H O E , W . V A . • J U LY 1 1 - 1 3

Forecastle has grown to become one of the premiere music festivals in the country, annually bringing an impressive roster of national acts to Louisville’s scenic 85-acre Waterfront Park on the banks of the Ohio River.

In addition to the bands—this year’s line-up features the Killers, the Avett Brothers, Anderson.Paak & the Free Nationals, Tyler Childers, and Maggie Rogers—the festival also showcases the best of the host city, including local art and food, along with the bounty of whiskey being made in the Bluegrass State at the popular Bourbon Lodge.

Snowshoe Mountain Resort is the place to be for this

FORECASTLEFEST.COM

Taste the best of the High Country and surrounding areas at

This annual event at Durham City Park features over 70 bands on four stages, along with great food and art—a big celebration of the great Eno River. Line-up TBA. ENORIVER.ORG

PLAYING IS FOR THE YOUNG AND YOUNG AT HEART. STAY THAT WAY.

Never stop playing.

It's always play time in Abingdon. visitabingdonvirginia.com • 888.489.4144

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Camp Bisco

RiverFest

The Peach Music Festival

S C R A N T O N , P A . • J U LY 1 8 - 2 0

A S H E V I L L E , N . C . • J U LY 2 0

S C R A N T O N , P A . • J U LY 2 5 - 2 8

The Disco Biscuits host this multi-band electronica rager at Montage Mountain. Additional acts: Bassnectar, Odesza, Tipper, Lotus, STS9, and Umphrey’s McGee. CAMPBISCO.COM

Party on the banks of the French Broad River at New Belgium Brewing with local tunes and brews, all for a good cause, as proceeds benefit the watershed’s nonprofit advocate, RiverLink. One of the festival’s main events is the Anything That Floats Parade, which features creatively decorated floats and rafts colorfully floating down the river.

Jams will be plentiful at this festival, initially started by the Allman Brothers Band, that takes place annually at Montage Mountain. Acts on the bill include Phil Lesh and Friends, Trey Anastasio Band, String Cheese Incident, and Joe Russo’s Almost Dead. THEPEACHMUSICFESTIVAL.COM

Virginia Lake Festival CLARKSVILLE, VA. •

J U LY 1 8 - 2 0

Running for more than four decades, this festival in Clarksville features a lively arts and crafts scene, a wide array of food vendors, live music, fireworks, and the popular “Gathering of the Boats” on Buggs Island Lake/John H. Kerr Reservoir in the evening. CLARKSVILLEVA.COM

Master Musicians Festival S O M E R S E T , K Y . • J U LY 1 9 - 2 0

This Kentucky roots music summit—blending Americana, bluegrass, country, and indie folk—has become a regional mainstay in its 25 years in existence. Lineup includes Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit, the War and Treaty, Cedric Burnside, and many more. MASTERMUSICIANSFESTIVAL.ORG

Artscape B A LT I M O R E , M D . • J U LY 1 9 - 2 1

Over 400,000 people regularly attend Artscape, America’s largest free arts festival. Situated in downtown Baltimore, the fest spans 12 city blocks and features an array of exhibits in fine art, music, dance, theater, and film. ARTSCAPE.ORG

RIVERLINK.ORG

Best Musical Mix FloydFest

F L O Y D , V A . • J U LY 2 4 - 2 8

At FloydFest you always find at least five new favorite bands. The multi-stage musical blowout, located on a beautiful 80-acre mountain plateau right off the Blue Ridge Parkway, features one of the best curated musical line-ups in the region—mixing national mainstays with regional up and comers on the rise. This year’s line-up is heavy on jam and Americana with the festival’s eight stages featuring Phil Lesh and the Terrapin Family Band, String Cheese Incident, Brandi Carlile, Kacey Musgraves, and Margo Price. On the undercard be sure to check out sets by Sean McConnell, Erin & the Wildfire, Jon Stickley Trio, and Chupacabras.

Set in a location that’s ripe for recreation the festival also offers a nice variety of adventure programming, including mountain biking, trail running, paddling, and disc golf.

FLOYDFEST.COM

Shenandoah Valley Music Festival

Asheville Yoga Festival

O R K N E Y S P R I N G S , V A . • J U LY 1 9 – S E P T E M B E R 1

A S H E V I L L E , N . C . • J U LY 2 5 - 2 8

This longstanding concert series takes place on the scenic grounds of Shrine Mont in the Shenandoah Valley. Acts confirmed include the Beach Boys on July 26 and the Oak Ridge Boys on August 9, with more to be announced soon.

Extend your body and expand your mind at this event in Asheville that features expert instructors and experienced teachers leading classes and workshops, along with a schedule of live music and outdoor activities like slacklining and SUP Yoga. ASHEVILLEYOGAFESTIVAL.COM

MUSICFEST.ORG

Altoona First Frontier Festival A L T O O N A , P A . • J U LY 2 6 - 2 7

This fun weekend fest mixes Americana sounds with craft beer, food trucks, and local artisans. FIRSTFRONTIERFESTIVAL.COM

Virginia Highlands Festival A B I N G D O N , V A . • J U LY 2 6 – A U G U S T 4

For 10 straight days, creativity comes alive in Abingdon with events focusing on music, photography, visual and performing arts, antiques, and much more.

VAHIGHLANDSFESTIVAL.ORG

Soulshine Farm Music Festival G R E E N M O U N TA I N , N . C . • AU G U S T 8 - 1 0

This intimate camping fest along the Toe River features favorites in bluegrass, jam, and funk playing in a familyfriendly setting. SOULSHINEFARMFEST.COM

Best in Brew Burning Can

BREVARD, N.C. • AUGUST 9-10

Oskar Blues Brewery celebrates its claim to fame—being the first to put delicious craft brews in cans—at this annual fest, which takes place at a scenic spot on the edge of Pisgah National Forest in western North Carolina. Hosting the two-day party at its REEB Ranch outpost near Brevard, Oskar Blues welcomes 70 killer breweries from around the country that put their best liquid in cans. In addition to plenty

TASTE YOUR WAY THROUGH NELSON 29

A Virginia craft beverage trail featuring 4 wineries + 2 breweries + 1 distillery Register to win a Nelson 29 getaway | 800-282-8223 | NELSON29.COM

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B LU E R I D G E O U T D O O R S | M AY 2 0 1 9

We Summer Festival Summer Salute Festival August August 23–24, 2019

Lonestar Rodeo Lonestar Rodeo August 16-17 , 2019 August 2019

Kelly Green Kelly Little Green Men Days Men August 16-17, 2019 August 2019

Intertribal PowWow Wow Intertribal Pow September 7-8,2019 2019 September 7-8,

PATRICK COUNTY PRESENTS

Hoptown Festival&& Hoptown Harvest Harvest Festival Bourbon Mashoree Bourbon Mashoree September 27-29,2019 2019 September 27-29,

Harvest Praise Praise Harvest AtChristian Christian Way Farm At Farm October 19, 2019 October 2019

Festivals.

Come Come for for aa festival, festival, stay stay for for the the rich rich history history and and southern southern hospitality we are known hospitality we are known for for in in Hopkinsville, Hopkinsville, KY. KY. Our Our friends friends call call us us Hoptown.

Hoptown.

See See you you soon, soon, friend! friend!

Www.visithopkinsville.com Www.visithopkinsville.com 270-887-2300 270-887-2300

AUG. 29TH - SEPT. 1ST

FRONT PORCH FEST 11 DONNA THE BUFFALO THE LARRY KEEL EXPERIENCE DANGERMUFFIN THE LEE BOYS YARN BIG DADDY LOVE DR. BACON LITTLE STRANGER FIRESIDE COLLECTIVE URBAN SOIL THE JUDY CHOPS AND MANY MORE

VOTED MOST FAMILY-FRIENDLY FESTIVAL

VISIT

FRONTPORCHFEST.COM FOR MORE INFO

BY BLUE RIDGE OUTDOORS

M AY 2 0 1 9 | B LU E R I D G E O U T D O O R S . C O M

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of imbibing, the weekend features live tunes, onsite camping, and lots of outdoor playtime, including organized races and opportunities to spin your wheels at the ranch’s mountain bike park.

TICKETS ON SALE NOW!

BURNINGCAN.COM

Smith River Fest

Front Porch Fest

AXTON, VA. • AUGUST 10

S T U A R T, V A . • A U G U S T 2 9 – SEPTEMBER 1

Experience the best of the Smith River with a full day of paddling, fishing, running, and biking, along with vendor booths, live music, and fun for the whole family. The fest takes place at the Smith River Sports Complex near Martinsville. VISITMARTINSVILLE.COM

PITTSBORO, N.C. • AUGUST 8-10

North Carolina’s Big Something hosts a three-day, multi-band blowout at Shakori Hills Community Arts Center.

THEBIGWHAT.COM

JUN 20

WHEELS OF SOUL 2019 TOUR

TEDESCHI TRUCKS BAND BLACKBERRY SMOKE SHOVELS & ROPE

JUL 17

SAMMY HAGAR’S FULL CIRCLE JAM TOUR NIGHT RANGER MAY 31

LAKE STREET DIVE THE WOOD BROTHERS JUN 8

SOJA SUBLIME WITH ROME COMMON KINGS JUL 20

BRUCE HORNSBY & THE NOISEMAKERS AMOS LEE

Railbird Festival L E X I N G T O N . K Y. • A U G U S T 1 0 - 1 1

Kelly little green man days K E L LY , K Y . • A U G U S T 1 6 - 1 7

Did aliens invade this small Kentucky town in 1955? Whether you believe "The Kelly Incident" occurred or not, you can still celebrate the local legend with this fun festival featuring live music, rides, and activities for all ages. KELLYKY.COM

JUN 23

SARAH McLACHLAN

The country’s premiere jam marathon returns for its seventh straight year, blowing it out with Tedeschi Trucks Band, Trey Anastasio, Bob Weir and Wolf Bros., Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit, and many more.

LIZ PHAIR JUN 25

DISPATCH

ANDERSON EAST JUN 29

BEN HARPER & THE INNOCENT CRIMINALS TROMBONE SHORTY & ORLEANS AVENUE JESSY WILSON AUG 22

BIG HEAD TODD AND THE MONSTERS TOAD THE WET SPROCKET

UB40

JUN 30

SEP 1

NAS

JENNIFER HUDSON

ILLMATIC - 25TH ANNIVERSARY

NATIONAL SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA JUL 14

FEATURING ALI CAMPBELL & ASTRO

SHAGGY

NATIONAL SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA SEP 5

SHERYL CROW JUL 18

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ARRINGTON, VA • AUGUST 22-25

LOCKNFESTIVAL.COM

Meet the Mountains Festival J O H N S O N C I T Y, T E N N . • A U G U S T 23-24

The motto of this emerging festival is “Adventure for Everybody,” and that includes exploring the best of northeast Tennessee by boat, bike, or boot. Activities and entertainment take place at Founders Park in downtown Johnson City, as well as in the surrounding mountains. MTMFEST.COM

RTE 23 Music Festival WISE, VA. • AUGUST 24

Head to the mountains of southwest Virginia for this one-day fest at the University of Virginia’s College at Wise, featuring the Fritz, C2 & the Brothers Reed, and 49 Winchester.

RTE23MUSICFESTIVAL.COM

15 MILES FROM DC IN VIENNA, VA B LU E R I D G E O U T D O O R S | M AY 2 0 1 9

F R O N T R OYA L , VA . • AU G U S T 3 0 – SEPTEMBER 1

Celtic-minded string outfit Scythian hosts this three-day roots music festival at Skyline Ranch Resort in Front Royal.

APPALOOSAFESTIVAL.COM

MAINSTREETBUSKERFEST.COM

Lockn’ Music Festival

PAT BENATAR & NEIL GIRALDO MELISSA ETHERIDGE

Appaloosa Festival

RAILBIRDFEST.COM

JUL 28

NATIONAL SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA AUG 3

FRONTPORCHFEST.COM

Abingdon Main Street BuskerFest

JUL 24

SAMANTHA FISH

Nestled in the Blue Ridge, this family-friendly music and camping fest takes place on the picturesque Spirit Haven Farm in Patrick County. Line-up: Dangermuffin, the Lee Boys, Yarn, and many more regional roots artists.

Looking strong out of the gate, this new festival at the Grounds at Keeneland will feature sets by Hozier, the Raconteurs, Brandi Carlile, Tyler Childers, and many more.

BUDDY GUY KENNY WAYNE SHEPHERD BAND

REBA McENTIRE

F L O Y D C O U N T Y, V A . • A U G U S T 2 9 – SEPTEMBER 1

Approaching its eighth year, the Floyd Yoga Jam is a four-day celebration of yoga, art, and music. FLOYDYOGAJAM.NET

The Big What Festival

TRAMPLED BY TURTLES DEER TICK

Floyd Yoga Jam

ABINGDON, VA. • AUGUST 31

Street performers of all stripes are the main event at this festival in downtown Abingdon.

Hopscotch Festival RALEIGH, N.C. • SEPTEMBER 5-7

An eclectic mix of indie rock and experimental acts converge in downtown Raleigh for this annual festival. HOPSCOTCHMUSICFEST.COM

North Carolina Folk Festival GREENSBORO, N.C. • SEPTEMBER 6-8

A big party in the streets of Greensboro celebrates folk music in its many forms. The line-up is still to be announced but expect a wide array of authentic sounds from bluegrass and jazz to zydeco, blues, and world music. NCFOLKFESTIVAL.COM

Mountain Song Festival BREVARD, N.C. • SEPTEMBER 6-8

Hosted by hometown favorites the Steep Canyon Rangers, this festival features a weekend of spectacular bluegrass at the Brevard Music Center’s open-air auditorium.

MOUNTAINSONGFESTIVAL.COM

Moon River Music Festival C H AT TA N O O G A , T E N N . • SEPTEMBER 7-8

Tennessee tunesmith Drew Holcomb hosts his annual home-state festival at Coolidge Park in Chattanooga’s scenic North Shore District. Holcomb and his band the Neighbors will perform in a special collaboration called Goodbye Road with help from Johnnyswim and Penny & Sparrow, alongside headliners Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit, Brandi Carlile, and St. Paul and the Broken Bones.

Taste of the Mountains Main Street Festival

MOONRIVERFESTIVAL.COM

MADISON, VA. • AUGUST 31

Smoky Mountain Elk Fest

Head to central Virginia for this fun small-town festival that features local crafts and food.

MADISONVA.COM

M A G G I E V A L L E Y, N . C . • S E P T E M B E R 13-15

A new festival created to celebrate the

TICKETED SHOWS, Mishler Theatre FRIDAY EVENING

The Clarks

Altoona First

Altoona First

with Bill Kirchen

SATURDAY EVENING

Steep Canyon Rangers with Elizabeth AMERICANA Cook

MUSIC TICKETS: $25/$60 EACH NIGHT www.mishlertheatre.org

GREAT

BEER FREE SHOWS, Heritage Plaza, Downtown Altoona FOOD Saturday afternoon, Noon to 6 p.m.

TRUCKS

4 FRIDAY, JULY 26 & SATURDAY, JULY 27

BANDS

FOOD

TRUCKS

CRAFT

BEER

FOR INFORMATION: www.firstfrontierfestival.com

Altoona, PA

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5TH ANNUAL

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B LU E R I D G E O U T D O O R S | M AY 2 0 1 9

reintroduction of elk to the Great Smoky Mountains; this event at the Maggie Valley Festival Grounds will feature educational hikes and elk tours, as well local crafts, food, and live music. SMOKYMTNELKFEST.COM

Gauley Fest S U M M E R S V I L L E , W.V A . • S E P T E M B E R 1 9 - 2 2

Started back in the early 80s to celebrate the derailment of a dam project that would have disrupted flows of the mighty Gauley, this event brings together class V whitewater runs, live music, and a big boater hang as the largest paddling festival in the world. AMERICANWHITEWATER.ORG

Watermelon Park Fest BERRYVILLE, VA. • SEPTEMBER 19-22

This small Americana gathering in Berryville features an impressive line-up of acts along the scenic Shenandoah River. WATERMELONPARKFEST.COM

Carolina Fall WILKESBORO, N.C. • SEPTEMBER 20-21

The Kruger Brothers host this emerging Americana festival in downtown Wilkesboro. In addition to headlining sets by the fest founders, catch Balsam Range, Chatham County Line, Baucom & Jones, and many more. CAROLINAINTHEFALL.ORG

Best Roots Revival

Bristol Rhythm and Roots Reunion BRISTOL, TENN./VA. • SEPTEMBER 20-22

Straddling the Tennessee/Virginia border, Bristol holds distinction as the true “Birthplace of Country Music,” where the Carter Family and Jimmie Rodgers made some of their first recordings in the 1920s. Every fall the small Southern city celebrates this lineage of roots music through a lively street fest that incorporates artists from many generations.

This annual gala features a range of acts from national

headliners to regional upstarts to down home Appalachian pickers playing along the bustling main drag of State Street on more than 20 stages. This year the festival will feature sets from Wynonna Judd, St. Paul & the Broken Bones, Patty Griffin, Caamp, Sam Bush, Ruston Kelly, Marty Stuart, and many more. BIRTHPLACEOFCOUNTRYMUSIC.ORG/FESTIVAL

Asheville Van Life Rally ASHEVILLE, N.C. • SEPTEMBER 20-22

Celebrate the culture of van life at the June Bug Retro Resort, located 15 minutes outside of Asheville in Weaverville. The two-night campout will include live music, food trucks, a kids’ area, and plenty of space to enjoy the variety of adventure vehicles. ASHEVILLEVANLIFE.COM

Flow Fest CHARLOTTE, N.C. • SEPTEMBER 21-22

Head to the U.S. National Whitewater Center for a wellness weekend of yoga, live tunes, and wine and kombucha tasting. This festival also features a trail race, climbing comp, and SUP yoga on the Catawba River. USNWC.ORG

FloatLife Fest ASHEVILLE AND BREVARD, N.C. • SEPTEMBER 26-29

Back for a third straight year, this festival hosted by Southern Raft Supply is a fun time for Onewheel riders of all levels, featuring races, comps, and music at different sites in both Asheville and Brevard. FLOATLIFEFEST.COM

World Chicken Festival L O N D O N , K Y. • S E P T E M B E R 2 6 - 2 9

Celebrating 30 years, this event in downtown London honors a Southern culinary staple, with delicious fried chicken served alongside a hearty helping of country music.

CHICKENFESTIVAL.COM

Hoopla ROSELAND, VA. • SEPTEMBER 27-29

Surrounded by scenic ridgelines in the central Virginia Blue Ridge, Devils Backbone Brewing Company Basecamp Brewpub and Meadows is the place to be for a long weekend of live music and camping, as well as plenty of delicious craft beers and organized runs and rides. This year’s line-up includes Caamp, Aaron Lee Tasjan, Larry Keel Explosion, Robert Walter’s 20th Congress, and many more. DBBREWINGCOMPANY.COM

Wide Open Bluegrass RALEIGH, N.C. • SEPTEMBER 27-28

Catch some mighty fine picking and singing at this two-day festival, which closes the International Bluegrass Music Association’s World of Bluegrass Week in downtown Raleigh. Line-up still TBD. WIDEOPENBLUEGRASS.COM

Graham Parsons Guitar Pull and Tribute Festival WAYC R O S S , G A . • S E P T E M B E R 2 7 - 2 8

True country fans should not miss this tribute to one of the genre’s greatest songwriters. The spirit of the late legend will be revived with performances by the Kentucky Headhunters, Firefall, and many more. STGDFEST.COM

West Virginia Roadkill Cook-off M A R L I N T O N , W.V A . • S E P T E M B E R 2 8

Ready to try biscuits and squirrel gravy or teriyakimarinated bear? Then head to this nationally known festival in the Mountain State, where you can sample a plethora of asphalt-induced delicacies. PCCOCWV.COM

The Festy Experience CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA. • OCTOBER 11-13

This annual festival, always stacked with Americana and

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For the outdoor enthusiast in all of us, Gaston County offers peaceful trails for you to explore, some of them on the water. Let us help you unplug this weekend and connect you with our County’s numerous natural experiences. Stop by our Visitors Center or call us today for a FREE Blueways Trail map.

620 N. Main St., Belmont, NC | 704-825-4044 | #gogaston | gogaston.org

GASTON COUNTY, NC

GO GASTON. GET OUTSIDE.

bluegrass heroes, will celebrate its 10th anniversary. More info will be announced soon. THEFESTY.COM

Best Adventure Fest Go Outside Festival

ROANOKE, VA. • OCTOBER 18-20

Roanoke is a mountain sports mecca in the Blue Ridge.

The abundance of recreation opportunities in the Roanoke Valley are spotlighted at this annual fest, which turns River’s Edge Sports Complex into an adventure playground filled with running, biking, climbing, slacklining, paddling, and fishing. Packed with more than 100 activities and events, the festival features a dozen races and comps, including a halfmarathon, beer relay, kid’s bike race, and a family friendly super hero-costumed 5K. ROANOKEGOFEST.COM

The Moonshiner’s Ball M T V E R N O N , K Y. • O C T O B E R 1 0 - 1 3

This fest always features an interesting mix of bluegrass, indie folk, and alt-country. The backwoods bash now takes place at the Rockcastle Riverside campground and concert venue in the Daniel Boone National Forest. Line-up TBA. THEMOONSHINERSBALL.COM

Richmond Folk Festival RICHMOND, VA. • OCTOBER 11-13

Celebrate the rich roots of American culture through music, dance, storytelling, and food at this yearly Richmond staple born out of this city’s previous reign as the host of the National Folk Festival. Lineup and events TBA. RICHMONDFOLKFESTIVAL.ORG

Sierra Nevada Oktoberfest MILLS RIVER, N.C. • OCTOBER 12

Find your lederhosen and get ready to party with festbier, feasting, and dancing at Sierra Nevada in Mills River.

SIERRANEVADA.COM

highlands food and Wine Festival HIGHLANDS, N.C. • NOVEMBER 7-10

Highlands Food and Wine Festival is a boutique festival located in one of the most quaint, unique mountain towns that North Carolina has to offer.

HIGHLANDSFOODANDWINE.COM

Balsam Range Art of Music Festival LAKE JUNALUSKA, N.C. •

DECEMBER 5-7

Some bands just don’t want festival season to end. Awardwinning bluegrass outfit Balsam Range hosts this annual multi-band event, which also features instrument and dance workshops, at Stuart Auditorium in Lake Junaluska.

BALSAMRANGEARTOFMUSICFESTIVAL.COM

fest finds

4 acts to catch on the southern festival circuit

BY JEDD FERRIS

Part of the fun of festivals is finding new favorite bands. Check out these four acts playing music bashes in the region.

The Allman Betts Band Fans of the Allman Brothers Band should take notice of this family offshoot carrying the legacy forward of the Southern blues explorers. As the name suggests, the Allman Betts

THE SOUL REBELS

Band features the progeny of original Allman Brothers members, including Devon Allman (son of Gregg) and Duane Betts (son of Dickey). Together the guitarists will embark on a massive tour this summer, honoring the 50th anniversary of the Allman Brothers by playing classics like “Blue Sky” and “One Way Out,” while also diving into new material from the forthcoming album of originals, Down To the River. APPEARING AT: Back Home Festival and Lockn’ Festival

Della Mae Speaking of the Allman Brothers, the Grammy-nominated bluegrass quartet Della Mae crush an acoustic version of “Whipping Post” on the new Butcher Shoppe EP. Lead singer Celia Woodsmith brings a throaty intensity to match the original’s vocals but Kimber Ludiker’s sweet fiddle lines give the staple a pastoral reimagining. Another standout, “Bourbon Hound,” is a ragtime romp with fiery solos that land between lyrics celebrating brown-water-fueled fun.

Following the departure of guitarist Courtney Hartman, the group gets some help on the new effort from Molly Tuttle and Alison Brown. As this band of quick pickers finds new footing, they’re heading in a promising direction. APPEARING AT: Red Wing Roots Music Festival

The Yawpers Named after a line in a Walt Whitman poem and coming off a concept album (2017’s Boy in a Well) about a tragedy set in World War II-era France, the Yawpers are a Colorado-based garage-blues trio that combines distortion with thoughtprovoking depth. Using a bass-free, two-guitar-and-drums attack, the band delivers raw rockabilly grooves, primitive Delta callbacks, and full-throttle punk workouts, led by front man Nate Cook’s howling vocals and angst-releasing lyrics.

Human Question, the band’s third effort for the insurgent country label Bloodshot Records, expands the band’s righteously ragged, roots-driven sound even further; from the juke-joint boogie of “Child of Mercy” to the gospelfueled “Carry Me.” APPEARING AT: FloydFest

The Soul Rebels If you appreciate a proper blast of New Orleans brass, this eight-piece ensemble always delivers. Well versed in

traditional Crescent City sounds, the Soul Rebels also like to branch out from their roots, using powerful horn lines to play brass-band-style covers of beloved pop, rock, and hip-hop songs. At the big band’s energetic live shows, crowds can be dancing to a funky second-line groove one minute, then singing along to Daft Punk’s “Get Lucky” or the Eurythmics’ “Sweet Dreams” the next. The group’s ability to incorporate a wide breadth of musical styles has led to collaborations with a diverse range of artists—from Nas and Macklemore & Ryan Lewis to Pretty Lights and Marilyn Manson. When home, the band plays a weekly residency at New Orleans’ Le Bon Temps Roule, but they’ve been traveling around the world to play festivals, including some notable events this summer in the South. APPEARING AT: Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival and Lockn’ Festival

festival gear Sonic adventures require the right equipment. Let BRO tune you in to the best gear for multi-day festivals.

Topo Designs River Short Cool and comfortable shorts are key when you’re hopping from stage to stage. Topo’s River Shorts—available for men and women—are made with breathable, water-repellent nylon that offers two-way stretch to keep you mobile. Another essential feature: the zippered back pocket that keeps your keys, cash, and cards secure when you’re busting a move. $79; topodesigns.com

California Cowboy High Water Shirt It's more than a well-made reboot of the classic Aloha shirt.

Beyond a stylish summer print, the shirt— hand-sewn in M AY 2 0 1 9 | B LU E R I D G E O U T D O O R S . C O M

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Cherokee’s Memorial Day Trout Tournament: May 25–26 VisitCherokeeNC.com VisitCherokeeNC.com

The Tim Hill Memorial Trout Tournament: July 12–13 The Qualla Country Trout Tournament: September 6–7 Rumble in the Rhododendron Fly-Fishing Tournament: November 2–3 VisitCherokeeNC.com | 800.438.1601

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This is our RUSH HOUR

MAY 17–19, 2019

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B LU E R I D G E O U T D O O R S | M AY 2 0 1 9

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Santa Ana— has a secure sunglasses loop and two unique pockets: one made to hold a bottle and another with lining to keep your phone dry. The best addition, though, is the built-in towel that will soak up sweat when you’re dancing under the Southern sun. $135; californiacowboy.com

Hydro Flask 32 oz. Wide Mouth Don’t waste your money on an overpriced plastic bottle of water at a concession stand. Most festivals these days have free water filling stations, so be ready with Hydro Flask’s Wide Mouth. The bottle’s prograde stainless steel is a healthier way to hydrate, and the 32-ounce size option is extremely durable, with double-wall insulation, so it will keep your liquid of choice cold for 24 hours. You also get additional insulation from the savvy lid, and a rubber handle that makes transport easy. $39.95; hydroflask.com

Sunski Topeka Drop your shades in a festival crowd and they’re likely gone for good. Fortunately Sunski makes relatively inexpensive performance sunglasses that feature high-quality polarized lenses that will cut the glare when you’re trying to find a sightline of the main stage. The newly released Topeka has an extremely lightweight frame and subtle rubber grips around the nose, so you can bob your head to the groove without worry. $68; sunski.com

Sierra Designs Frontcountry Bed 35 Duo With drum circles and that drunk dude howling at the moon,

getting a good night’s sleep in Tent City isn’t always easy. Sierra Designs comes to the rescue with the Frontcountry Bed, a zipper-free sleeping bag that provides some of the comforts of home, including an integrated comforter and foot vents when you need a little circulation.

Earplugs not included. $199.95; sierradesigns.com

UCO Gear Beta Headlamp No need to stumble in the darkness on the way back to your tent. The Beta is a nicely priced headlamp that features four brightness settings and an impressively long battery life—70 hours on three AAAs. Plus the trippy strap patterns will give you some festival flair. $24.99; ucogear.com

FITS Light Hiker Mini-Crew Socks These lightweight American-made socks—mostly merino wool with a blend of quick-drying synthetics—are all about conforming to the contours of your feet; with gradual compression that doesn’t allow blister-inducing movement.

They’re also made with extra cushioning in the heel, arch, and toe, providing much-needed padding for staying nimble on trails or the festival grounds. $19.99; fitssock.com

Forsake Men’s Maddox and Women’s Maya A mix of support and breathability—just what you want for a festival shoe. The Forsake Men’s Maddox and Women’s Maya are both made with a nylon knit that’s all about airflow, while the ridged rubber soles are gritty enough for both day hikes or stomping along to your favorite bluegrass band. $114.95; forsake.com

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earn your

T

he Southern Appalachians have their share of trails: bike trails, hiking trails, paddle trails—and thanks to the craft brewery boom, an abundance of beer trails. Explore multiple breweries, wineries, and distilleries while also enjoying quick access to some of the South’s best adventures.

BREWLY NOTED BEER TRAIL

TENNESSEE/VIRGINIA—48 MILES

The Tri-Cities of Johnson City, Kingsport and Bristol have become a celebrated beer hub, and the Brewly Noted Beer Trail links several craft breweries together—with East Tennessee’s best hiking and mountain biking just a stone’s throw away.

Start in the very hip downtown Johnson City Brewing Company. With a little luck, you’ll have the chance to try JCBC’s Community Brew, which uses hops gathered from customers. Then hit Yee-Haw Brewing Company, in the renovated Tweetsie Train Depot, for an Eighty Shilling Scottish Ale, which is all malty goodness in a sessionable 5% ABV. Cruise through downtown Kingsport for a stop at Sleepy Owl Brewery, which got its start through a successful Kickstarter campaign.

Then grab a Mex-I-Can Backfire, an easy drinking Mexican-style lager, at Studio Brew in Bristol, and buy your designated driver one of Studio’s homemade Big E’Z’ Root Beers. Wander over to the

brew B Y G R A H A M AV E R I L L A N D M A S O N A D A M S

one-year-old Bristol Brewing, in the historic bus station, and order the Red Neck Amber. Because it’s called “Red Neck Amber.”

Burn Calories: Explore an eight-mile loop in

Warriors’ Path State Park, where singletrack cruises along the shores of Fort Patrick Henry Lake. Watch for the rocky downhill on Boneyard. Head south of town and climb a three-mile loop on Buffalo Mountain, which includes the White Rock Trail, where mountaintop cliff outcroppings provide big views to the east.

HIGH COUNTRY BEER TRAIL

NORTH CAROLINA—40 MILES

Along this 40-mile trail that connects four breweries, you have either lift-served mountain biking or downhill skiing depending on the season, legit peak scrambles, some of the best road biking in the country, and even a bit of bouldering if you’re game.

Blind Squirrel Brewing Company has been knocking out solid beers since 2012. Show up on Saturday and you can take a tour of the brewery.

Bonus: There’s a zipline course and disc golf course on site. Make a pit stop in Banner Elk at Flat Top Brewing for shuffleboard and a pint of Rollcast, a super crisp and refreshing Kolsch.

Get an education in hops at Lost Province Brewery in downtown Boone by ordering the Lost

Province IPA side by side with the Lost Province Mosaic IPA. You’ll see what the addition of specific hop strains can do for a beer. Appalachian Mountain Brewery might be on the outskirts of town, but it’s the center of craft brewing in the High Country. Order anything—it’s all good—but we’re partial to Long Leaf IPA. Less than a mile from AMB, Booneshine Brewing is a tiny brewery without its own taproom. You can watch the gang make beer through the window, then step next door to Basil’s for a sample at their bar.

Burn Calories: Head to Grandfather Mountain State Park for a five-mile hike/rock scramble along the Grandfather Trail to Calloway Peak. Or knock out a 20+ mile road ride that combines a choice piece of the Blue Ridge Parkway (crossing the Lynn Cove Viaduct) and US 221. Rocky Knob Mountain Bike Park, in Boone, has several miles of cross country trails built for progression so you can work on your tabletops, skinnies and drops.

BREW RIDGE TRAIL

VIRGINIA—35 MILES

Nelson County is the epicenter of Virginia’s first craft beer boom, thanks to the pioneering efforts of Starr Hill, Blue Mountain and Devils Backbone. Brewing has grown in the county, and now you can link up almost half a dozen breweries via a scenic mountain M AY 2 0 1 9 | B LU E R I D G E O U T D O O R S . C O M

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INTRODUCING

SOUR

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the Appalachian Trail, where you can head north to the Priest or south to Spy Rock, which presents 360-degree views.

THE BEERWERKS TRAIL VIRGINIA—80 MILES

DEVILS BACKBONE IS A BASECAMP FOR A D V E N T U R E AT T H E BASE OF WINTERGREEN M O U N T A I N , VA .

ramble. The hiking isn’t too bad, either.

Kick the trip off in downtown Charlottesville at South Street Brewery and order the easy drinking Satan’s Pony, a malt-driven amber ale. Next, pay homage to Virginia’s first craft brewery: Starr Hill.

They have revamped some of their classic beers and introduced outstanding new IPAs. Jump on their imperial IPA, King of Hop, which is loaded with citrus. Blue Mountain Brewery helped pioneer the new wave of hop farming in Virginia, and you can see the fruits of their labor at their Afton brewery, which houses two expansive hop fields. Wild Wolf Brewing Company’s backyard is a whitefenced beer garden set among the hardwoods—a

perfect road trip distraction. Wild Wolf also runs a farm to fork restaurant that gets most of their ingredients within 30 miles. And finish the day at Devils Backbone Brewing Company’s basecamp in Roseland, a picturesque adventure hub near the Blue Ridge Parkway.

Burn Calories: Detour onto the Blue Ridge Parkway

and climb Humpback Rocks, a fin of rock with killer views that come after 800 feet of climbing in one mile. Skyline Drive is also nearby for cyclists. Hikers should not miss Crabtree Falls, a series of five major cascades and several smaller ones that plunge 1,200 feet. For more of a challenge, keep going to

The only problem with the Shenandoah Valley?

There’s so much to take in, it can be hard to focus.

You have the Shenandoah River running through the heart of the pastoral valley, which is framed by the rugged peaks of the George Washington and Jefferson National Forest, as well as Shenandoah National Park. You’ve got the A.T., the best mountain biking in Virginia, paddling, road cycling…and now beer. A dozen breweries are scattered along the valley’s new Beerwerks Trail. We’ve picked a few highlights to help you focus.

Great Valley Farm Brewery is a small farm brewery located on 27 acres in the Natural Bridge area specializing in producing beers in the Belgian farmhouse tradition.

You have five breweries to choose from between Waynesboro and Staunton. Hit Seven Arrows Brewing on your way to Stable Craft Brewing, which operates a working hop and horse farm on the site of the brewery.

Harrisonburg has become a hotbed of beer, so prepare for a quick walking tour that takes in four breweries. Brothers Craft Brewing, on the north end of town, is in an old Coca-Cola plant. Then hit Wolfe Street, Three Notch’d and finish at Pale Fire.

LOCKN’ Music Festival

August 22-25, 2019 Going to LOCKN’? Enjoy a nice soft bed in our beautiful city and shuttle to and from the festival grounds as Brew Ridge Tours does all the driving!

Visit our LYH Legacy Events section at lynchburgvirginia.org for more on where to stay and shuttle services.

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Burn Calories: Head into Shenandoah National

Park and tackle the road climb on the southern end of Skyline Drive that gains more than 1,000 feet in 10 miles on its way to the top of Loft Mountain. Or get a trail pass from Shenandoah Valley Bicycle Coalition and knock out a couple of dirty loops on Massanutten’s rugged Western Slope, just outside of downtown.

VIRGINIA’S BLUE RIDGE CHEERS TRAIL VIRGINIA—70 MILES

Deschutes’s East Coast expansion brewery solidified Roanoke as a beer capital. The new Blue Ridge Cheers Trail connects 30 breweries, wineries, and spirits producers operating in and around Star City.

Named after the city that sits 300 feet below the surface of Smith Mountain Lake, Sunken City Brewing Company is a small, 25-barrel brewpub with a killer taproom and beer garden near the shore of the lake. A rotating list of food trucks, live music, and the occasional cornhole tournament makes Chaos Mountain Brewing Company a lively pit stop.

Soaring Ridge Craft Brewers, downtown Roanoke’s first craft brewery, has become a community center thanks to regular yoga classes, game nights, and family fun days. You can walk from Soaring Ridge to Big Lick Brewing Company, a nano-brewery that manages to put out an impressively diverse lineup, many of which are named after local personalities.

Then head out of town and into the mountains for the Flying Mouse Brewery, a brewery that’s within

walking distance of the Appalachian Trail and directly on the TransAmerica 76 Bicycle Route.

Burn Calories: Head straight for the A.T.'s McAfee

Knob, and the best Instagram post of your week is nearby. Or paddle a piece of Smith Mountain Lake’s 500 miles of shoreline. Bridgewater Marina has paddle boards ($60 a day). Road cyclists will find plenty of loops on and off the Blue Ridge Parkway, while paddlers can explore numerous blueway networks along the James, Blackwater, Pigg, and New rivers.

Explore Park, on the edge of downtown, offers 1,100 acres and 14 miles of mountain biking and trail running. Or head to Mill Mountain for a mix of greenways and purpose-built singletrack overlooking downtown.

LOCO ALE TRAIL

VIRGINIA—30 MILES (BY BIKE)

Loudoun County (LoCo) is best known as Virginia’s wine country, but the area now has 17 breweries churning out beer in the midst of rolling farms. While it might be tempting (and a bit dangerous) to hit all 17 breweries in a single trip, we recommend you focus your efforts by grabbing a bike and knocking out a handful of breweries along the Washington and Old Dominion Trail, which runs from D.C. to Purcellville. A 30-mile one-way ride on the trail will run you by half a dozen breweries. Here are the highlights.

Beltway Brewing Company was built to be a contract brewery, producing beers for breweries all

over the region. Their small taproom is a showcase for the beers brewed on the premises, so you never know what you’ll get, but the diversity is usually impressive. Located at mile 25 on the W&OD, Old Ox Brewery is a cyclist’s retreat known for impromptu cornhole tournaments. Order the Black Ox, a rye porter that balances the roast character of the porter with the spice of the rye-heavy malt bill. You can knock out two breweries within a couple of blocks of each other at the halfway point in Leesburg, Va. Crooked Run Brewing is a low-key nano-brewery with five rotating taps. Stroll over to Loudoun Brewing Company for a pint of their flagship Loud and Brewing, which is all about the Cascade and Chinook hops (loudonbrewing.com), on their shady deck.

On Purcellville’s Main Street, and near the end of the W&OD, Belly Love Brewing has a fairly swanky taproom with solid pub fare (bellylovebrewing.com).

Bonus: If you still have legs, you can tack on two more breweries in Purcellville—Corcoran Brewing and Adroit Theory.

ASHEVILLE ALE TRAIL

NORTH CAROLINA—2-60 MILES

Asheville still reigns as Appalachia’s beer city. Sierra Nevada Brewing Co. and New Belgium Brewing Company both built hubs in Asheville because of the mountain mecca’s bubbling local scene.

The Asheville Ale Trail includes 20 breweries—13 in Asheville, and seven others in nearby mountain hamlets like Black Mountain, Waynesville,

GEOCACHE. LOVEWORKS. PARADE. FESTIVALS. DETAILED INFO EXPLORESCOTTCOUNTYVA.ORG 276-386-2561

M AY 2 0 1 9 | B LU E R I D G E O U T D O O R S . C O M

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Hendersonville, and Franklin. Highland Brewing Company is the godfather of craft beer brewing and beer culture and Western North Carolina, and it’s still family-owned. Wicked Weed, Burial Brewing, Green Man Brewing, Hi-Wire Brewing, One World Brewing, and Twin Leaf Brewing are also must-visit stops in downtown Asheville. Asheville Brewing’s north location has an indoor cinema and game room. And The Wedge Brewing Company’s two riverside locations are popular paddling and tubing hangouts—and also popular post-workout hubs for runners. Pisgah Brewing in Black Mountain has a fantastic live music scene, and Lazy Hiker Brewing in Franklin is worth the drive.

BLACK ANGEL IS A S I G N AT U R E O F F E R I N G FROM WICKED WEED IN ASHEVILLE, N.C.

Richmond Beer Trail: Virginia’s River City has

Burn calories: The 30.1-mile Art Loeb Trail delivers

vista after panorama after scenic view. If you catch Black Balsam in season, grab handfuls of wild blueberries along the trail for an on-the-go snack.

Take along Charles Frazier’s Cold Mountain to read for context as you crest that particular summit. Bike classic singletrack at Kitsuma, or head south for Mills River, Turkeypen, and the Davidson River.

More Beer Trails...

Kentucky Brewgrass Trail: The Kentucky Brewgrass Trail will give you a firsthand education in central Kentucky’s burgeoning craft beer scene. The 14 breweries located in or near Lexington offer a chance to appreciate the beermaking skills of a region more known for its bourbon. In fact, bourbon-

within a few blocks of each another. This brew trail covers a lot of ground, too, with mountains pocketed with public lands and destinations for hiking, biking, paddling, climbing and more. For an extended exploration of what this region has to offer, make this beer trail literal by linking up a few breweries with an extended hike on the Appalachian Trail.

barrel stout was popularized in this metro area long before it became a staple on beer store shelves.

The Brewgrass Trail distinguishes itself with multiple interactive challenges involving finding murals or all 10 “Big Lex” blue horse statues hidden throughout the city. It also offers an 11-mile cycling tour of Lexington’s history, which stretches back to colonial America and ties to mountain explorer Daniel Boone.

Southwest Virginia Mountain Brew Trail: The

Southwest Virginia Mountain Brew Trail guides you to 21 distinct breweries, nearly all southwest of Roanoke, Virginia. The diverse array of brewers demonstrates Appalachian Virginia’s beer-making mastery, from small farm operations in the New River Valley to a quartet of Bristol breweries located

become a craft brewing hotspot that befits its history as the first place where beer was sold in a can back in 1935. The Richmond Beer Trail will lead you to 33 different breweries, from the Answer Brewpub on West Broad Street all the way to Väsen Brewing Company on West Moore Street. Despite the name, this isn’t just a beer trail, either, with wineries and distilleries also among the listings. While in Richmond, enjoy outdoor adventure in a more urban setting with a paddling trip on the James River.

YoCo Brew Trail: YoCo Brew Trail runs through

seven craft brew destinations in York County, South Carolina, just south of Charlotte. The brewers on the trail reflect their individual neighborhoods with architecture, beer names, and community activities that tie them deeply to their community. For visitors, there’s no better way to get to know the county than to explore its breweries and rub shoulders with locals. The Visit York County tourism office offers a smartphone app that makes finding them easy.

While in town, check out how the county looks from the treetops with a Canaan Zipline Canopy Tour, or take a kayak trip on the Catawba River.

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MAY 24-26

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Dine at restaurants serving up cutting-edge cuisine, shop dozens of specialty shops and experience galleries & theaters. History enthusiasts seek out Civil War battlefields, museums, and memorable sites. Wander picturesque mountain trails in National & State parks. Sip and sample at dozens of wineries, breweries & distilleries.

VISITFREDERICK.ORG • 800-999-3613

Cider, Wine, and Spirits Trails

Looking for more than beer? These cider, wine, and spirits trails are also located close to adventure:

Virginia’s Beer, Wine, and Shine Trail:

Virginia’s Beer, Wine and Shine Trail stands out as one of the densest booze trails in the Southeast, with a cluster of choices in the Tidewater region. Stretching from Virginia Beach to New Kent County, the trail includes 29 breweries, eight distilleries, 10 vineyards and wineries, and one meadery. Yes, there are tasting tours that provide designated drivers so that you don’t have to get behind the wheel. Complement the spirits with a Chesapeake Bay feast for a memorable culinary experience.

While on the coast, check out False Cape State Park. As one of the last undeveloped places on the coast in Hampton Roads, the park can be accessed only by foot, bicycle, or boat.

Kentucky Bourbon Trail: Along with

horses, Kentucky is famous around the world for its bourbon. The Kentucky Bourbon Trail taps into that well-known history by guiding you to 16 indelible distilleries, some with roots that stretch back centuries. The Bourbon Trail’s upstart sibling, the Kentucky Bourbon Trail Craft Tour, takes that tradition and gives it a twist by linking 13 innovative craft distilleries that are reimagining what spirits can be. Pair the two for an experience that explores the past, present, and future of distilling in America. For a completely different sort of sensory experience, visit Mammoth Cave National Park, which is home to the longest cave system in the world. Even if caves aren’t your thing, the park also offers 90 miles of above ground trails for hiking, biking and horse riding.

Tennessee Whiskey Trail: Tennessee

whiskey stands with Kentucky bourbon as a quintessentially American spirit.

And by “whiskey” we’re including moonshine in the definition. Legalized corn liquor has caught fire—not literally, as happened with many a mountain still, but in the world of craft liquor. The Tennessee Whiskey Trail explores multiple versions of whiskey by linking roughly 30 distilleries ranging from tiny boutique operations to famous brands with generations under their belts. The whiskey trail also provides a great chance to check out Tennessee’s music heritage and

SOAK IN THE VIEWS FROM V I R G I N I A ' S V I N E YA R D S .

mountain getaways. For an adventure to build up a thirst, run class-III and class-IV whitewater on the Ocoee River, or book a road cycling route along the Natchez Trace Parkway.

Side stop: Headquartered in Kingsport, Tenn., Gypsy Circus is Tennessee's first craft cidery and the Southeast’s most awarded cidery.

Co-founder Aaron Carson had home brewed cider, but never commercially.

On his first attempt, he won a Gold Medal from the International East/ West Wine Competition in California.

After that, he left his corporate job and became a cider maker full time.

Shenandoah Spirits Trail:

Encompassing 27 wineries, craft breweries, cideries, and distilleries between Harrisonburg and Winchester, the Shenandoah Spirits Trail has a little something for everyone. The Shenandoah Valley is soaked in Virginia wine. Harrisonburg, meanwhile, has become a quiet mecca for craft brewers. Convenient to Shenandoah National Park and Skyline Drive to the east and George Washington National Forest to the west, the locations along the Shenandoah Spirits Trail are perfect for cooling down after a romp in the woods.

Nelson 151 Trail: Nestled between

the Shenandoah Valley and Charlottesville, in the shadow of Afton Mountain, the Rockfish Valley is home to five wineries, three breweries, and a cidery. Within just a few miles of one another, you’ll find Bold Rock Hard Cider, Afton Mountain Vineyards, Cardinal Point Vineyard and Distillery, Flying Fox Vineyard, Hilltop Berry Farm and Winery, as well as Devils Backbone Brewing Company, Blue Mountain Brewery, and Wild Wolf Brewing Company.

Allegany County, Maryland. Home to DelFest!

60,000 acres of majestic nature, famous bike trails, historical sites, scenic float trips, and one unbelievable festival to kick off summer.

Featuring The Del McCoury Band, The Travelin’ McCourys, String Cheese Incident, Railroad Earth, Tyler Childers, Billy Strings & Marcus King Band.

May 23-26 Allegany County Fairgrounds

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Indigenous trails

THE UNACKNOWLEDGED HISTORY OF THE LAND BENEATH OUR BOOTS

BY ELLEN KANZINGER

W

hose land are we hiking, biking, climbing, and paddling on? When it comes to the history of public lands and conservation in this country, the indigenous peoples who once occupied those land are often left out of the conversation. Now, several mapping and preservation projects are telling a deeper story of the places where we play.

STARTING THE CONVERSATION

A map tells a story about the relationship between people and the land. Through the key, scale, and compass rose, a map can tell us where we have been and where we are going.

But maps are only as accurate as the cartographer who makes them, often allowing for bias to influence how the map tells the story with labels and what, or who, is included.

Aaron Carapella is working to change the narrative about indigenous peoples in this country through Tribal Nations Maps.

“As a kid, I would go to pow wows or Native American events and museums in California where I grew up,” he said. “I would find really basic maps with 30 or 40 tribes on them, mostly the common ones you would hear if you were watching John Wayne movies.”

Carapella found that most people didn't know the land's indigenous history. A self-taught map maker, Carapella started designing his own set of maps to decolonize the way popular maps of the United States and tribal lands depicted Indigenous Peoples.

“Everyone wants to be represented. We all want to be seen,” he said. “Not in an egotistical or

narcissistic way but recognized as human beings.

This is where we’re from. I was trying to combat some of those other maps that were cheesy with caricatures drawn on them that were culturally incorrect. They would have a Seminole Indian with a headdress on whereas they didn’t dress like that.”

Carapella started out with a map of nations in the United States. Then he started getting comments from people in Canada saying he was using an arbitrary colonial border to cut off a nation from both sides of the border.

As he did more research, Carapella started offering a variety of maps, from Nations of the Western Hemisphere to more localized regional maps. He gives people the option to buy the maps with or without modern-day borders.

One thing especially important to Carapella in the creation of these maps was the use of names.

“Ninety-seven percent of the tribal names that you see are the common or colloquial names that were given either by another tribe or from Europeans,” he said. “Only three percent are the actual original name for themselves. As Europeans moved west, they would ask a tribe, "Who is to the west of you? Who are the next people we are going to encounter? What do you call those people?"

The maps include the commonly known names and traditional names like Ani’yunwi’ya (Cherokee), meaning the principle people, and Diné (Navajo), meaning the people.

“There’s power in taking back your own name for yourself,” Carapella said. “Many tribes' names are specifically tied to whatever area they are from. Our very name is embedded into the place we live.”

For each nation represented on the map, Carapella works to have three sources for the name

A V I E W F R O M W H AT I S T O D AY K N O W N A S C L I N G M A N S D O M E I N G R E AT S M O K Y M O U N TA I N S N AT I O N A L PA R K .

T H E M O U N TA I N I S L O C AT E D O N T H E A N C E S T R A L L A N D O F T H E A N I ' Y U N ' W I YA P E O P L E ( C H E R O K E E ) , W H O K N O W T H E M O U N TA I N A S K U WA ' H I ( T H E M U L L B E R R Y P L A C E ) .

with the primary information coming from a tribal source. He has reached out to around 1,000 nations in the United States and Canada by phone, email, letter, or in person. As new information comes in, he makes sure the maps are as up to date as possible.

“I have this open policy that if I have a map in the incorrect place, the spelling has been changed by the tribe, or I’m missing a band here or there, I will always make regular updates,” Carapella said. “So, these maps have been a mission in progress. The ultimate point is to represent as many people that have been historically underrepresented on maps as possible.”

In 2016, at the time of the Standing Rock opposition to the Dakota Access Pipeline in North Dakota, he released a map detailing all of the proposed pipelines running through tribal homelands.

“There’s never just one pipeline,” Carapella said.

“There’s never just one sacred site being discussed or litigated in court. There are so many pipelines that affect not only Native Peoples and cross Native territories, but it’s an issue for communities in general.”

Although he does sell the maps to cover the cost of printing, Carapella has donated hundreds of maps to museums, underfunded schools, and Boys and Girls Clubs so that the next generation has a better understanding of history and the present.

“They’ll talk about things like immigration, genocide, disease epidemics, which tribes helped in the Revolutionary War and Civil War, and all the different implications of that,” Carapella said. “The maps do prompt a whole lot of conversation.”

The pipeline map is available on Tribal Nations Maps’ website for free download to bring more M AY 2 0 1 9 | B LU E R I D G E O U T D O O R S . C O M

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tribe. These maps are only one small piece of the puzzle of us, as a country, realizing how many native people were here.”

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT AS THE FIRST STEP

awareness to current issues facing Indigenous communities.

“A lot of people look at Native People in a historical sense,” Carapella said. “Native people are still here, living and breathing. There are 100 tribes

right now that are in litigation over pieces of their land. There are tribes that are fighting over sacred sites. There’s always tons of fights to get native people to be represented. It’s positive over time but there’s still lots of struggles. There’s a story to every

Victor Temprano was mapping resource management projects, including pipelines running through traditional lands, when he began to realize that mapping Indigenous territories was a project of its own.

“When I started, it was not that clear what exactly I was mapping,” Temprano said. “Was I mapping territory in 1492? Was I mapping territory today?

You have many of the nations in Oklahoma now that weren’t in Oklahoma. So where should their territories be? Does that mean they’re not living on their own land? There are a lot of questions that go into that.”

Native Land is an interactive website and app that allows users to search by zip code or use geolocation to better understand the people, languages, and treaties that once governed the land they are on and, in many places, are still a part of the landscapes but often go unrecognized.

The overlapping outlines of communities illustrate the complexities involved with mapping Indigenous territories in the sense of what Westerners usually think of when it comes to states and boundaries.

“This is information that actually is about people,” Temprano said. “It matters. When you screw it up, it matters. So, if you draw someone’s territory wrong

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or you incorrectly write their name, that can be pretty harmful to some people and it’s important to pay attention to that.”

At the end of 2018, Native Land Digital became a not-for-profit organization led by an Indigenous Board of Directors.

“Myself, as a settler, it’s kind of a strange space for me to be running this project and in control of all those complicated decisions about who is Indigenous,” Temprano said. “So, I really wanted to have a group of Indigenous People who could debate some of these questions and explore different answers and make decisions about what is appropriate for the map.”

Shauna Johnson was working on her Master's at the University of British Columbia where she met Temprano and learned about the project he was working on.

“I thought it was a really powerful tool,” she said.

“At the time, I was learning about planning history and how land was taken away from First Nations people. Maps and drawing lines on maps was a really big tool that was used to do that. I thought it was a great idea, not only as an educational tool for settlers who don’t really know whose land they’re on, but also to empower the local communities to take the power of mapping and drawing lines into their own hands again.”

Johnson, who is Coast Salish from the Tsawout First Nation on her mother’s side and Tsimshian from Laxkwala’ams on her father’s side, said early explorers and settler governments used maps to invalidate Indigenous People’s claims to their own

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land.

“It was a policy for development by planners to systematically erase them from the land,” she said. “They mapped out where the resources were. They mapped out where Indigenous communities were in relation to those resources. And for the simple reason of wanting to gain profit from resource destruction, they would physically remove them from villages that they have lived in for centuries.”

As a member of the board of directors, Johnson is involved with shaping the future of Native Land.

Moving forward, the board will look at questions of who gets put on the map, how to approach the map in a respectful manner that does not harm communities, and what other educational materials they might want to put out.

“I think the whole intention is to stimulate discussion in talking about the land,” Johnson said. “Whose land are you on? What is the history behind the land? What is the history of how those people got removed or were excluded or essentially erased from their traditional territory? How did that happen and how do we deal with that?”

In many places, national parks that we now use for recreation were created without the consent of the people already living there.

Johnson said that in some cases, park management policies prevent indigenous peoples from ancestral practices such as hunting, fishing, and harvesting cedar.

“A lot of those people still live off of the land and survive off it,” she said.

“It's not just because they have to, but they want to. There are ceremonial practices that are also carried out and having that access to lands that are sacred or culturally important is really important for them.”

The app opens with a disclaimer that the map does not “represent official or legal boundaries of any Indigenous nations” and users should contact individual nations for more information. Temprano makes it clear that the map is not an academic level project and should not be used as such.

However, the Native Land app does help start a conversation about the history of the land. Land acknowledgements are a way of recognizing the people who lived on the land before colonizers pushed them out. This could take many different forms, from a

B LU E R I D G E O U T D O O R S | M AY 2 0 1 9

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spoken acknowledgement at the start of a conference to a written acknowledgment in an Instagram caption.

“It’s a pretty good step because it’s taking something that wasn’t ever visible or spoken and suddenly people are noticing it and trying to pronounce names,” Temprano said.

“Even just thinking about it at all is a positive step. In my opinion, territory acknowledgements are useful early steps, but they can very easily become a token gesture because they don’t cost a lot to do.”

Moving forward, Temprano said the next step is to start forming actual relationships with indigenous peoples and organizations.

“Where are these people that I just acknowledged?” he said. “Where do they live? What is the situation?

Are they fighting for legal rights? Do they have land? What use do they have of their traditional territory? Start asking those types of questions and see if that takes people somewhere.

Because otherwise it just becomes another easy thing to say that has no power and it’s just lip service.”

TELLING THE STORIES

Efforts to reclaim the history and names of Indigenous Peoples extends beyond literal maps of territories.

As a teller of Cherokee stories for more than 30 years, Kathi Littlejohn is reaching a new audience on YouTube with her series Cherokee History & Stories: What Happened Here?

With funding from the Cherokee Preservation Foundation through the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians Tribal Historic Preservation Office, Littlejohn has written and filmed ten short videos that tell a story at or near historic Cherokee sites.

“I am always looking for ways to get other people interested and to learn the stories to tell them themselves,” Littlejohn said.

In one episode, Littlejohn stands on the bank where the Valley and Hiwassee Rivers come together in what is present day Murphy, North Carolina. Cherokee speakers still refer to Murphy as Tlanusi’yi or The Leech Place.

“My biggest hope is to tell the stories and protect those sites,” Littlejohn said. “We literally go past them every day. I wish that people would visit the sites, feel what happened there, and then use the stories in their own lives. I think that anybody that realizes something happened right there gives them a

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deeper understanding of things that are happening now.”

Littlejohn, an enrolled member of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, is now working on another ten videos focused on the Qualla Boundary. With the videos only running around five minutes and free online, she hopes the stories and history will be more accessible to more people, especially Cherokee families.

“People are becoming more aware and thinking history didn’t just start here with us,” Littlejohn said.

“What happened here 180 years ago? What happened 11,000 years ago?”

Lamar Marshall, the cultural heritage director at Wild South, has also been working with the Cherokee Preservation Foundation and the Trail of Tears Association to map Eastern Cherokee trails and create an online database of the history and ecology of the region.

“If you were floating the Little Tennessee River or French Broad River, you’re following what was a Cherokee Trail on both sides of the river,” Marshall said. “Their trails were part of a continental wide network of trails that went from

Hudson Bay to the Gulf of Mexico, from the Atlantic to the Pacific.”

Portions of these trails have become part of the Appalachian and Benton MacKaye Trails, but many have become overgrown or were abandoned. Using old maps and journals for his research, Marshall has also included information about the plants and animals of the area in the early 1700s.

“The ecology was incredible during that time,” he said. “There were buffalo all over the mountain.

You had millions of passenger pigeons that would land in the trees. It wasn’t like the forest we have today. Every third tree in the mountains was an American Chestnut. When it died out, that took out 20 to 30 percent of mast that was in the forest. So, the bear populations were less, the turkeys and deer were less.”

Although he has been working on this project for decades, Marshall said there is still so much to learn.

“You could spend your whole life studying this and you would never even get started on it,” he said.

"There is so much work to be done."

Creek Trail is also a section of the larger Benton MacKaye Trail.

Museum of the Cherokee Indian Cherokee, N.C. Visit the Museum of the Cherokee Indian for more than 11,000 years of history, culture, and stories of the Cherokee people. The museum hosts Heritage Day on the second Saturday of each month with live music, traditional dancing, crafts, and storytelling.

Green Meadows Preserve West Cobb County, Ga. The Cherokee Garden at the Green Meadows Preserve features plants used by the Cherokee people of the region for food, medicine, tools, weapons, and shelter.

Noland Creek Trail Great Smoky Mountains National Park, N.C. Noland Creek Trail connected the Little Tennessee River Trail to Clingmans Dome, known to the Cherokee as Kuwahi or the Mulberry Place. Noland

Trimont Ridge Trail and Bartram Trail to Wayah Bald Franklin, N.C. The trail is maintained and in excellent condition. We recommend beginning at Wayah Bald and following the Bartram Trail route east to Bruce Knob where it leaves the Cherokee trail and ends at the Bartram trailhead at Wallace Creek.

Trail of Tears Ga., Tenn., Ky., Ala., and N.C. There are several sites along the Trail of Tears National Historic Trail open to visitors, including the Hiwassee River Heritage Center, Port Royal State Historic Park, and Mantle Rock Nature Preserve. These sites were stops along the route many indigenous people took during the forced removal from their land.

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No Business 100 THE HISTORY OF THE BIG SOUTH FORK, TOLD OVER 100 MILES

BY MALEE OTT

NOT SO LONG AGO, BLUE HERON MINING WAS FUNNELING COAL TO

cities like Chattanooga and Cincinnati. The mining settlement spread along the Big South Fork of the Cumberland River in southeastern Kentucky was clustered around a tipple capable of screening more than 400 tons of coal in an hour. But the industrious bustle was short-lived. Blue Heron sprang up and disappeared in just 25 years. When the Stearns Coal and Lumber Company cleared out in 1962, the community dissolved, destined to become a ghost town.

A little more than a half century after the last coal cars rattled into Blue Heron, the purpose of the community’s tipple bridge has come full circle.

The barebones remains of the former mining camp are now part of the 125,000-acre Big South Fork National River & Recreation Area, and for the last two years, Blue Heron has served as both start and finish for an annual autumn trail race – the No Business 100 Mile Run. Instead of facilitating the extraction of local resources, the tipple bridge funnels ultraunners into the heart of the Big South Fork on a hundred mile circuit packed with 10,000 years of human history.

“Not enough people know this area. It’s fantastic,” says Brian Gajus, race director for the No Business 100 and founder of Knoxville-based Ultranaut Running. “I thought, why not take people on a journey through the entire park?”

Run clockwise and counter-clockwise in alternating years, the race route sluices through remote corners of the Big South Fork, covering nearly 75 percent of the park shared by Kentucky and Tennessee. The route also delves into adjacent public lands, including the Daniel Boone National Forest and Tennessee’s Pickett State Park, showcasing a landscape suffused with a hundred centuries of human history.

“I wanted to show off the area’s amazing landmarks. But not just natural landmarks. I wanted to take people to some of the spots that have

history,” says Gajus, who began exploring the Big South Fork while in college.

On odd race years, not long after leaving Blue Heron on the Kentucky Trail, runners quickly encounter some of the park’s historic bottomland home sites. After trotting along Troublesome Creek, racers reach a place once known as No Business, the race’s namesake.

“Troublesome, Difficulty, No Business. You can tell just from the names that it was tough,” says Big South Fork Ranger Thomas Safranek. “Two hundred years later, people are still challenging themselves here. That’s the beauty of the race,” says Safranek.

Hardscrabble pioneers bound for the Big South Fork stumbled onto a wild corner of the Cumberland Plateau, a river-carved landscape of precipitous gorges, sandstone bluffs, and hulking rock formations.

“Up on the plateau, it was hard to farm,” says Safranek. Instead, communities like No Business sprang up in the region’s stream-laced bottomlands.

First settled by a land-granted Revolutionary War veteran named Richard Slaven in 1796, No Business hung on until 1960. But, the creek-hugging settlement’s population topped out during the latter part of the nineteenth century, isolation and economic hardship taking a heavy toll. Still, Richard Slaven’s descendants would go on to occupy No Business for its entire 164-year existence.

Settlers like Slaven arrived in the Big South Fork on the heels of more transient explorers, including Daniel Boone. Following Native American footpaths and hacking their way through the wilderness, longhunters began making forays into the region in the late 1700s, when the area was officially Cherokee territory. Some of these early long-hunters stuck around, like Jonathan Blevins.

Between No Business and the Charit Creek Lodge, multiple vestiges of Blevins and his family dot the race route. Near Bandy Creek, the Oscar

Blevins farmstead dates back to 1879, and Charit Creek Lodge, near the race’s midpoint, is also tied to the Blevins family. The Big South Fork’s homey backcountry accommodation began as a hunting camp built by Jonathan Blevins in 1817—and Blevins’ original cabin still forms part of the main lodge.

Race director Brian Gajus admits this is one of his favorite stretches. “The area around Charit Creek Lodge, Twin Arches, and Pickett State Park, there’s maybe a ten mile stretch that’s pretty fantastic. You are running under these huge rockhouses, they’re one after another, and it’s like nothing you’ll find anywhere,” he says.

These geological features are also suffused with history, used by everyone from illicit moonshiners to prehistoric peoples trailing big game. The shelter provided by the rock overhangs – sought after by early peoples and later pioneers – also helped preserve historical artifacts. Archaeologists surveying the Big South Fork have encountered prehistoric spear points, pottery shards dating back three thousand years, and copper coils for moonshining, all squirreled away in the park’s sandstone bluffs.

There are less subtle signs of human encroachment too. North of Charit Creek Lodge, along Rock Creek, runners trace the route of the Stearns Coal & Lumber Company’s former rail line, one of the arteries expediting the extraction of regional resources after the Cincinnati Southern Railroad provided access to the area late in the nineteenth century. Completing the hundred mile lap, racers return to the train depot at Blue Heron, with a ceremonious second crossing of the tipple bridge.

“I’m not sure how much the history means to the runners. They’re here for another reason,” Gajus admits. "But I think they are taking it in. Everyone loves finishing at the bridge. They tell me it’s their favorite finish line.”

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