In the heat of summer we got a adventure with a little bit of a national park feel. There is a little state park tuck up in the Appalachians between Kentucky and Virginia called the Breaks Interstate Park. It calls itself the grand canyon of the south.
We got in during the evening and got good vibe went we checked in at the lodge area. We stayed at the Catawba lodge, which i had mapped out to have a possibility of having good views. The 60’s style lodge was everything thing that I had hoped for with big rooms, rock walls, classic furniture, and epic views. The other lodge were supposedly newer, but this lined up perfectly for us.
We had a quick meal at the cafeteria. Alexis got a massive pizza. Then we tour all the overlooks during the prime sunset session. Clinch Overlook and Stateline overlook did not disappoint one bit.
The next morning the entire gorge was fogged in, but it slowly rose to re-reveal the snake like bend of the river below. The heat of the July set in fairly quickly after left the room. We went for a hike along the geological trail, which would then connect up with the prospector trail. The Geological trail was neat as it showed of some cool tower formations. Along the prospector trail we could see climbing crags every now and then. After a pretty long hike through the entirety of the prospector trail (more of climber access trail, then friendly park trail), top out at the cars again.
We then left the park and visited on the river access areas for some swimming in the russel fork river. Big swimming holes with cool water helped us beat the heat. Before calling it a evening, we stopped and listened to one of the ranger story about pirate treasure in the Appalachia.
The next day, we got a quick climbing session in the sweltering humidity, but shady cliffs of pinnacle rock. We spent most of the time around the Left Pinnacle Rock Cliff, and Froopyland. Then we packed up and head out of Virginia. Long the way back Alexis found a interesting coffee biker beer stop called “back of the dragon” in Tazewell, VA.
