The last few days have been spent winding down the Blue Ridge Parkway, counting down the last week of our journey. We stopped in at the Blue Ridge Music Center just in time for the Friday afternoon bluegrass jam. Unfortunately, neither of us currently play the fiddle or guitar so we weren’t able to join in.

Jammin, Blue Ridge style

Jammin, Blue Ridge style

Later that afternoon we set up camp at Doughton Park by Bluffs Lodge, hiking a 6 1/2-miler the next morning (was supposed to be 4 miles, woops) before heading off the parkway a bit to Damascus, VA and the Iron Mountains. The next morning we hiked another 4 miles or so on the Iron Mountain Trail and, after a quick lunch in the mountain biker’s haven of Damascus, resumed our slow wind to the Smokey Mountains via Asheville, NC.

A view from the bluffs

A view from the bluffs

What's that off in the distance?

What's that off in the distance?

Awww ... look at the baby fluffies!

Awww ... look at the baby fluffies!

After moteling it up in Asheville, Liz caught a quick yoga class that totally kicked her butt after all the hiking (ouch). We continued on the BRP and set up camp for one more night just within the Great Smoky Mountains National Park border, highlighted by a rainstorm and nightmarish shrieking owls. This morning we caught one more 4-mile hike before hitting up our favorite pancake joint in Cherokee, NC. We’re spending the next few days here holed up in our hotel room, in planning mode for our imminent return to Atlanta. We will certainly arrive in style!!!

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