Sunday, July 13, 2008-Peaks of Otter, VA

The last time we were on the parkway, we stopped at a campground for the night. Next to the campground was a lodge. The lodge was build next to a mountain lake that came right up to the building. It was stunning beautiful and scenic. We could not remember the name, but we wanted to find it again on this trip. When we returned here to the Peaks of Otter, we recognized the campground and lodge. The lake was much smaller and did not reach the lodge as it had several years ago. The corps of engineers drained the lake and rebuilt the dam. The dam had weakened over the years and was not safe to hold the water at flood level. The dam is completed now, but the water level is not yet at a normal level. The lake should be at a normal level later this summer.

Yesterday, when we stopped at the lodge, there was a wedding that had just finished. The wedding party was taking pictures with the lake in the background. Further away was an altar and backdrop that was used in the ceremony. I told Sue they had the wedding here, so the groom could do some fishing at the same time. (There were some guys in tuxedos with fishing poles, I kid you not!)

We returned to the lodge for a Sunday morning breakfast. When we returned to the camper, there was an adult deer laying on the ground about ten feet from the camper. We thought it was injured, but the ranger later said the deer are "people friendly" and was probably alright.

After breakfast, we bought tickets to ride the shuttle bus to the top of Sharp Mountain. The drive was very steep and curvy, and was only accessible to the tour bus. On the drive up, the driver stopped and let us take pictures of a mother black bear and her three cubs. A short distance further up the trail, we saw a male deer with antlers. The antlers were still growing and were covered with a soft, velvety membrane. According to the driver, this deer lost one eye several years ago in a fight with another male.

The hike from the bus stop to the summit was one thousand, five hundred feet. It was steep and narrow and led to a three hundred sixty degree view of the entire region. We took pictures and video and returned to the bus pickup point. The ride up, the hike to the summit and return ride down took about one hour.