I had some extra time after accomplishing my first goal for the day, which was refinding a rare bird that had been spotted in Blacksburg, VA. The bird, a Bell's Vireo, is not rare in some parts of the midwest and southwest (I saw many in Arizona last spring), but it is the first one most of us have had a chance to see in Virginia. After seeing the vireo, I realized that I'd have time to climb one of the peaks along the Blue Ridge Parkway on my way home. I chose Blue Knob because it's not far off the road, it had over 100m prominence (decent for this area), and I'd never climbed it before.

There was a nice grassy road shoulder on the Parkway in the saddle just northeast of the peak, so I parked there and headed up. Though there's no trail, it was an easy bushwhack. I followed the ridgeline, or stayed just east of it in a couple of rocky spots, and made it to the top in about 20 minutes, allowing time for looking around along the way and taking some pictures.

Because the leaves aren't fully out yet at this elevation, I was able to enjoy views both west into the Great Valley and east towards to town of Montvale. I spent quite a while sitting alone on top, enjoying the sun. It was fairly windy, but aside from that, the weather was gorgeous.