Blue Ridge Pky and James River

We arrived in Monroe, VA, at a KOA right off the Blue Ridge Pkwy in a rain which lasted through that night.  I mention that because when it rains in this area the rivers and waterfalls are full and amazing!

The next morning we drove down to the James River to hopefully do some hiking:

the James River with banks overflowing and muddy debris filled, fast flowing water

very scenic though!

This is a juvenile skink.




The bright blue fades out
and is replaced by a
big orange head when
mature.  Cool
transformation!

under the bridge crossing the James River 

 We were hoping Otter Creek, which feeds into the James River, would be OK to hike and it sure was beautiful but the river had flooded the banks in many areas cutting our hike short:

trail ends here where the water has overflowed the creek

another "puddling" pic, so colorful!

Leo Grande Winery

The next day we drove toward
the Otter Peaks area of the Blue
Ridge to hike Sharp Top Peak.

The views are awesome but it
was cool and rainy so we
had some fog as well.

Terrapin Mtn