August/September 2006: McAfee's Knob

Time to Get Schooled
Semester Beginnings

Late August
and
September 2006

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This semester started off rather quickly, with a number of stock beginning-of-the-year events. However, enough unusual and moderately picturesque events occured to spice up the weeks.

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Section 3:
McAfee's Knob Hike

One weekend, Brad had the great idea to go hiking at McAfee's Knob, an impressive outcropping of rock on a ridge outside of Roanoke. It's about 45 minutes away, but the ride is down a winding road and is entertaining enough to make the trip almost as great as the hike itself. Plus, once you're at McAfee's Knob, you're only about 5 minutes away from The Homeplace, so how can you go wrong?


Some of the 15 people embark on the epic journey to McAfee's Knob.
	But first, we needed to get some gasoline. Blacksburgian gas is suprisingly cheap, just for reference.
Brad and Greg, fillin' up.
	Ryan filling up his car while Rick and the girls look on.
Shortly after our arrival, Brad gives the group our final briefing.
	And here the front group takes a break at a shelter on the way. Just remember, under 5, over 20.
That would be minutes of resting to prevent lactic acid buildup in your legs. Here Brad, our fearless leader/Undergraduate Hall Director, makes sure we aren't ambushed by pirate-ninjas while resting.
	Yep, Brad keeps the vigil so that the rest of us can have the liberty to sit around doing nothing at all.
But we eventually got to the rocky outcropping that is the Knob itself. There's a fairly nice view from the top.
	And I felt compelled to stand in its way. Well, actually I just kind of hung off the side of the mountain.
OHNOWATCHOUT! No, seriously, there's a foot-wide ledge about 3 feet below the brink here, so I'm only in mild danger. Plus, if I fell its only about a 30 foot drop down into some prickly looking bushes.
	Here, the group takes an hour long break while everybody regrouped.
And then, there was the obligatory group shot.
	But then it was time to go.
Yep, 3.5 miles down a relatively steep hill back to Route 311. Unfortunately, it was a rather hot day so I only had about a cup of water for that whole trip.
	But we made it back, and nobody sustained any major injuries.
And since we were already in Catawba, we figured we might as well meet up with some non-hiking types at a designated time for a good, hearty meal at The Homeplace.
	The Homeplace is such a popular restaurant that there's almost always a substantial line to get a table, so we reluctantly played duck duck goose while waiting. What a bummer.
But here's the majority of the crowd looking fully stuffed. $13 for more than enough delicous food and some ridiculously tasty lemonade.
	While we were there, for some reason Brad's car decided that it wanted to keep its brake lights on at all times. Naturally, his battery died during the 3 hour period where we were at the Homeplace. My theory is that it was mad that we didn't bring it any of the fried chicken or apple butter from inside.