Blue Ridge Country September/October 2021 - 14

THE GOOD WALK
Three Good Walks
in One
Hungry Mother State Park and its host town of Marion combine for explorations
into nature and an inviting downtown.
Text by LEONARD M. ADKINS | Photos by LEONARD M. & LAURIE ADKINS
arion, Virginia, provided not one, not
two, but three good walks in just one day.
Laurie and I started the day with an
early morning 6.6-mile loop hike in
Hungry Mother State Park, the name of
which is derived from the story of Molly
Marley. She and her daughter escaped
from their Native American captors, but wandering
around with only berries to eat, Molly collapsed. The
M
14 BLUERIDGECOUNTRY.COM
child wandered off and was eventually found by a trapper.
She was so exhausted the only words she said were,
" Hungry mother. " Sadly, Molly was dead when a search
party found her body.
It was a 1,000-foot, 1.7-mile ascent to Molly's Knob,
Opened in 1929, its interior was
designed to have patrons feel as if they
had entered a grand Mayan temple.
but the graded trail kept the huffing and puffing to a
minimum, which was definitely compensated for by
the spectacular and far-ranging summit view. Directly
in front is Round Top Mountain, while off to the right
runs the long, level ridgeline of
Walker Mountain. Forming a
backdrop to the town of Marion
are the soaring summits of
Virginia's two highest peaks,
Mount Rogers and Whitetop
Mountain.
The gradually descending
CCC Trail took us through one
of the longest and most lush
rhododendron tunnels I've ever
experienced (and that's saying
something here in the southern
MARION
Virginia

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Blue Ridge Country September/October 2021

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