Friday, July 28, 2000
Virginia Creeper Trail veteran speeds the way
A long trail

A journey of a thousand peddles, paddles and paces begins with a single taunt tossed from a truck.

By MARK TAYLOR
OUTDOORS EDITOR

   DAMASCUS -- The blond man in the big truck was trying to be funny.

    "It's a long trail!" he shouted as he roared by.

    His heckling was more appropriate than he realized.

    It was Wednesday evening and Roanoke Times photographer Mandi Wright and I were pedaling our bikes through the streets of Abingdon. This was our final warm-up for a trip that would start the next morning, when we would head south on the Virginia Creeper Trail.

    At just over 34 miles, the Creeper Trail is considered a long trail by many. For us, it would be just the beginning.

    Our trip would take 10 days. On bikes, in a canoe and by foot, we planned to make our way from Abingdon to Roanoke.

    We would cover 200 or so miles through the mountains and valleys of Southwest Virginia, exploring some of the trails and woods and waters that make the region an outdoor lovers' paradise. We would meet the people who, like us, didn't let summer's heat and humidity chase them indoors.

    Sounds like fun, doesn't it?

    Yet as the trip's start date drew near, my excitement was tempered by anxiety. Mixed with the fun of riding, canoeing, camping and hiking would be a fair amount of work. Not only did we have to cover many miles, but each of us would be hauling about 50 pounds of gear. Using a laptop computer and digital camera equipment, we also would be electronically filing stories and photos with the newspaper each afternoon.

    When we reached the Virginia Creeper trail head Thursday morning, I couldn't stop thinking, "It's a long trail."

    Then Lawrence Dye pedaled up and everything changed.

    Dye is a legend on the Creeper Trail. He's 68, but doesn't look a day over 50. During the riding season he's on the trail at least five times a week. He pedals from Abingdon to Whitetop Station, turns around, then pedals home. The 66-mile trip takes him about six hours.

    I'd heard about Dye, a retired state auditor who lives between Abingdon and Bristol. Heard that he'd taken up riding a few years ago when a doctor told him to start exercising or be dead in six months.

    "I don't know how that got started," he said, debunking at least that part of his legend. "I just like to ride."

    So we started riding.

    When he was 66, Dye vowed to ride the Creeper Trail 66 times. He did it more than 70 times. Last year he rode it 93 times. This year he's shooting for 100 and is already more than half way there. He's also one of about 20 volunteers between 60 and 80-years-old who put in more than 1,200 hours of work on the trail and its ubiquitous trestles this past winter.

    Dye has become somewhat of an unofficial ambassador of the Virginia Creeper Trail. It's not like he has a tough time selling the route's virtues.

    Covering an abandoned railroad bed that stretches from Abingdon to Damascus and on to Whitetop Station, the Virginia Creeper Trail exemplifies the potential of rails-to-trails conversions.

    Heading south from Abingdon, the Creeper Trail winds its way through shady glens and through lush farmland. Along much of the 15 mile route between Abingdon and Damascus, a thick canopy of tree branches keeps the trail shaded. Soon after a biker, or walker or equestrian gets started on the trail, the modern world nearly disappears.

    "That's one of the draws of the trail, I think," Dye said. "It's like going back 100 years."

    Beyond Damascus, the trail winds its way though national forest land and along Whitetop Laurel, one of Virginia's premiere trout streams.

    Use of the trail has exploded in recent years, and the thousands of people who flock to the area are vital to the survival of small towns such as Damascus. By some estimates, use of the Virginia Creeper Trail has more than tripled in recent years, with more than 100,000 people annually hiking, biking or horseback riding the route. One day last October, more than 1,200 people used the trail.

    "On weekends, this parking lot is filled from one end to the next," said Pansy Tolliver, who works at Forest Service kiosk along the trail in the Damascus town park.

    In fact, use has become so heavy that some local residents use the trail only during the week.

    As we pedaled toward Damascus, we shared the trail with just a few bikers and walkers, most of whom recognized Dye.

    "This is why people do the trail," he said after a brief visit with four of his friends who were finishing a morning walk on the trail.

    With Dye leading the way, the miles went by quickly and Damascus appeared sooner than we expected.

    Ready for lunch and needing to file a story, we said goodbye as he pedaled on toward Whitetop Station.

    Engulfing a big plate of spaghetti at Quincy's Pizza on Main Street in Damascus, I realized the first leg of the trip had gone well. It had been a short leg, however, and it was time to start pedaling uphill. Still, though we won't have the ambassador of the Virginia Creeper Trail along for inspiration, the trail ahead doesn't seem quite so long anymore.

Virginia Creeper Trail

1899 - Route graded and tracks laid

1900 - First train runs from Abingdon to Damascus

1915 - Daily traffic along route is six freight and two passenger trains

1924 - Daily traffic drops to three freight and two passenger trains

1954 - Daily traffic drops to one train; mixed freight and passenger

1956 - O. Winston Link shoots famous photo of Green Cove Station

1962- Last passenger train runs on May 20

1977 - Last train runs; track sold for scrap

1978 - U.S. Forest Service buys right-of-way from Damascus south to state line

1979 - Towns of Abingdon and Damascus buy remaining right-of-way

1986 - Congress designates right-of-way as National Recreation Trail

1987 - Trail dedicated

Source: The Virginia Creeper Trail Companion by Edward H. Davis and Edward B. Morgan

Let any elected or appointed official know what you think and how you feel by CLICKING HERE. Here's your chance to petition the government for a redress of grievances.