This morning, we woke early and left camp without any trace.

It felt fantastic to begin the day with cool morning air and fog still hanging over the hilltops, although it got humid quickly.

We discussed our plan for the overall trip while riding. Since we are a slightly behind our initial (aggressive) schedule, and have taken fewer days off than planned so far, we are skipping Tennessee to get back on schedule and lessen our daily mileage requirement.

The roads were very twisty and steep at times, but fortunately traffic was nonexistent. We passed a woman who commented on how much we must like hills to be riding this road.

Later we did another stint on the highway before making it to Bland Road, which was a big climb up to a ridgeline which seems to be the boundary between West Virginia and Virginia.  It also marks the entrance into Jefferson National Forest. That final climb of West Virginia might have been the hardest of them all.

After a short break at the overlook, we were on our way into VA.

The downhill was glorious and justified the tough climb. It went on for about six miles, with some steep curvy sections.  At the bottom, we stopped for lunch in Bland, VA.

Shortly after lunch, we met two AT hikers walking along the road towards town for a night off, carrying cases of beer, then ascended what we thought to be the 2nd and final climb of the day.

However, another hour and a bit of cool rain later, we found ourselves at the foot of a third climb. At the top of this one, though, was the Big Walker Lookout and Country Store.

Rather than spend $6 each to climb the lookout tower, we put our money towards ice cream.  While we ate, they held a banjo concert and history session out front!

To close out the day, we rode through more beautiful farmland and rolling hills on the way into Wytheville.  Our campsite for the night was at Elizabeth Memorial Park; a beautiful little park right in town.

Tomorrow we start riding along the TransAmerica trail, which we are very excited for!

Trip stats, to date (Day 27)

• Camp Creek, WV to Wytheville, WV
• Daily mileage: 71.5mi;  Trip total to date: 1,514.3mi
• Daily riding time: 6hr 23min;  Trip total time: 137hr 09min
• Daily ascent: 6,644ft;  Trip total ascent: 73,467ft
• Flat tires: Rachel – 1; Chris – 0