Sometimes I have to take a detour.

I enjoy visiting new places even for a brief period of time.   Following our recent ski trip to West Virginia I wanted to see what was in the town of Wytheville, VA.  I've passed by the exit several times traveling up and down Interstate 77.   This year I grabbed a brochure from our hotel and studied a couple of locations that were of interest to me.  The first was Skeeters.  According the the brochure and web Skeeters was a local restaurant famous for their Skeeterdog.  After a large breakfast it was doubtful that I was going to be able to sample a Skeeterdog, but paid a visit anyway with hopes of getting some ice-cream.  Unfortunately Skeeters doesnt sell ice-cream during the winter months.  "It's just sits in the freezer and gets freezer burned." is what we were told.  A couple of other locations were suggested, but I was willing to take a chance due to the second part of my mission in Wytheville.  I entered the location, Big Walker Lookout and my GPS directed me to the top of a mountain approximately 20 miles away from Wytheville.   This was a bit farther off our main route than I had planned to go, but i still wanted ice-cream and wanted to see the 100 foot tower that was showcased in the brochure.   We finally made it around the winding road to a small country store with a tower that appeared to be 1000 ft tall.  The view from the parking lot was decent enough for a few scenic shots of the mountains.  As we walked around inside and finally enjoyed some ice-cream I decided to take a chance and climb the tower.   The base of the tower is built on a 20 ft platform beside the parking lot.  This was plenty high enough for me, but I had already purchased a ticket and we started walking up the stairs.  The higher we climbed the temps got cooler and the wind got stronger.  I stopped when I felt like I was 100 ft and contemplated continuing.  After realizing that I wasn't going to talk myself into finishing the climb, I made my way back down.  After we spent a few minutes on the swinging bridge and shooting a few more pics, we loaded back into the car for our trip back down the mountain.  At least I can say that I've been on the tower.

 

Copyright - Jimmy McDonald Photography