McAfees Knob, Virginia

By Andrew Sam
“Medicine Man” of ’92


H
AVE YOU every heard the one about the guy who took his mother-in-law backpacking? Well, this week I did. After three years in the planning, we (my wife and I) finally took her hiking. Hey, I know what you guys out there are saying. He took her out to feed her to the bears because that’s what sons-in-law do with mothers-in-law. Well, we had that option but it was really not in the plan. The plan was to take her someplace that would be easy and enjoyable. I decided to take Penny, my mother-in-law, to one of my favorite spots -- McAfees Knob.

Now you guys who are still reading this are thinking this guy is nuts, and this is not his favorite place anymore. Well, I had many options before this trip to cancel. One excuse was, “I’m really sick ...” (which I wasn’t) and my intial response of, “You want to hike in July!!!” Why would anyone want to go out backpacking in the month of July? “It’s going to be hotter than... ” Well, you don’t say that in front of your mother-in-law or you lose points. That and all my other tricks left me with one solution -- take her backpacking.

So July the 2nd I took her out. We left our house for the trail at about 11 a.m. It was a beautiful day until we got to within about 20 miles of the trail. It was pouring rain. So we pulled into Roanoke and had lunch while the rain blew over.

Now you who are already, or soon to be sons-in-law are saying, “Pull out now. It is your last chance!” Not me. I drove up to the trail and unloaded the car. We were off and on our way. It took us about three hours to get to the top of McAfees Knob. Penny did not complain all the way to the top. Then I postioned my mother-in-law on the famous McAfees Knob overhang for a picture. No... I was not even once thinking of pushing her off.

I was having a great time. My mother-in-law was, too. Can this be? I think she is hooked on hiking. We hiked to the other side of the knob and camped below the shelter in the field. We talked about the trail and how long it took my wife and I to get our act together so that we could take her backpacking. We should have done this years ago.

~ “Medicine Man”



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