Apple Orchard Mountain has the distinction of having the highest prominence (difference between summit elevation and lowest contour surrounding the mpuntain not containing anything higher) of any mountain in Virginia. It even beats out the state highpoint, Mount Rogers. However, prominence doesn't dictate effort, and in this case, the peak's summit can be easily reached from the Blue Ridge Parkway, with access to the Appalachian Trail or to a service road that goes to the very top. Beth and I were staying in Natural Bridge and it was just about 20 miles or so to get to the Blue Ridge Parkway access onramp, then maybe another 15 miles south to the Apple Orchard Mountain area. The summit straddles two counties so we'd be getting two for the price of one. Beth helped me fit in better with the locals by explaining that Botetourt is pronounced "Bot-a-tott". The weather was behaving wonderfully and we had clear, mostly dry conditions. The views from the Blue Ridge Parkway were magnificent!

We chose to hike up the service road to the top instead of taking a segment of the Appalachian Trail. The AT can be reached about a mile north of the peak, requiring about 500 feet of gain. I'm sure it's a lovely hike, but we were both pretty beat, and scratched up, from our previous day's 14-mile epic on Elliott Knob in Augusta County. In particular, neither of us wanted to put back on our hiking boots! We figured we could hike up the road in our sandals. We found the road without a problem, and parked north of it a short bit in a pullout near an informational sign. The hike up went fast, gaining right about 300 feet in about a half-mile. The top is home to an FAA radar 'golf ball' dome. We walked past the complex, noted the gate was open and there was a truck there, and walked out onto a grassy area. Someone, maybe the FAA guys, had mowed some paths into the grass. One path led a short bit to the Appalachian Trail and a small sign marking the summit. Actually, the summit, we determined, was hidden in some trees and consisted of a pile of big rock slabs. Still skittish from yesterday's snake encounter, we gingerly stepped into the brush, which wasn't too thick but not too scant, either. We finally found a good way to get up to the top of the rocks. The highest rock had some sort of metal guy-wire anchor drilled into it. It was rusted and probably hasn't been used in ages. Shortly we walked back onto the grass, shot some photos and took in the lovely scenery.

As we hiked down the road the worker came rumbling down in his truck and we had a short chat near the gate at the bottom. He said people walk up the road all the time and they have no trouble with that. The FAA site has all the usual signs about long prison sentences for tampering and that sort of thing. The worker was a pretty cool guy. We also met up with a motorcyclist at our pullout and had a good chat with him. The Blue Ridge Parkway would certainly seem to be a motorcyclist's dream! We spent the rest of the day poking about Lexington, where Beth went to school ... plus its highpoint. We flew home the next day.