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Tim Spaulding

The route is fairly straightforward--get up to the Parkway and giv'er! There are a few areas where you can access the closed section of the parkway, most notably right near Sharp Top/Flat Top where Route 43 doubles as the BRP. If you head north from there the BRP is closed right past the lodge. You can also access the Parkway from any number of fire roads that go up to the parkway. From the South you could also access near Blackhorse Gap, I imagine. Some exploring the roads that lead up to the BRP will give you plenty of areas to access it.

The route is fairly straightforward--get up to the Parkway and giv'er! There are a few areas where you can access the closed section of the parkway, most notably right near Sharp Top/Flat Top where Route 43 doubles as the BRP. If you head north from there the BRP is closed right past the lodge. You can also access the Parkway from any number of fire roads that go up to the parkway. From the South you could also access near Blackhorse Gap, I imagine. Some exploring the roads that lead up to the BRP will give you plenty of areas to access it.

This is a beautiful hike which I've done twice while running the Mountain Masochist 50 Miler. It's one of the prettiest views in the area and definitely worthy of your time and energy. My only suggestion is to avoid hiking it the first weekend of November as there will be ~350-400 people on this trail throughout the day as this summit hike is part of the Masochist Trail Run and the road to the trailhead will be massively congested. It's a great atmosphere but likely the most crowded weekend of the year!