var title = 'Virginia Creeper Trail - Damascus to Abingdon';
var intro = 'This is the second half, western half, of my Virginia Creeper Trail bike ride.
Again, this trail is best suited for fat tired bikes but I did see one rider
on a road bike near Damascus.
The western half of this ride is not as steep as the eastern half. However, there is a slight grade during the last 7 or so miles. The climb is about 3%. The eastern half is MUCH steeper and the climb is constant from Damascus to Whitetop Mtn. Station. That climb is about 6% for the entire 15 miles.
I arrived at Damascus a little late AND waited for the rain, photos show the rainy conditions, to blow over and the fog to lift before starting out. That meant that I missed my shuttle ride from Abingdon back to Damascus. I did a roundtrip ride of the section. The whole ride including exploring Abingdon was around 39 miles. Without the exploration of Abingdon a roundtrip ride would be about 33 or 34 miles.
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var majorCaption = new Array( 'The Red Cabose in Damascus City Park. Nearby parking area is where shuttle drop off and pickup and where I started this roundtrip ride.', 'Looking west down trail.', 'Some cyclists turning off the trail toward the town of Damascus.', '', 'Whoa! Is Mary Kaye visiting this trail outfitter?? Or, is Elvis back in the the building?', 'Very few areas have tracks remaining. This is the olny area I saw and is on the driveway of the outfitter in the previous image.', 'Cyclist going toward Damascus... the other way from my direction. He was riding a road bike, skinny tires. I wouldn\'t recomend a road bike for this trail.', 'The 15 mile marker is about where the \"development\" end when riding westward out of Damascus. Trail follows a pretty creek that becomes part of the Holsten River on a ways.', 'This thing is a cable car for the forest service people to check the flood gage on the far side of the river.', 'This pretty stream, part of the Holston River, goes alongside within sight of the trail for about half the way.', 'As in the ride on the western end of the VA Creeper Trail, gates present themselves. I think there are more gates west of Damascus than east. They aren\'t a problem but require dismounting. They keep livestock inside certain areas... as you will see.', 'More of the river.', 'Just beyond the gate in the previous images I found these guys relaxing next to the river.', '', 'Oh, oh. Cow exhaust. Cows don\'t have catalytic converters so in some areas one needs to keep a sharp eye and steady hands on the handle bars.', 'Alvarado Station is about the half way mark between Damascus and Abingdon. Its a small village with a store and church.', '', 'Trail crosses a road at Alvarado. Riders should keep a sharp eye for cars.', '', 'A left over telephone pole. Poles like this usually follow rail lines to carry communications necessary for the safe operation of the railroad. This is one of the few I saw still standing.', '', 'This marker A7 indicates that I am about 7 miles from the location of the Norfolk and Western Station location in Abingdon. Thouhg not a steep climb, the trail does climb steadily from here to Abingdon seve mile away. I\'d guess the climb at about 3%.', 'This substantial bridge is at a place where two branches of the Holston River come together.', 'Another bridge/trestle', 'Even on a rainy morning the view from this trestle is neat.', 'Looking another direction from the same trestle.', 'From the same trestle.', '', 'Looking back at one of the trestles.', '', 'Cow on trail', 'Cow decides to join buddies in the field. The various gates keep farm animals from wandering.', 'It appears that the farmers have added their own closing devices. Some are quiet inventive. This one is the norm but the weight is of interest as it is a plate from the old rail line.', 'Someone might know the proper name for this plate, I don\'t. Maybe variant of a \"frog plate\". The weight of the plate pulls the gate closed if the cyclists forget.', '', 'A saw mill in a nearby field. This farmer had added small pedestrian/cyclist sized gates to his part of the trail. AND, his gates were closed by automotive shock abosorbers. Very inventive. They were a little hard to open but closed quietly and smoothly.', 'I left out pictures of the country club outside Abingdon and its golf course... and me helping a golfer find his errant golfball. BUT, I MADE IT!!! This is the steam engine that marks the end of the VA Creeper Trail in Abingdon. The old train station is a little ways further into town. The difference between the end of the bike trail and the Abingdon station are the reason for the difference in the trail mile markers and the older Norfolk and Western mile markers.', '', 'When the Creeper line still operated there was a junction at Abingdon. The Creeper line was abandoned but the other line is still operational.', 'I followed the car into downtown Abingdon. A bike shop is just down the street. I used their shuttle service last time and bought a shirt this time.', 'One of Abingdon\'s other attractions is the State Theatre of Virginia, also known as the Barter Theatre.', 'The Barter Theatre started during the Great Depression and offered jobs to actors and good entertainment to the townfolk for an affordable price... started out at 34 cents or an equivalent value in \"victuals\" for the actors.', 'In this image note the price which is higher than at the begining and the note of \"or equivalent in produce\" :-) Now tickets run well above that, $20 to the $30 range. For more history of Porterfield and the Barter Theatre, tickets, etc. visit: The Barter Theatre', 'The old train station in Abingdon VA. Today this is an \"Arts Station\".' );
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