I stopped to check out the creek and re-consider taking the rental on an unknown dirt road for 18 miles.
Some locals assured me that the road stayed very good all the way to the Knob, as it's well-maintained by the county. They sounded like they knew what's what, so I decided to put the Ford Fusion to the test.
It was like hiking along a river deep in the mountains, only while driving a car. I just stuck the camera out the window and got these views of the stream and fall colors.
I thought about stopping and sleeping in the car, it was so peaceful being tucked in the river valley with no city sounds and sights. But I wanted to reach the summit before sunset.
A little before the peak, I stopped briefly at Spruce Knob Lake. It looked like a very serene place to fish. A trail circled the shoreline, but I was running out of daylight.
I arrived at Spruce Knob with a half-hour to spare. A short path goes up to an observation tower, where I and some others watched the day end.
