Ron Kime is telling tales and more at lookout

By: Joe Tennis | TriCities.com
Published: June 03, 2010

Going up Big Walker Mountain seems like stepping back in time.
Despite a fire, floods and other business setbacks, you can still find Ron Kime, approaching his 70s and always gregarious.
Kime’s eyes bulge when he talks to strangers about his 100-foot-high lookout tower, fashioned by his father soon after World War II.
And there’s more than a twinkle as he tells of his father Stuart Kime’s plans to put a steam locomotive at nearby Dry Gulch Junction in the early 1960s.
The senior Kime opened Dry Gulch Junction and had the train running, along U.S. Highway 52, just before he died in 1972.
Then Ron took over the operation and built a wild-west town that survived another few years.
Later, that town was reborn as Virginia City – a gem mine operation that survived several years but is now awaiting a new lease on life, according to owner Jeanne Davis.
All the while, Kime has stayed busy at Big Walker Lookout, manning the tower and a country store along the Bland-Wythe county border.
Kime promotes stories of history – even if they’re just legends.
Like Molly Tynes.
This young woman, according to folklore, rode on horseback to warn the people of Wytheville that the town would be burned during the Civil War.
Kime has been telling this for decades – even when he operated Dry Gulch Junction.
But historians have questioned the story. And one author, Mary Kegley, even wrote a book in 2003 called “I Like Molly Tynes Whether She Rode Or Not.”
Kime, though, won’t let go of Molly Tynes.
“It’s going to be a famous legend before I’m done,” Kime said. “It doesn’t have to be true, but it’s the legend of the Molly Tynes, and so, ‘What the hey!’ ”
Tynes is all part of the “History of Walker Mountain,” as he tells it – one of the many front-porch storytelling sessions that Kime incorporates at Big Walker Mountain during the summer.
The sessions are usually held at noon, 2 p.m. and 4 p.m. “And if we have a big crowd,” he said, “I’ll add another along the day.”
You can catch a calligraphy demonstration on the porch on June 5 and a blacksmithing demonstration on June 6 and again on July 17 and Aug. 8.
More events at the mountain include: Linda Diaz, a herb expert, explaining and demonstrating her homemade soaps, creams and salves (June 12-13, June 26-27, July 10-11 and July 24-25); Big Walker Century Ride (June 19); a quilting demonstration (June 20 and July 18); “History of Big Walker Mountain” (July 3); Jerry Jones, gospel singer (July 4); and a lye-soap demonstration (Aug. 7).
Later, on Oct. 16-17 and Oct. 23-24, you can take a guided photo shoot up the Monster Rock Trail – what was once part of the Appalachian Trail.
Big Walker Lookout is located 12 miles north of I-81 Exit 70, along U.S. 52. For more information, call (276) 663-4016.

Ron Kime is telling tales and more at lookout

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