|
North Carolina!
|
| Linville Gorge |
January of 2002, 2003, 2004, & 2005 - I keep coming back for a reason. I love the Linville River and the gorge is good hiking. I like that you can camp anywhere and I just need to come in the summer. Who cares about the snakes? Anyway, I have hiked Babel Tower, Conley Cove, Pinch In, and Linville Gorge Trail between those descent and ascent trails I mentioned. I have also hiked Spence Ridge and swam across the Linville River in January like an idiot to get to the other side. (Now I really now how someone could die of cold water shock and hypothermia - wise people heed warnings from the experienced; foolish people find out for themselves). Before I hiked Spence Ridge, I took a short hike on the Mountain-to-Sea Trail and straddled Table Top Mountain. Both sides of Linvile Gorge are beautiful, but right now I am preferring the Table Top Mountain side as it seemed less crowded than the Kistler Memorial Highway (forest road) side. I have heard that one of the toughest ascent/descent trails is Pinch-In Trail, which is past the Babel Tower and Conley Cove trailheads on Kistler Memorial Highway. I should have pictures, but that was back when I didn't have a digital camera. |
 Scouting a safe crossing of Linville River |
 Linville Gorge with Table Rock Mountain to left |
|
Hiking up Mt. Mitchell: Colbert's Ridge,Black Mountain Crest, and Buncombe Horse Trails - Mt. Mitchell State Park and Pisgah National Forest |
June 9-11, 2006 - Gabi and I met at the ranger station in Mt. Mitchell State Park. We compared maps and talked with the ranger there who was very helpful. He suggested that we hike a route from Black Mountain Campground and told us directions to the forest road. We took his advice and found that the road was closed off. He probably didn't have the latest info 'cause he worked for the state park, not the national forest. We decided at the last minute to head down to Carolina Hemlocks campground to settle for the night. We thought a loop from the campground, up to Mt. Mitchell to camp at Camp Alice on/near Comissary Ridge, then back down to car at trailhead near Carolina Hemlocks would be best route for two reasons: 1) we would be starting out around 2700 feet to climb Mt. Mitchell (no cheating) 2) looked like a nice loop instead of car shuttle So... we start up Colbert's Ridge Trail at 2750 feet and head up to Deep Gap at 5700 feet in 3.7 miles. We lunched. The ridge was grassy, the sky blue, and the clouds poofy. We made a left on Black Mountain Crest Trail and followed the ridge over the peaks (Potato Hill, Cattail Peak, Big Tom, Mt. Craig) all the way to Mt. Mitchell summit, which is developed (and has been since the 1930s, I think) like Clingman's Dome with road, parking lot, paved walkway to summit and tower. We stopped at the restaurant because we thought it was neat. Yeah, so much for a wilderness experience, but hey - it's Mt. Mitchell off the Blue Ridge Parkway - not some remote area?! Anyway, we hiked on down to Camp Alice and showed some scouts how to start a real fire. The next morning, we hiked the Buncombe Horse Trail. We loved this trail and took notes on good camping spots. Lots of exposed balds and views. Just beautiful country - lush and tropical in some spots between balds. We descended into thick Hemlock groves and eventually made it all the way down to the road not far from Colbert's Ridge trail. We road-walked to the car at the trailhead. We could hear kids tubing the South Toe River. The water sounded so good, we drove back to Carolina Hemlocks Campground to stick our bodies in the river and splash around. What a great trip - thanks Gabi! You're always up for a some good hikin'! |
 Gabi and Blooming Rhodendrons on Buncombe Horse Trail |
 Me sitting on Mt. Craig summit +6600 |
Home!
Copyright © Kristina Dean