RIVER OF ICE
I
drove highway 70 back to the community of Hurricane, which consists of a few
homes and vacation camps, and, oddly, a new coffee shop. Even more odd is that it has a train. This is odd, because Hurricane is several
miles from the nearest railroad. A
logging railroad used to follow Big Laurel Creek though, and the “train”, which
consists of a single passenger car and caboose, sits on a short stretch of
tracks near the trailhead. The train is
on private property though. I’m not sure
what the story is with it. Maybe someone
lives there?
There
were several other cars at the trailhead, along with a group of hikers in the
parking area. When I pulled in, Boone
immediately jumped to his feet and began whining. Moments earlier he’d been snoring in the back
seat. The great thing about having Boone
as a hiking companion is that he’s always ready for more. Everyone else that I hike with would’ve
skipped this one after passing out in the back seat!
We
found the old railroad grade at the far end of the parking area. I left my pack behind, as we followed it down
towards the river. Normally I’m
religious about carrying the “10 essentials” on any hike, but on this occasion,
I was only planning on a short walk. I
was carrying only my camera and my hiking stick, and Boone seemed quite happy
to leave his pack behind, too.
Big
Laurel Creek isn’t your typical mountain stream. In fact, most creeks of this size in the
North Carolina Mountains are labeled rivers.
Despite its size, most of the creek was frozen. Both banks and all of the boulders were covered
in ice. There were even icebergs
floating downstream. It was an
astonishing sight. Unfortunately, the
sunny day made for poor lighting for photography down in the shady gorge.
We
walked downstream to the first major rapid.
The Big Laurel Creek Gorge features many fine rapids between its sheer
rock walls. It’s rated a class IV
whitewater run, and most paddlers that attempt it extend the trip by following
the French Broad River down to Hot Springs.
The French Broad has even bigger rapids, making for one of the most
challenging paddling trips in the North Carolina Mountains.
We
didn’t see anyone paddling today. We did
run into plenty of other hikers though.
This was surprising, as the Big Laurel Creek Gorge used to be near the
top of my list of “greatest hikes you’ve never heard of”. It’s still a great hike, but apparently lots
of people have heard of it now. We ran
into 4 or 5 groups of hikers, which seemed like a lot for a Friday afternoon.
We
walked down to a rental cottage on the bank of the creek. The cottage is on private property, but foot
traffic on the old railroad grade is allowed.
We continued downstream, following the railroad grade below a sheer rock
wall. Signs of civilization persisted a
bit longer. We followed power lines for
a bit, and a few minutes later we passed one more house. I didn’t remember this one from my last
visit, but that had been years ago.
Fortunately the gorge gets more rugged beyond here. Hopefully the terrain will eliminate any
chance of additional development.
I
continued downstream, enjoying the crashing rapids and massive ice
formations. The hiking was easy,
although some icy stretches of trail required a bit of caution. Originally I’d only planned to hike beyond
the last house, but the scenery of the gorge beckoned. Every time I considered turning back, curiosity
about what lay around the next bend drew me on.
I
reached another massive rapid below a wall of icicles. It was a fascinating spot, but I was startled
to see that I’d been hiking (and taking photos) for almost 2 hours! So much for my “short”
hike. Still, I continued a short
distance further, to the edge of the old sawmill town of Runion. There are only ruins here now. I didn’t really have time to explore them
though. I knew from previous hikes that
the trail from here continues to the railroad tracks and the French Broad
River. I’d already seen plenty of both
back in Hot Springs. I turned around
there, and hustled back upstream towards the car.
I
put the camera away on the return hike and made much better time. I returned to car before 4pm and began the
long drive home. My timing was
great. Somehow I managed to hit rush
hour in both Asheville and Gastonia on the way back! I didn’t mind the traffic too much
though. It was Friday afternoon, and I
still had the whole weekend ahead of me.
That promised plenty of time to recover from some fine hiking in the
Bald Mountains.
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