PIVOT
A
couple of weekends back I headed up to Boone for the last App State football
game of the season. I met Eric that
morning for tailgating despite a marginal weather forecast. Fortunately the rain had cleared up shortly
before our arrival. The day ended up
being pleasant, although cold weather moved in during the game. I didn’t mind it much though. App State worked off a season’s worth of
frustration with a thorough beating of our former rivals from Western Carolina.
After
the game the dogs and I headed to the Kistler Highway
in Linville Gorge to camp. I chose this
spot despite the fact that there was a serious wildlife burning in the
gorge. However, the fire was in the southeast
portion of the gorge, and I planned to camp in the northwest corner. High winds were expected, but they were
coming from the northwest, meaning we would be upwind.
I
had invited Jonathan to join me earlier in the week. I was thrilled when he accepted. He had been out of commission due to an
injury following a kayaking accident last summer.
I
found his van parked at the campsite I had suggested. It was after dark, and I didn’t see him. I figured that he was probably sleeping in
his van, so I set up my tent, fed the dogs, and went to bed. I woke an hour later to lights and
voices. The dogs went nuts – there was
somebody in our campsite! Of course it
was Jonathan, along with his girlfriend, Jess.
They were returning from a night hike to Linville Falls. We chatted for a few minutes, but the
temperature had fallen below freezing and the wind was howling. Before long I retreated to the tent.
We
were up shortly after first light on Sunday.
Temperatures were in the teens, and it was hard to get moving. I used my propane stove to cook breakfast,
and managed to boil water for coffee and oatmeal and soup for lunch before the
stove succumbed to the cold. I’d
forgotten that propane doesn’t work well in sub-freezing temperatures.
I
broke camp, and Jonathan & Jess followed me down to the Linville Gorge
Information Cabin, where we met Brenda.
Our plan was to do two ½ day hikes.
The first was to Little Tablerock
Mountain. This isn’t the Little Table
Rock in Linville Gorge. Instead, it is a
peak off the Blue Ridge Parkway near Little Switzerland that was recently
opened to public access. I found out
about it here:
http://www.appalachian.org/community/stanbacktrails.html
We
all drove separately, and everyone followed me. We had some difficulty finding the
trailhead. The directions on the website
above said to turn right on Whiterock Rock and follow
the signs. There were no signs. After a short distance we arrived at a
confusing intersection at a house with two roads branching off to the
left. We asked the owner of the house if
he knew where the trailhead was, but he claimed that he didn’t know anything
about it. We continued ahead on Whiterock Road, which was rough going. It was washed out in places, and had lots of
sharp rocks that looked like a flat tire waiting to happen. The road eventually turned into someone’s driveway,
and we had a fun time getting all three vehicles turned around. We drove back to the original intersection by
the house, and drove up a narrow road heading straight uphill. 200 yards later we reached the trailhead
parking area. The gated road beyond had
a trail sign.
We
hiked up the old road beyond the gate. The
day had warmed up into the 20’s, and we were on the lee side of the mountain,
so there was no wind. Eventually we
turned off the road at a plaque dedicated to Fred and Alice Stanback. From there we climbed on a footpath, and then
another old roadbed, and finally another trail.
We reached the crest of the Blue Ridge and another junction. We turned left there, and followed the blazed
trail on to the summit of Little Tablerock
Mountain.
The
summit features a small rock outcrop with a view to the north. The view includes Roan Mountain and the bald
summits of Grassy Ridge and Big Yellow Mountain. Unfortunately, the foreground was less
inspiring. Directly below was a large
mine or quarry, an airport, and a mysterious cluster of buildings. We spent a few minutes theorizing what the
buildings were for. A
retirement home? A clandestine
United Nations Military Base? Dick Cheney’s secret lair?
Later Brenda found out that it is actually the Mountain View
Correctional Institute. What a great
name for a prison! If I ever get locked
up, they’ll probably send me there just so I can be tormented by the views of the
surrounding mountains.
Jonathan
climbed a tree for the fun of it, but we didn’t linger long due to the cold. We headed back to the trailhead, where we had
lunch in the sun. Hot soup from my
thermos was delightful on such a chilly day.
After
lunch we drove past Linville and Banner Elk and on to the village of Seven
Devils. Our second hike of the day would
be to Hanging Rock, which is also locally known as Bear’s Paw. Hanging Rock is a rocky summit on a high
ridge just north of Grandfather Mountain.
The hike isn’t well known, even though most of it is on public property
(the last part of the hike to the summit was on private land, but it wasn’t
posted or developed). I found
information on the hike here:
http://www.peakbagger.com/peak.aspx?pid=18529
We
tried to follow the directions in Tom Layton’s trip report. However, the GPS on my “smartphone” had
different ideas. Twice it led us up
roads that were gated. Each time we had
to turn all three vehicles around in tight quarters. By tight quarters, I mean a 9-point turn on a
one-lane dirt road squeezed between the wall of the mountain and the edge of a
cliff. This may have been the most
exciting part of the day.
Later,
Jonathan explained that these weren’t failures.
In the kayaking community, failures are called “pivots”. So we pivoted, and eventually found another,
open road that led us to the top of the mountain. We barely managed to park all 3 vehicles near
the water tower at the end of the road.
There
is no trail from this point. We
bushwhacked up the hillside, which was steep and slippery, but relatively
open. We reached the top of the forested
knob, descended the far side, and then climbed a second, larger one. Beyond it, we picked up the remnants of an
old road coming up from Dutch Creek to the north. There wasn’t much left of it, but it was a
lot easier than the bushwhacking at the beginning of the hike. We followed it along the ridge, passing
numerous rock outcrops with limited winter views of Grandfather Mountain. A bit later we reached a partial clearing and
campsite. There was firewood here, along
with a tent and some other camping gear.
This was also the boundary of the Bear’s Paw State Natural Area (managed
by the Nature Conservancy).
We
took a short break before continuing up the ridge. Finally we turned a corner and the summit of
Hanging Rock loomed above us. The hike
to that point had been longer and tougher than I’d expected. Everyone was cold and tired. Jess was clearly feeling the weather, as she
was bundled from head to toe. She was
wearing almost all black, so I decided that her nickname would be ninja. I’m not sure if she liked it or not, but she
should be honored. Most people don’t get
a nickname on their first hike with us!
Plus, the name was appropriate for another reason. Jess and Jonathan both liked to walk across
fallen trees, and at one point Jess even balanced on one foot on top of a small
stump.
It
was getting late, and I had suggested a turnaround time of 3:45. It was now 3:30. Jonathan questioned whether we could make the
summit in 15 minutes. Jess and Brenda
agreed – in fact, everyone (except me) thought it would take at least another
20 or 30 minutes. I thought it looked a
lot closer, but had to admit that summit fever could be altering my judgment. After a brief discussion, everyone else
decided to start back. They’d keep a
slow pace, while I made one final push for the top. I would stick to the 3:45 turnaround time
though. I wasn’t real interested in
making that final steep, slippery bushwhack down to the car in the dark.
I
started out at full speed, but the grade of the final climb slowed me
down. Before long I joined a marked
trail coming up from the north. This was
a surprise, as I wasn’t aware of any official trails on the mountain. I continued ahead, and reached the base of
the summit outcrop a minute later. At
that point, I’d been hiking only 3 ½ minutes since parting ways with Jonathan,
Jess, and Brenda.
I
felt terrible about this, particularly when I saw what they’d missed. Hanging Rock features a 360 degree view. It’s a good one, too. Grandfather Mountain towers to the south, and
to the southwest I could make out Table Rock and Hawksbill in Linville
Gorge. Roan Mountain was to the west,
and to the east I could see Snake Mountain and Elk Knob. On the other hand, the view wasn’t exactly of
a vast wilderness. The town of Banner
Elk was below, and many of the surrounding ridges have houses. Beyond Banner Elk, the ski resort on Sugar
Mountain was making snow. Above it, the
eyesore on Little Sugar was clearly visible.
I
hung out for 10 minutes. Incredibly, the
wind wasn’t blowing at all, and it was rather pleasant in the late afternoon
sunshine. At one point I clearly heard a
voice below that sounded like Jonathan.
At first I thought he’d changed his mind and followed me. However, he wasn’t there. Now I don’t know what I’d heard. Perhaps it was a weird echo. Or maybe the mountain is haunted by the seven
devils.
I
hiked back quickly, and caught up to everyone else on the final descent to the
car. It was downright chilly in the
shade, and everyone was ready to warm up.
We made it back a bit before 5, having made much better time on the
return hike.
Little
Tablerock Mountain provided a nice opportunity to
hike in a new place, but it’s probably not one that I will do again. Hanging Rock, on the other hand, was a fun
hike with a great view. I’ll definitely
do that hike again someday! It was great
hiking with Jonathan and Brenda again, and I enjoyed meeting Jess. Hopefully she can join us again sometime.
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