UNDER THE BRIDGE
Last
weekend, another winter storm brought snow to our mountains and foothills. The storm was a disappointment in Charlotte
though, as we had to settle for a little snow and a couple inches of ice. By Sunday I was itching to get up to the
mountains to see some real snow, but the roads were in lousy shape. Luckily, I didn’t have to work Monday, and
Christy got out of school thanks to lingering ice. We decided to head up to the Blue Ridge
Parkway near Linville for some play time.
We
left later than normal, as we wanted temperatures to warm a bit before we hit
the road. The drive was smooth, even
though the Hickory and Morganton areas had quite a bit of snow. We didn’t have any trouble getting up the
mountain. From the town of Linville, we
drove up past the entrance to Grandfather Mountain to the Parkway. Just beyond the Parkway, I found a side road
with a snow-free shoulder. We parked
there at 11:30 and planned our hike.
My
intention was to hike a section of the Tanawha Trail
/ Mountains to Sea Trail, which runs roughly parallel to the Parkway along the
south side of Grandfather Mountain. We’d
hike the trail until we’d had enough, and then return on the Parkway. The Parkway was snow-covered and gated, so we
didn’t have to worry about traffic.
I
experienced some initial confusion about the location of the Tanawha Trail. I
thought we could access it from the Parkway, so we walked up the exit ramp,
passing a small frozen waterfall along the way.
At the top of the ramp, we should’ve turned right towards the Beacon
Heights overlook. Instead, we went the
other way. We started down the road,
following alongside a well-worn track created by cross country skiers the previous
day. It was a surprisingly pleasant,
sunny day. Temperatures were only in the
30’s, but between the sun and the calm wind it seemed much warmer.
Early
on we passed two cross country skiers with a pair of dogs. Boone had a festive time playing with them,
and by the time we parted ways, he was already exhausted.
We
walked the Parkway to the turn off to the Linn Cove Viaduct Visitors Center. I knew we could access the Tanawha Trail from there, so we followed this road, which
had not been traveled. The snow was fairly
deep, and we both had snow in our boots by the time we reached the visitor
center.
We
found a bench in the sun outside the visitor center and had our soup and
sandwiches. After a quick lunch, we
crossed the parking lot and picked up the Tanawha
Trail heading towards the viaduct. We
were barely out of the parking lot when we encountered the first of the fallen
trees. This would’ve been an excellent
time to turn around and retreat to the road.
For some reason though, I plowed ahead, clambering over trees and
through virgin snow.
The
trail was generally passable, but our progress was slow. Finally, the Linn Cove Viaduct loomed above
us. We gazed up at it as it arced
gracefully across the deep blue sky. As
I was looking at the bridge, I noticed some unusual icicles hanging from
it. Every ten feet or so there is a
drain at the edge of the bridge. Each
drain had a long, skinny icicle hanging from it.
We
hiked under the bridge and then followed the trail up onto the mountainside
above it. As we hiked, the trail
conditions got worse. The fallen trees
persisted, and the snow grew deeper in the shade under the high cliffs and
rhododendrons. The soft powder had an
annoying habit of hiding large rocks, and the holes between them. At one point, Christy got her foot jammed
under one of them. After that, we moved
very cautiously, probing ahead of us with our sticks. On a couple of occasions we lost the trail
altogether. The obvious route was
obscured by the many fallen trees, and the white blazes weren’t very helpful.
Finally
we reached a section where the trail was covered in fallen trees for about 50’. At this point, we were both of the opinion
that this was beginning to suck.
Unfortunately, neither of us wanted to go back through what we’d already
traversed. We made it through that
stretch, and after a bit of easy hiking, we were confronted with another
mess. At this point, the Parkway was
only about 50 yards downhill.
Unfortunately, the vegetation there is thick! After a brief debate, we decided to go for
it. We figured it wouldn’t be any worse
than continuing on or backtracking.
We
followed a narrow, boulder-choked gully which was slightly less overgrown than
the rest of the hillside. This was a
good choice, except that the footing was tricky because of the boulders hiding
under the snow. We moved cautiously, and
it was a huge relief when we reached the road 10 minutes later. At that point, it was still only early
afternoon, and I wasn’t ready to head home.
We decided to extend the hike to Rough Ridge by following the Parkway.
After
only a few minutes we heard a loud rumbling.
We corralled the dog just as a snowplow rounded the bend ahead of us. I was baffled. When did the Park Service start plowing the
Parkway? The plow rumbled by, before
turning around at an overlook and coming back.
For the next hour or so, two different snowplows passed by multiple
times. We were forced to leash the dog,
while we debated the Park Service’s motives.
Oddly, the plows weren’t even covering the entire stretch of road to
highway 221. They seemed to be content
with only clearing part of the road.
Despite
this nuisance, we pressed on, reaching the base of Rough Ridge around
3:30. We had a short break there, before
starting the walk back. The return hike
was a bit annoying, as walking on pavement isn’t as nice as soft snow. The scenery made up for it though, as waves
of mountains and valleys rolled away below us.
The real highlight though was the view of the twin peaks of Table Rock
and Hawksbill looming over Linville Gorge.
Those mountains are lovely from any angle, but I particularly enjoy the
view of them from Grandfather Mountain.
We
walked back across the Viaduct, which is off-limits to pedestrians. We felt like it was ok to ignore that
regulation under the circumstances. At
the far end, the road was still snow-covered, and the walk back from there was
more enjoyable. Near the end of the
hike, we passed more cross country skiers.
When we saw them, I couldn’t help but consider their plight if they had
been where we were when the plows passed by.
It would’ve been a long walk back to the car in cross country skiing
boots!
It
looks like another winter storm is expected in the mountains this weekend. We might make another attempt at a snow hike,
assuming we can get out of our own driveway.
Hopefully this time we’ll pick a trail that isn’t covered in fallen
trees!
Back to North Carolina's High Country
Back to North Carolina
Back to Hiking and Backpacking Trip Reports
Please remember to Leave No Trace!