RICH & JOANNA
On
Saturday I joined an official hike with the Carolina Mountain Land Conservancy
(CMLC). The hike was on private
property, through Camp High Rocks in Cedar Mountain to the summit of Rich
Mountain. The CMLC described the hike as
being strenuous, with 700’ of elevation gain over 3 miles. That didn’t sound particularly strenuous to
me, but I was eager to do the hike since it would allow me access to a place
that isn’t open to the public.
Jack
had already signed up for the hike, and Brenda decided to join the CMLC and
participate, too. I met Jack in
Spartanburg and rode with him from there.
This was good, as I’d managed less than 6 hours of sleep the night
before. We arrived at the trailhead at
9:15, which turned out to be 15 minutes early.
The funny thing is that I thought we were late. The CMLC website stated that the hike was at
9am, but it turns out that 9am was the time everyone was meeting in
Hendersonville for the drive to the trailhead.
Brenda
arrived a few minutes later, followed by lots of other hikers and our leader,
Chet. The hike started with an easy
stroll through the camp. We passed
through an open pasture and enjoyed our first view of Rich Mountain. From there, Rich Mountain looked much closer
than 3 miles away. It turns out that’s
because it is less than 3 miles away.
The hike is actually 3 miles round trip, not one way. Actually, per Brenda’s GPS, it was closer to
2 ½ miles, round trip.
From
there, our group headed into the woods and up the mountain. Our group was quite large – perhaps 20 hikers
– and we were also accompanied by 2 dogs that had followed us from the
camp. Dogs generally aren’t allowed on
CMLC hikes, so I’d left Boone at home that morning. He’d been very unhappy about that, and coming
home that evening smelling like other dogs wasn’t going to help.
The
highlight of the hike was Cathedral Rocks.
Cathedral Rocks is an area of impressive boulders, and we took a break
there before resuming the hike.
We
reached the summit a bit later. The advertisement
for the hike had suggested that the peak would provide us with nearly 360
degree views. I’m not sure what that
claim is based on, as most of the views from Rich Mountain are of the trees
surrounding the peak. The only exception
was a narrow view between the trees to west.
That particular view was a highlight, as we could clearly see the bold
cliffs of Whitesides Mountain some 40 miles away.
Aside
from that view, Rich Mountain was pretty disappointing. The peak used to have a fire tower, and the
old caretakers house is still standing. Unfortunately, the peak now has a giant cell
tower and some other communications equipment.
All that technology detracted a bit from the summit experience.
We
lounged in the sun for a bit before heading down. Although the trail is steep in places, the
descent was much quicker than the climb.
We returned to the cars by 11:30, less than 2 hours after setting out.
Jack,
Brenda, and I all wanted to do another hike.
Since we were only a couple of miles from DuPont State Forest, I
suggested heading over there. Jack and
Brenda liked that idea, and we decided to hike to Joanna Mountain. Joanna Mountain is a rather obscure summit
that doesn’t see much traffic. The trail
up it ends before the summit, so some scrambling and bushwhacking is required. Jack had been up it twice before, but he was
willing to do it again.
We
parked at the Buck Forest access, which was pretty busy. There were plenty of hikers, mountain bikers,
and horseback riders in the area.
Fortunately the parking area is huge, and there were plenty of spaces
near the newly constructed bathrooms.
From there we walked quickly to the covered bridge over the Little
River. From the bridge we could see the
brink of High Falls a short distance downstream.
After
the bridge we turned onto Conservation Road.
After a couple of minutes, we picked up the Pitch Pine Trail, which was
a nice change of pace from the dirt roads we’d been following. The Pitch Pine Trail offered a pleasant,
quiet walk in the woods. At one point we
passed an impressive boulder covered in neon green moss.
We
eventually picked up the Lake Dense Trail, which took us to its namesake
lake. The lakeshore features a couple of
docks, and we stopped at one for lunch in the sun. From there we enjoyed a great view of Joanna
Mountain, both beyond the lake and reflected in its still waters.
After
lunch we walked over to Lake Alford, which is just a small pond. Although tiny, it’s a very pretty spot, and I’d
like to return in overcast conditions to get better photos.
From
there we doubled-back past Lake Dense and picked up Joanna Road. Joanna Road took us part of the way up Joanna
Mountain, and the Joanna Mountain Trail brought us just short of the
summit. From the end of the trail we
followed a faint path to the base of steep rock face. The rock was wet and slippery, and climbing
it was tricky in those conditions. The
rock face features quite a bit of spongy moss, which we tried to avoid
trampling.
From
the top of the rock we enjoyed an easy stroll to the wooded summit. We descended the far side a short distance to
a series of cliffs. From those cliffs we
were treated to a spectacular view to the north and west. In the distance we could see the high peaks
along the Blue Ridge Parkway, from Mount Pisgah in the east to Mount Hardy in
the west. We could also see Black
Balsam, Tennent Mountain, and more. Closer at hand was Looking Glass Rock and
Cedar Rock, above the Pisgah Fish Hatchery.
Closer still was Rich Mountain, where we’d been that morning. Within DuPont State Forest were the open
cliffs of another (different) Cedar Rock as well as Lake Julia and Lake
Dense. In fact, from our perch we could
clearly see the dock where we’d eaten lunch.
Unfortunately,
the view also includes the old DuPont industrial site, which is still being
cleaned up. It’s a bit of an eyesore,
but even that couldn’t completely mar such a fantastic view. We explored around the cliffs a bit taking
photos before finding a nice rock where we could relax in the sun. As we rested, we watched big puffy clouds
rolling in from the west.
Eventually
we headed back down. Getting down the
rock face required some butt-sliding, and I regretted wearing a nice pair of
pants.
We
returned by a different route. We
descended the Oak Tree Trail (a faint old road) to the Chestnut Oak Road. This took us back to Buck Forest Road. At that point, we decided to add one more
side trip to our hike.
We
followed Buck Forest Road to a bridge over lovely Grassy Creek. Just after the bridge we turned left on the
Lake Imaging Trail (a road), and then left again on the Grassy Creek Falls
Trail. This path took us to the top of
Grassy Creek Falls, which is a steep, sliding cascade. We continued ahead in search of a better
view. The main trail led us to the creek
downstream from the falls, but we couldn’t see anything from there, and the
water was too high to allow us to hike back upstream. We backtracked to a faint path, which we
followed down to the creek at the base of the falls. From there we had a really good view of the
waterfall.
Jack
had visited Grassy Creek Falls previously, but hadn’t been impressed. I was actually pleasantly surprised, as
Grassy Creek Falls exceeded my expectations.
The water was up from recent rains, which added a lot to the view. Jack and I took turns taking photos, and Jack
graciously let me borrow his tripod.
Somehow I’d left mine in my garage that morning.
After
another break there we headed back. We
followed the Buck Forest Road back to the trailhead. We parted ways with Brenda there and began
the long drive home.
That
evening Christy and I went to a birthday party at our neighbor’s house. Matt and Brandi had invited Boone and our
puppy, Kona, too, as they frequently play with their dog, Dakota. We ended up in their garage, eating, drinking
and relaxing. Hanging out in their
garage was appropriate since Boone is very familiar with it.
Last
week, I’d taken Boone and Kona outside for some exercise. We were playing ball in the back yard when Boone
decided to go over to the neighbor’s house to see if Dakota was out. I called Boone several times, but he didn’t
return. This was very unusual, so I
walked over to their house. Brandi was
just pulling out of the driveway when I arrived, but there was no sign of Boone. I walked around their house, calling for
him. There was no sign of him, but when
I returned to the front of the house I distinctly heard barking coming from
their garage. It sounded like Boone,
though I wasn’t immediately certain. But
if it was Boone, what was he doing in their garage?
Christy
eventually got a hold of Brandi. She
gave us the secret password to open the garage door, and Boone came running
out. Apparently he’d gone in there
looking for Dakota as Brandi was leaving.
The door must’ve closed behind him!
Although this caused some heartburn for Christy and me, it ended up
being good for a laugh for everyone on our street.
Boone
got even with me for leaving him home while I went hiking. While we were hanging out, Boone helped
himself to Brandi’s birthday cake. He
didn’t eat much of it, but did manage to make a pretty impressive mess. Christy and I were shocked, as Boone had
never attempted to steal food before.
Other
than that incident the party was fun. We
enjoyed some good food and hung in there with a younger crowd for a few
hours. Eventually the serious beer
drinking games started, and we quickly realized that we were too old for that
behavior. We headed home before
midnight, after an enjoyable evening with our neighbors.
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