LIGHT UP OR LEAVE ME ALONE

 

 

I spent last weekend in Boone, at a reunion of my college church group.  I had a great time, as it was wonderful seeing old friends.  Plus, Friday proved to be a great day to spend inside.  The weather in Boone was charming, with cold, heavy rain, thunder, lightning, and sleet!

 

For Sunday afternoon, April 20th, I planned an official reunion hike.  The weather and other obligations scared most folks off, though.  Fortunately, Patrick was able to join me.  My original plan, to hike Roan Mountain, seemed pointless due to the lingering clouds.  My backup plan, a short hike to Gentry Falls, features 30 creek crossings.  Because of all of the rain, this seemed like a bad idea, too.  We eventually settled on my third choice – a simple hike near the Parkway from Price Park.  We’d do the 5-mile Boone Fork Loop, which is an ideal choice for a ˝ day hike.

 

Patrick followed me out to Price Park, and we parked at the picnic area.  The sun was just beginning to come out when we arrived.  We hit the trail at 1:30 and started the loop clockwise, which is backwards from the way most people do it.  I chose to go that way because it would save the nicest part of the hike for the end.

 

We hiked through the picnic area to the campground, which is closed until May.  Beyond, we passed through some open fields that are used for cattle grazing.  These featured some limited views, but we didn’t linger long.  The wind was howling out there, adding to the day’s chill.

 

Beyond the meadow, we descended an eroded section of trail along (and occasionally in) a small stream.  There was more water in this creek than I’d ever seen before, thanks to all of the rain.  Although the water was up, the creek crossings were still pretty easy.  The highlight of this part of the trip was the many blooming Red Trillium we found here. 

 

Before long, we reached Boone Fork, which we followed upstream through a minor canyon.  We passed some impressive boulders, and on two occasions took side trips down to the creek.  Each of these allowed us to view some nice cascades, slides, and small falls. 

 

Eventually we climbed away from the creek before passing high above the Hebron Rock Colony.  The Hebron Rock Colony is an area of cascades and massive boulders along the creek.  It’s probably most famous as a sunbathing destination.  It was still a little chilly on this day for that type of activity, but I wouldn’t be surprised if people had been down there doing it.  I suggested that we take a side trip down there to have a look, but Patrick elected to pass.

 

We rejoined the creek a few minutes later, and continued hiking upstream.  More cascades and boulders followed.  The closer we got to the picnic area, the more people we saw.  Now that the sun was out, everyone was coming out of the woodwork.  We dodged through the traffic, and returned to the parking lot around 4:30.

 

Patrick had a long drive back to Pinehurst ahead of him, so we parted ways.  I didn’t have a work assignment for Monday, so I was planning on staying in the area another night.  It was still fairly early though, and I wanted to get in a couple more miles.  So I drove over to Price Lake to hike the trail there.

 

The Price Lake trail circles the lake, covering a little over 2 miles.  I did this one clockwise, too.  This time though, the best part of the hike was at the beginning.  From just beyond the parking lot, I was treated to several fine views of Grandfather Mountain beyond the lake.  The rest of the walk was fairly uneventful.  At one point the trail was wet and muddy, thanks to some nearby beaver activity.  Beyond that, it was mainly a walk in the woods, with only a few glimpses of the lake.  The last stretch of the trail followed close to the Parkway, and passed through the campground.  By this point, I was ready to get back to the car, so I could get on with finding a place to camp.

 

I left Price Lake, and drove over to Banner Elk to pick up some groceries at Lowes Foods.  From there, I headed down to Linville Falls.  I thought about camping at the Linville Falls campground, but reconsidered.  I knew there were plenty of nice campsites along the Kistler Highway, which runs along the west rim of Linville Gorge.  Those sites would be private, and free. 

 

I headed that way, and found a nice spot a couple of miles down the road.  I knew there were plenty more to the south, but this one was nice enough that I didn’t want to pass it up.  It was situated well off the road, which proved to be useful.  That evening, traffic along the road was surprisingly heavy.  I guess everyone was heading home after a weekend in Linville Gorge.

 

I set up camp, made dinner, and enjoyed a beer.  Once dark fell, I decided to drive down to Wiseman’s View.  That is supposed to be the best place to see the Brown Mountain Lights.  The mysterious Brown Mountain Lights are legendary.  There are documented reports of their appearance dating back several hundred years.  In fact, I’ve heard that the Cherokee had been familiar with the lights long before white settlers arrived in the area.  Scientists have studied the lights for years, but the source of the lights has yet to be determined

 

I had never seen the lights myself.  The last time I’d gone looking for them was in college.  I’d driven down there with my roommate and some girl he was hot for.  For some bizarre reason, he’d brought along a bottle of wine and an apple pie.  We didn’t see any lights that night, but I think we all had some visions after consuming lots of cheap wine and absurd amounts of pie.

 

Since it had been 14 years, I thought it might be time to give the lights another look.  I drove 2 miles south, and turned left onto the road down to Wisemans View.  At this point, the Kistler Highway was blocked with a large “road closed” sign.  I thought this was odd, but it wasn’t until several days later that I discovered that there is a new wildfire burning just southwest of the gorge.  It’s a little spooky that I was camped that close to a raging wildfire without knowing it.

 

I parked between two other cars, and walked down the paved path to the official overlook.  Along the way, I passed a group of older folks with lanterns heading towards me.  We chatted briefly, and I asked them if they’d seen anything.  One guy said they’d seen one of the Brown Mountain Lights, burning down near the river.  This struck me as odd, as everything I’d ever heard about the lights suggested that they’re normally seen floating over Brown Mountain, east of the gorge.

 

I reached the overlook, which I had all to myself.  I looked out to the east, between Hawksbill and Table Rock, towards Brown Mountain.  The first thing I noticed is that there are a lot more “normal” lights out that way then there were 14 years ago.  Suburban sprawl from Hickory and Lenoir has encroached on an area that used to be quite dark.  If there were any supernatural lights to be seen, how would I distinguish them from the mundane ones?

 

It wasn’t long before I saw the “light” down in the gorge.  An orangish glow appeared and brightened suddenly.  Then it gradually began to fade away.  I stared at it for some time, watching it intensify, then fade.  Occasionally it would disappear altogether.  At one point, I thought the light was floating around.  Then, I realized that this was just my eyes playing tricks on me, thanks to staring at it for so long.  At this point, I finally realized what I was looking at.  It wasn’t one of the mysterious Brown Mountain Lights at all.  Actually, it was just a campfire down in the gorge.  When the campers added wood, the light intensified.  As the fire was neglected, it would fade away.  I chuckled at my foolishness, and went back to scanning the eastern horizon.

 

I didn’t have high hopes of seeing the Brown Mountain Lights, but my trip certainly wasn’t in vain.  There was a full moon hanging just above Table Rock, bathing the rugged peak in an eerie orange glow.  I’d left my camera in the car, but I knew I’d never get a good photo of it.  Unfortunately, my camera doesn’t handle night scenes well at all.

 

I was enjoying the view of the moon when a bright light appeared in the distance, beyond Brown Mountain.  It faded away almost as soon as it appeared.  What was that?  Was it one of the lights, or something more earthly?  I waited for a reappearance for quite some time, but it never came.  Finally, the increasing chill convinced me to head back to camp.  I’ll never know if I actually saw one of the Brown Mountain Lights, or if my vision had been just another 4/20 hallucination.




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