Linville Gorge Hike
With Andy and Boone
Sunday, August 23rd, 2009
Trip report written by Jack Thyen
Babel Tower, Linville River, Fantasy Creek,
Futuristic Wall, West Face Rock, Henson Creek
Jack’s photos are posted here:
http://outdoors.webshots.com/album/574311265ZtGTPO
Back in February, after visiting Babel Tower, Andy and I
found a scramble path on the West Side of the Tower which led us to a really neato spot along the Linville River. We were curious about what was downstream,
but further exploration would be almost impossible without getting wet. That
was out of the question on that day because the river was about 50% covered
with ice. It was way too cold to get in the water, and we weren't about to
attempt walking across any icy surfaces!
We decided that we would plan a return trip during the summer and explore downstream
when the water would be warm enough to spend a good bit of the day in the
river. Well, the summer is almost over
so we planned our return.
Our planned route:
- Start on the Babel Tower Trail
- Off Trail scramble down the west side of Babel Tower down to the river
- Follow the river downstream to Henson Creek
- Explore Henson Creek
- Connect to the West Face "Trail" and explore West Face Rock and
Futuristic Wall
- Descend down Fantasy Creek to the Linville River
- Cross the river and connect to the LGT
- Head back up to BT / LGT junction and return to vehicle via the Babel Tower
Trail.
Usually when hiking the Linville Gorge area, I like to spend the previous evening
at my wife's parents place in Rutherfordton, NC. This really cuts down on the
drive time in the morning. However, this time I would be making the entire
drive from Spartanburg, SC which meant getting up fairly early. Sometime during the night some moron crashed
into a telephone pole and electrical transformer, knocking out power to over
2,000 Duke Power Customers on the West Side of Spartanburg.
Sometime in the very early hours of the morning, I peaked
at the clock and quickly realized we were without power. I couldn't risk
falling back asleep without an alarm to wake me up, so I went ahead a got up. I was glad I packed all my gear in the truck
the night before, because it is a challenge getting ready for a hike while it
is still dark outside without power inside. I had to disable the garage door
opener and open the garage manually. However, it does not stay open when you do
this. So, I had to get Amy out of bed to back my truck out while I held to
garage door open.
Despite the morning power outage, I still managed to make it out in time and arrive
at the Marion, NC Wal-Mart a few minutes before our 9:00am meeting time. Once
Andy arrived we decided to take my truck since we have heard that the
condition of the Kistler Memorial Highway (dirt road
on the West side of Linville Gorge) has seriously deteriorated since our last
visit. While Andy's Corolla probably
could have made it, the road was definitely in bad shape and we were glad we
had my truck. I grabbed one of the few remaining parking spots at the Babel
Tower Trailhead and we hit the trail.
While all the trails heading down the West Side of the Gorge are steep, the Babel
Tower Trail is one of the more user friendly and we
made good time towards Babel Tower. Despite the crowd of cars at the parking
area, we didn't see
anyone on the trail and only a small group of college age kids camping near the
LGT / Babel Trail intersection.
Before continuing our descent towards the river, we decided to check out the view
from the top of Babel Tower. I am not sure the best route to take up the top, but
this time we accidentally went up a different way and ended up at a
completely different viewpoint.
After enjoying the views and breeze from the top of Babel Tower we had no problem
finding the scramble path down to the river and arrived at the same spot we
visited in February. Only this time, there was no ice on the water. Judging by the puddles in the potholes on the
drive in and the overall wetness of the rocks and trails, it was obvious that
the area experienced some rain the previous evening. As a result the river was
up a bit. Would it be too high for us to attempt our planned adventure?
We didn't get very far downstream before deciding this was not a good idea. The
raging river squeezes through a narrow chasm with sheer near vertical rock walls
on each side. While we might be a little more adventurous than your
average hiker, we were not crazy enough to continue on with our plan. Maybe the next time we go through an extreme
drought (last summer would have been good) we will try again. But for today, it
was on to Plan B.
We still wanted to explore the Futuristic Wall area between Henson &
Fantasy Creek, so we scrambled back up to the main trail and descended down the
South East side of Babel Tower via the LGT. After a series of switchbacks (very
rare for Linville Gorge), we saw some pink ribbons tied to a tree and decided
to follow them down towards the river.
Across the river we could see Fantasy Creek. Actually, you don't see much of a
creek as it flows almost entirely underground. But the obvious creek bed would
be our route to follow.
There was no way across the river without getting wet, so that's what we did. We crossed through waist high water and
arrived on the opposite bank without any problems and started our scramble up
Fantasy Creek. This is definitely not a
trail, but ribbons tied to trees pretty much lead the way via the path of least
resistance. We eventually got to a neato cave at the base
of a very impressive rock wall. We continued north along the base of the rock
wall in total awe of its magnitude.
I am not exactly sure what is considered the actual Futuristic Wall, and what is
considered West Face Rock, but it didn't really matter. All I know is that this
section of "trail" follows along the base of some of the most
impressive
displays of towering rock walls anywhere!
This is not an official trail, but for the most part it was very easy to
follow. It was obvious that someone put a good bit of effort into keeping the route
clear. It wouldn't take much to make this an official and sustainable trail.
We took our time and did a lot of exploring. We tried to find a good place to scramble
up the rocks to catch a view, but didn't see any safe way for us non-rock
climbers to scale the walls. Eventually,
we made it to Henson Creek and followed that a short distance down to the
Linville River where we took a little break and Boone went for a swim.
After our break we explored up Henson Creek a short distance. We would have liked
to go further, but it was getting late in the day and we still had a long way
back to my truck. We will just have to plan a return visit to further explore
Henson Creek!
Since the return hike was all backtracking and we knew exactly where we were going,
it went much quicker. At least until we got to the crossing of the Linville
River.
I made it across with no problems, Andy made it across with no problems, but for
some reason, Boone refused to get in. The dog just stood on a rock on the other
side whining and yelping. Andy was convinced
that once we got out of sight, Boone would gather up the courage and follow us.
That didn't work!
Since leaving Boone behind was not an option, we got back in the River, re-crossed
to the other side, and put the leash on Boone. It still required both of us
(one pulling & one pushing) to get Boone into the river and eventually
across and on with the remainder of our hike.
We were already soaked with sweat and river water when the rain started, so it didn't
bother us one bit. It felt refreshing, especially since it occurred during the
grunt climb out of the gorge section of the hike. The rain stopped shortly before we arrived
back at my truck, so we were able to change into dry clothes before hitting the
road towards home.
While we did not succeed in our original plan, it was still a great hike and we
both got to see parts of Linville Gorge that we have not seen before. There is
still a lot of gorge left to explore, so I know we'll be back!
Below are additional comments by Andy: Back to North Carolina's High Country
Back to North Carolina
Back to Hiking and Backpacking Trip Reports
Please remember to Leave No Trace!
I checked the gauge for the Linville River Sunday AM before I left to meet
Jack. It was at 50 CFS and falling.
Unfortunately, the gauge is just upstream from Lake James, which is quite a
ways downstream from Babel Tower. What we didn't realize was that farther
upstream, the water level was actually rising due to rain Saturday night. By
late Sunday, the gauge was back up to 60 CFS. To hike that stretch of river
without doing some serious swimming, the gauge probably needs to be close to its
all time low (for Aug 25th, the lowest reading in 87 years was in 1925 at 11
CFS).
Since we were planning on spending a lot of time in the river, Jack and I both brought
our old cameras. Using the old camera feels like playing with a toy. That's kind of sad.
Henson Canyon has the second-most slippery rocks I've ever experienced. First place
goes to Fantasy Canyon.
Thanks, Jack, for the help getting Boone back across the river. If that had been
a solo hike, the dog and I would probably both still be sitting there. There's no way
I could've gotten that 80 lb dog across by myself!
Andy’s photos:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/9067009@N03/sets/72157622125093236/