EARTHMOVER
Last
weekend, Christy decided to do a 60K bike ride in Brevard. It was an organized ride, but not a
race. I know this because she pointed
it out on several occasions. After all,
a race would mean that she would have to ride FAST.
Since
the ride was starting early Saturday morning, we decided to head up there
Friday afternoon and camp. We arrived
around 4pm, and headed up Avery Creek in search of a campsite. Usually campsites are easy to find at that
hour on a Friday, but last weekend was a holiday, and lots of people were
out. Luckily we found a decent spot
across the road from the creek. In an
unusual twist for us, we actually arrived several hours before dark. This gave us plenty of time to set up camp
and watch an endless procession of vehicles drive up and down the road
searching for a vacant campsite.
We
were up early on Saturday, as Christy was meeting her friend Jackie at 7:30 to
prepare for the ride. We wolfed down
bagels and broke camp at seven, long before any of our fellow campers along
Avery Creek Road emerged from their tents.
By 7:10, Christy was dropping the dog and I off at the Avery Creek
Trailhead. Our plan was for her to pick
me up at the Pisgah Ranger Station around noon. Rain was expected to arrive Saturday afternoon, and we hoped to
get our trips in before the deluge. I
would have 5 hours to hike the 9 miles from Avery Creek to Buckhorn Gap and
down to the visitor’s center on the Black Mountain Trail. Originally I found myself trying to plan a
loop hike, before realizing how unnecessary that was. Since Christy was picking me up anyway, why not do a shuttle hike
– without actually having to run the shuttle?
Getting
started at dawn (well, almost) was something of a novelty for me. I’ve started a few hikes out west that
early, but 7:15 represented a new record for me in the southeast. I was pretty excited about the early
start. I thought I’d have a better
chance of seeing more wildlife and fewer humans at that hour.
The
trail led steadily downhill to a beaver pond on Avery Creek. From there, I headed upstream through
pleasant forest on an easy trail. At
one point I scrambled down to the creek to get a better view of a waterfall. The unnamed cascade is only about 10’ high,
but it is still pretty and photogenic.
I
continued upstream, crossing the stream on log footbridges that survived
September’s flooding. I met the
Buckhorn Gap Trail at a signed junction, and followed a major tributary
upstream. Once again I crossed the
creek on several bridges, before detouring off the mail trail to make a side
trip to Twin Falls.
Twin
Falls is a neat spot, as two separate streams spill over the same cliff. The hardwood forest below the falls is
beautiful, but so dense that photographing the falls is virtually impossible. I made a couple of feeble attempts, before
realizing that I was behind schedule. I
didn’t want Christy to end of waiting for me and worrying, so I kicked my pace
up a notch for the climb to Buckhorn Gap.
The
climb was steady, but never steep. I
reached Buckhorn Gap at 9:30, with 6 miles still ahead of me. I was confident that I could cover them in 2
˝ hours, so I eased my pace as I began the climb on the ridge toward Black
Mountain. I was now following the ridge
that forms the east rim of the Avery Creek watershed. Trails follow the entire rim of the bowl, but today I would only
be hiking the east side.
I
reached the wooded summit of Clawhammer Mountain, before descending a short
distance to an open cliff. Here I found
the best (and only) vista of the hike.
I gazed out over a startling landscape, featuring the granite domes of
Cedar Rock, John Rock, and Looking Glass Rock rearing up out of the Davidson
River Valley. Beyond, the view
stretched to Pilot Mountain, Tennent Mountain, and the Blue Ridge Parkway.
I
had a short break there and a quick snack, before some annoying bugs drove me
off. The bugs were either large gnats
or small flies, and the swarms were aggravating. I hustled back onto the trail, climbing past some interesting
rock outcrops and a small cave to pass just below the summit of Black
Mountain. From there, it was almost all
downhill. I descended past a trail
leading towards the South Mills River, and dropped quickly to an old road
crossing in Pressley Gap. After the
gap, there was a short climb, before the descent resumed all the way to Thrift
Cove.
In
the Thrift Cove, I found a large wildlife clearing, a nice campsite, and
people. After a morning of total
isolation, it seemed like there were people everywhere. There were hikers and mountain bikers and
runners, and even two guys on a small bulldozer clearing debris from the
trail. The heavy machinery was a bit
alarming, but it was good to see trail maintenance in action.
I
dropped down another hill or two and arrived behind the work center across from
the Davidson River Campground. From
there, it was only a short walk up the road to the ranger station. I arrived at 12:15, 15 minutes ahead of
Christy. From there, we had plenty of
time for lunch at a Mexican restaurant and some shopping before heading
home. We returned to Charlotte by late
afternoon, leaving us with a full evening free. Hiking at dawn definitely has it advantages, but that doesn’t
mean I’ll be leaving Charlotte at 5AM for all of my future dayhikes!
And
now, I’d like to introduce you to a new website feature, the “truly horrible
pun of the month!” Christy and I were
eating lunch, and she was telling me about her ride. Apparently the ride had been grueling, featuring at least one
monster hill. Her friend Jackie had
struggled, as she had developed her monthly “female issues” the night
before. Later that morning, Christy
discovered that she had developed the same condition. I couldn’t resist making an observation. “That’s so cute - you two must be on the
same cycle. You should get a tandem!”
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