Tuesday, July 10, 2018

Pisgah 400: Pilot Cove-Slate Rock & Laurel Mountain Loop


Pisgah 400: Pilot Cove-Slate Rock Trail & Laurel Mountain Trail – 8/19/17 - 10 Miles

Why does Pisgah Ranger District hold such interest for me?  Is it because of its proximity to where I live (2 hours drive rather than 3, 4, 5 for the Smokies)?  Is it because it has gems of waterfalls, overlooks and rock outcroppings if you can get through the confusion of intersecting unmarked trails?  Is it the challenge of hiking the “Pisgah 400” miles that some of my hiking buddies have completed ahead of me?  All three contribute to the obsession.  Still, I can’t get ‘er done in the methodical, expedient fashion that I hiked the Smokies.  The national forest is not a place I like to go alone.  So…Jim got tapped to join me today.

The bait was a whole weekend so that Jim could get in a bike ride too, and a unique experience to round out the trip. In a departure from our usual remote cabin fever, we found an Airbnb cottage in the town of Hendersonville, walking distance from Main Street, and spent Friday touristing among shops, restaurants, breweries and – my favorite – a cidery.  Yes, I’m a cider girl!


Saturday morning dawned hot and hazy as we drove to the hike route I’d chosen, a loop of obscure trails to finish out an area of the trail map in the North Mills River Recreation Area.  My last time in this neck of the woods was with Jeff and other Berg friends on a very wet hike up to the Blue Ridge Parkway and back that included a delicious lunch at the Pisgah Inn. 

Difficulty finding the trailhead can set a bad tone for a hike.  Jim was wary of the time we were being delayed and I reminded him more than once that it would stay light out longer than he thought…but I was anxious to get started, too.  We drove back and forth on a bumpy two-mile section of the forest road three times, counting bridges and curves, before we found our trailhead – a reminder to me that often you just can’t see the sign markers until you get out and walk up the trail a little bit.


Subtle points of interest and beauty along the Pilot Cove-Slate Rock Trail

Green tunnel

Ghostly Indian Pipe

 
The success of our loop depended on my recognizing a manway connector (not on the map) between Pilot Cove-Slate Rock Trail and Laurel Mountain Trail.  I’d learned about it on that previous hike with Jeff & Co. and we were approaching it this time from the opposite direction.  I thought this was it – and breathed a little sigh of satisfaction when we hit the trail sign confirming it.  However, as Jim says (constantly) there’s no backslappin’ until it’s all over.

 
Laurel Mountain Trail was a gentle, undulating, long descent, a few fungi to stop and ponder, relaxing to just trip along at a good pace.


We closed our loop via a last mile back on the forest road, ending with a fine finish soaking our feet in Yellow Gap Creek. 


That unique experience to round out the trip?  Just a big old solar eclipse.  Despite the clouds, we had a grand time with half the nation lying back and witnessing an event that surely awed the native peoples long ago.



“You need the dark in order to show the light.” ~Bob Ross, artist




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