Pisgah 400: Long Branch Trail to McCall Family Cemetery

Pisgah 400: Long Branch Cemetery Loop – 10.4 miles – 3/26/22

Waterfalls, cemeteries, mountain bikers and a surprise encounter: another great day in Pisgah National Forest.

I’m still checking off all the trails of the Pisgah 400 Challenge. About half of my miles today were on trail, half on the still-closed FR 475. I expected the forest to be busy on a Saturday and it sure was.

I hiked a clockwise loop with a couple of side trails, starting from the Pisgah Center For Wildlife Education (commonly known as the fish hatchery). I followed Cat Gap Loop Trail to Butter Gap Trail. [Like many trails in Pisgah, both are wide and worn down from lots of boot prints, which enables water erosion. Trail maintainers work hard to keep up with these well-loved trails.]

I passed the intersection with Long Branch Trail and continued up to Grogan Creek Falls, a favorite because of its close proximity to the trail.

Grogan Creek Falls looking lovely in the morning light

Back to Long Branch, a trail of many personalities, mountain bike banks, open fields, gnarly rhododendron, and much more.

Who’s been a-scratchin’ here?

A view of Looking Glass Rock before spring leaves emerge

One of my primary goals today was checking out the McCall Family Cemetery. Pioneer Samuel McCall and his wife Eleanor settled in this area in the 1790’s. Samuel and Eleanor are not buried here, but many of their descendants and extended family are, as well as other families from the area. Most graves are prior to 1900. Some markers have worn remarkably well, while some graves have simple rough stones with no markings. [This website has more details and excellent photos.]

Robert McCall, Jr (one of Samuel and Eleanor’s sons)

Rachel McCall, Robert’s wife

I walked a short distance past the cemetery on the old roadbed of McCall Cemetery Road, then decided to turn around and go back to Long Branch Trail to continue my loop. At a campsite with a large rock fire ring, I took a lunch break – a very quiet spot, no birdsong, no wind, just a peaceful silence that maybe Samuel and Eleanor enjoyed once upon a time.

Long Branch Trail continued for about a mile further to its intersection with FR 475, where I began the tedious 4.5-mile road walk back to the fish hatchery. [This was one of those times I greatly appreciated my GAIA GPS to check my progress along the route.]

Met a constant stream of mountain bikers coming up FR 475 eagerly anticipating
 their swift descents on various trails

This washout is one of the reasons FR 475 is closed to vehicles

So…waterfalls, cemeteries, mountain bikers…what about that surprise encounter?

As I was hustling down boring ol’ FR 475, I passed a young couple going up, and they asked if we were on Daniel Ridge Trail. I said no, and we consulted the map to see where they wanted to be. We walked together back to where they had started, I showed them their trailhead, and they went on their way. Suddenly I heard a voice, "Hi Sharon!"

A delightful surprise! It was an old friend who I haven't talked to in several years. We caught up on families and hiking, and my heart was warmed by the "chance" meeting in the woods.

A spiritual mentor once told me, “I believe in coincidences, I’ve just never seen one.” I feel that Spirit moved that couple to ask me (out of all the other hikers and mountain bikers out there) for directions and led me to my friend. Happens all the time if you're open to it.

“Every moment is a golden one for him who has
 the vision to recognize it as such.”
 ~Henry Miller