Sunday, November 24, 2024

Pisgah 400: Art Loeb Trail & Cold Mountain

Pisgah 400: Art Loeb Trail & Cold Mountain – 7/12/23 – 11.4 miles

After a comfy/chilly night’s rest (54 degrees) at Mount Pisgah Campground, Carol and I woke up to another blue sky day, looking forward to hiking to a famous summit: Cold Mountain.

Heard of it?

Yes, it’s the Cold Mountain that inspired the 1997 book by Charles Frazier (am I dating myself here?)

Yes, it’s the Cold Mountain that every Boy Scout at Camp Daniel Boone has tackled on an 11-mile round trip hike to the summit.

Yes, it’s the Cold Mountain (elevation 6,030 feet) that is part of the South Beyond 6000 Summit Challenge (SB6K).  

Raising the awesomeness factor of today’s hike is the Art Loeb Trail, a challenging route traversing ridgelines of Shining Rock Wilderness and high points of Pisgah National Forest. Camp Daniel Boone is at the northern terminus of the Art Loeb Trail. The southern terminus is 30.1 miles away at Davidson River Campground in Pisgah National Forest.

I’ve hiked all of the Art Loeb Trail except the westernmost four miles starting from the camp. I summitted Cold Mountain in 2009 as part of the SB6K Challenge (that’s 14 years ago, friends). Our trek on that day was a rigorous 18 miles out-and-back from…well, you can read all about it here.

Today’s adventure is all new for Carol, so let’s go!

It’s one heck of a drive from Mount Pisgah Campground to Camp Daniel Boone, and I was taken aback when it appeared we would drive through the middle of the camp while the morning flag ceremony was being conducted. Boy Scouts young and old swarming everywhere – are we in the right place? Yep, just keep going to the gravel parking lot for Art Loeb Trail.

A young woman with a loaded backpack was studying the trailhead sign and she headed up the trail a few minutes ahead of us. We soon caught up with her and she was eager to chat. She was excited to begin a birthday challenge for herself, her first multi-day hike.

Carol and I surreptitiously raised eyebrows. We are both experienced backpacking know-it-alls and Shining Rock Wilderness is quite rugged, a myriad of unmarked animal and social trails with no signage. We suppressed the urge to grill her about gear, instead encouraging her that it was very doable. She said she had paper maps and some info from the AllTrails app, figured she would take 5 days or so. We took a group photo, and Carol and I wished her well and walked on, a little worried – yes, judging her (lack of?) preparedness.

Our superiority complexes were quickly squelched as the steepness of the trail in front of us took our breath away. Let’s slow down and appreciate nature. Lush foliage and midsummer flowers were putting on a show!


I do not know what this is...

Dutchman’s Pipe vines and heart-shaped foliage

Turk’s Cap Lily

Carol crossing one of several little streams

Fire Pinks


Sundrops

At about 4 miles, we reached Deep Gap, where the Art Loeb Trail turns right and Cold Mountain Trail turns left. We took a break to assess our energy levels.

Are we having fun yet? Carol debated whether she wanted to continue to the summit.  Up to this point, the Art Loeb had been challenging but not hard to follow, clear of obstacles. Looking at the head-high foliage pointing towards Cold Mountain, though, I also had doubts. This where the “let’s start, see what it’s like, maybe turn around” philosophy applies. (Spoiler alert at the top of this post: we both made it to the summit.)

Can you see me?

The steep grade didn’t let up. The closer we got to the top, the more rugged the trail became. The tall undergrowth persisted, broken up occasionally by boulders. No surprise I only took three photos on this section.

A piped spring

Columbine

I see an opening…

The top of Cold Mountain is broad, mostly tree covered, but there is a survey marker

Several expanses of rock facing south, overlooking Shining Rock Wilderness’s green carpeted ridges. Like Goldilocks, we checked out all of them.

The Art Loeb Trail follows the ridgeline in the center of the photo

On the return hike, we stopped at Deep Gap again where a group of high school age Boy Scouts were setting up tents. We chatted with the woman who was guiding them on a 3-day backpack trip in Shining Rock Wilderness. We asked about the young woman on her Art Loeb birthday quest, but this group had not seen her.

Most folks who meet in the middle of the woods are happy to talk: where ya been,
where ya going?

Further down the trail, we met two men and asked if they had seen the young woman. They said yes, she was turning around, decided it was too much for her. She could have modified her plan to a one-nighter out-and-back, but at any rate, Carol and I were very happy to hear she had made a thoughtful decision.

Heck of a long drive back to Mount Pisgah Campground with plans for a simple dehydrated supper. At the neighboring campsite, two guys were cooking something that smelled delicious and they invited us to “sit a spell.” They were old friends who meet several times a year to camp together, cook a lot, smoke cigars, enjoy the peace and quiet of the outdoors. Their setup was elaborate, with a huge tent and canopies, camp cots and a large rug to keep the dirt out – and don’t forget the eternal campfire. We talked about what we’d done that day and they talked about what they might do tomorrow, after sleeping in and cooking breakfast and smoking more cigars.

Camp neighbors keeping their priorities straight

"Live your life by a compass, not a clock."
 ~Stephen Covey




Thursday, November 7, 2024

Pisgah 400: Sam Knob Summit & Flat Laurel Creek Trail/Little Sam Knob Trail/Mountains-To-Sea Trail Loop

Pisgah 400: Sam Knob Summit & Flat Laurel Creek Trail/Little Sam Knob Trail/MST
Loop Hike – 7/11/23 – 9 Mile
s

Shining Rock Wilderness – View from Sam’s Knob

One of the advantages of living in central North Carolina is if the temperatures aren't cooperating at home, there is always perfect camping weather within half a day’s drive to the east or west. Too cold in the winter? The Carolina coast beckons with warm (not hot) temperatures and no crowds. Too hot in the summer? The NC mountains offer cool respite in the high elevations.

Where do I go when it’s 98 degrees in the “Charlotte sauna” in July? Mount Pisgah Campground on the Blue Ridge Parkway.

My hiking buddy Carol and I booked a campsite for a mid-week hiking jaunt in the Shining Rock Wilderness area of Pisgah National Forest. This was a new area for Carol to experience and I’m working on the Carolina Mountain Club Pisgah 400 Challenge (hiking all the trails in the Pisgah Ranger District).

[Pause for a public service announcement for the National Park Service Senior Lifetime Pass. If you are age 62 or older and a U.S. citizen or permanent resident, this is the best $80 you will ever spend. Yes, it covers entry fees for our National Parks and 2,000 other recreation sites, but it also provides discounts for hundreds of campgrounds and facility amenities on federally managed lands. With my pass, the fees for Mt. Pisgah Campground were $10 per night. Read here for all the details.]

Perfect weather window for our adventures, clear skies, daytime temps in the 70s and nighttime temps in the 50s. It’s a long drive (3.5 hours from my house to the trailhead) and we were ready to stretch our legs. Today’s hike was a classic loop route in Shining Rock Wilderness highlighting Sam Knob and Little Sam Knob.

Here we go! *Most of the photos in this blog post (all of the good ones) are Carol's*

Starting at the Flat Laurel Creek trailhead on NC 215, a short gravel trail passed a primitive campsite (folks set up, looked like they’d been there a while). The trail grade was level, walking in rhododendron tunnels – ahh, breathe that mountain air! We passed Split Falls and Wildcat Falls, neither very photogenic in the dappled sunshine (that’s okay).

Split Falls

Wildcat Falls

Fresh cuttings hiding the roots and rocks on the trail -
looks like someone has been trimming the rhododendrons 

We caught up with the trail maintainers – thank you!

Heart Rock, a sweet landmark on Flat Laurel Creek Trail

We easily rock hopped several small creeks draining down the slopes to join Flat Laurel Creek, passing campsites as the trail winds around the lower contours on the west side of Little Sam Knob. In one stretch along Flat Laurel Creek there was a string of spaces with campfire rings tucked in the rhododendrons, enough to accommodate a Boy Scout troop.

At the intersection of Flat Laurel Creek Trail and Sam Knob Trail, we turned left and paused before crossing Flat Laurel Creek.

A frame-worthy Carol selfie

We were so captivated by the bubbling creek that we decided to sit down for “first lunch”

Rugged stairs beckoned us across the creek, time to resume our hike

The western end of Sam Knob Trail connecting to Flat Laurel Creek Trail

Peekaboo Sam Knob

The eastern end of Sam Knob Trail begins at the Black Balsam trailhead parking area. It crosses Sam Knob Meadow, where a left turn goes on to Flat Laurel Creek and a right turn follows Sam Knob Summit Trail. Coming from the west, we kept straight onto the summit trail. (Yes, a map and a GPS app are very useful tools to keep all this straight. But you knew that already, right?) 

Even though I’ve climbed Sam Knob several times, today I was lulled by our gentle three-mile ramble to this point and rudely yanked back to reality. Hiking is hard work! The summit trail is short but challenging even with a couple of switchbacks. 

Rugged climb

Halfway up

Million dollar view: Mount Hardy on the far left, Devil’s Courthouse peeking over the horizon,
Little Sam Knob in the center of the photo, its right side covered in coniferous trees,
left side covered in hardwoods

Looking north towards Grassy Cove Top and Tennent Mountain

Sam Knob has two distinct peaks with trails going to both. We took the right-hand trail to the northern peak, the true summit at 6,045 feet elevation.

Looking southeast towards…dark clouds gathering

Hmmm… looks like we wouldn’t have time to explore Sam Knob’s south peak. We’d enjoyed a slow pace ambling along the trail and now we had to hustle to compete our loop and get to campsite check-in and our reward for the day (read on!)

We descended Sam Knob and retraced our steps to Flat Laurel Creek, where we turned left to rejoin our route. A half mile from there, we turned right onto Little Sam Knob Trail that follows the base around its eastern side.

There is no official trail to the summit of Little Sam (5,850 feet elevation) but no doubt many folks tackle it. Today we saw a man off trail that looked a little sneaky…maybe taking a pee break, maybe he was trying to scramble to the top?

This section of trail is relatively flat and easy, and before we could say “Little Sam Knob” three times, we reached the junction with my dear old friend, the Mountains-To-Sea Trail. Turning right (westbound), we followed the MST for the remaining 2 miles of our loop. Here’s what we saw along the way:

Artifacts from logging days

St John’s wort lining the trail

Rock tripe, ugly but edible (research before you try it!)

A campfire ring that appeared to have trash and plastic bags strewn around,
but on closer inspection it was made of white quartz rocks

Rough bridge on the MST

To be honest, the last mile of the MST was not pleasant, an eroded, washed out, steep descent. After 9 miles and 5.5 hours on the trail, Carol and I were glad to see our car. We made our way to Mount Pisgah Campground to check in and hastily set up our tents…

…because we had a dinner reservation at the Pisgah Inn. Clean clothes on sweaty bodies, but we relished in our window seats overlooking Pisgah National Forest and our cider toast to another great day outside. Sláinte!

“Hiking side effects include sweating, euphoria
 and general awesomeness.”
 ~Anonymous