Stone Mountain State Park

8/10/09 – Stone Mountain State Park – 9.5 Miles It’s been probably a dozen years since my family visited Stone Mountain State Park near Roaring Gap. A lot has changed since we followed the white dots up the granite dome face of this gem of North Carolina. Danny Bernstein's book "Hiking North Carolina's Blue Ridge Heritage" has an excellent overview and trail descriptions. Stone Mountain is a great day destination for everyone, with fantastic natural rock formations, lovely waterfalls and Hutchinson Homestead, a mid-19th century farm. So on a hot Monday morning I drove northwest of Charlotte to spend a day in the park. What’s new? Stairways and railings and cables galore. This is a much-loved park, as evidenced by the well-worn trails and multiple shortcuts. The stairways and railings are an attempt to funnel people going across the rock faces on the way to the summit, but there are still plenty of places to wander and possibly fall off the face of the earth. However, on this Monday I would have had no witnesses to my demise. I did a figure-eight hike of roughly ten miles starting from the lower trailhead parking lot and only saw a few other visitors, all near Stone Mountain Falls.

Views begin early on the trail to the summit

Cables seem like overkill here

Remember to look back over your shoulder as you go up!

Looking at Cedar Rock from Stone Mountain - later on I was over there looking back over here

Very impressive tree growing out of the rock

A busy bee on a summer day

Joe pye weed blooming on the slopes of Stone Mountain Falls

Looking up from the base of Stone Mountain Falls (or is this Stone Mountain slip-n-slide?)

After Stone Mountain Falls I made the side trip to Middle and Lower Falls. Middle Falls is kind of so-so, Lower Falls a little nicer destination, good for a snack and a rest. The highlight of this side hike, though, were several deer that watched me curiously as I passed them. I briefly stopped to take photos, but the gnats were merciless buzzing around my eyes and I had to keep moving to stay sane. Insects were annoying me all day long, but on this trail they were nearly unbearable. And shame on me, I think that's why I forgot to look around for the evidence of moonshining as described in Danny's book.

Full view of Stone Mountain from the valley floor

Nearly all the way around the Stone Mountain Loop Trail I passed the Hutchinson Homestead but I continued on to turn left onto the Wolf Rock Loop Trail. (This would take me to the Cedar Rock Trail and then back to the Stone Mountain Loop and back by the Hutchinson Homestead a second time.) Wolf Rock and Cedar Rock are also granite dome faces, in my opinion just as cool as the namesake rock. If you want to be by yourself and wave to the folks on Stone Mountain, go to Cedar Rock.

This mushroom looked like a pedestal cake stand

The cap was the size of a dinner plate

A long low rock wall near the top of Wolf Rock Trail - reminds me of the Smokies

On top of Wolf Rock -the world's strongest tree that split the rock in half!

Beautiful view from Wolf Rock

Looking at Stone Mountain from Cedar Rock On my family’s visit so long ago we somehow missed the Hutchinson Homestead, so today I explored a bit. The buildings are open on weekends during peak season and include a log cabin, barn, blacksmith shop, corncrib, meat house and original furnishings. Stone Mountain State Park has car camping facilities as well as group and backcountry camping, making it a great weekend base to explore. The Mountains-to-Sea Trail runs through it as well. Now that I have rediscovered it, I will return with some of my non-hiking friends (who are becoming hiking friends now!) to watch them gasp at the beauty of this place.

It was my good fortune that today they were paving the main road in the park, so I got to chat with the flag guy as I waited to get around the heavy equipment. He told me that he and his buddies frequently come to Stone Mountain to rock climb, but he's never really hiked the trails for the sake of hiking. To each his own...

If the sight of the blue skies fills you with joy, if a blade of grass springing up in the fields has power to move you, if the simple things of nature have a message that you understand, rejoice, for your soul is alive. ~Eleonora Duse

What Could Be More Fun Than Swinging On A Chain Link Fence?

7/11/09 – SB6K Trek – Mt. Mitchell, Mt. Hallback, Mt. Gibbes, Clingmans Peak, Potato Knob – 8.2 Miles 

 The last “conditioning” hike for me before our Grand Tetons adventure was a jaunt with Jeff. Jeff was closing in on finishing the SB6K’s (he did complete the challenge on July 19) and I was astounded that he had not yet been to the summit of Mount Mitchell, the highest peak in North Carolina and the highest peak east of the Mississippi. We met on a less-than-stellar Saturday morning at Mount Mitchell with big plans to bag a few peaks and then climb to the Green Knob fire tower for dessert.

These peaks are located in the Black Mountains northeast of Asheville, NC. Ecology is similar to the Smokies: human effects of logging and natural effects of chestnut blight and the destruction of Fraser firs because of the balsam woolly adelgid have changed the forest, but it continues to amaze mere mortals who stand at Mount Mitchell’s summit – if you’re lucky enough to be there on a clear day, purportedly an average of two out of ten days. (If you are planning a trip and care about the weather conditions, check here.) Our day started out in cloud cover but improved as we traipsed the trails. We took the short approach trail to the newly built tower for photo ops.

From here we turned onto the Old Mitchell Trail (also part of the Mountains-to-Sea Trail) for a gentle downhill, passing intrepid hikers coming up and several lush expanses of St. John’s Wort. We passed the full-service restaurant (never pass up a chance to use a real bathroom – and the food and view are great too!) About a mile south we made a short bushwhack to the summit of Mount Hallback. As usual, I followed Jeff with his GPS and trusted him when he said we were at the top.

 We continued our descent to the Park Office and walked southwest across the paved road into less defined territory. From this point we were going without a map, using notes that Jeff obtained from Peter Barr of Hiking North Carolina's Lookout Towers fame, looking for a manway to take us to Mount Gibbes and points beyond. We think it was once called the Old Boundary Trail (now decommissioned) and several times we saw boundary markers and signs. No more nice downhill, time for a workout! We conquered Mount Gibbes, the last of our official SB6K peaks for the day, and pushed on to bag a couple of lesser peaks since we were in the neighborhood.

The manway took us on to Clingmans Peak and here the neighborhood changed. This peak has towers surrounded by a high chain link fence and Peter's notes said “walk around” and pick up the trail on the other side. To the right looked impossible, so we headed left, stomping down the vegetation and praying that snakes were on vacation. We kept hands on the fence whenever possible and inched along. Eventually the mountain fell steeply away and we were hanging on the fence – and still we clambered along (because the notes said so, right?) until we reached a rock face that we couldn’t climb. We turned around and stomped back (the vegetation had regrown itself to shoulder height again) and I remember thinking how insane we were to think this was doable at this time of the year. Back at our starting point of the manway, we were still too stubborn to call it a day, so we bushwhacked to the right along the fence – and soon the forest opened up and came to a trail again. Yippee! We’re not licked yet. Let’s have lunch!

Or are we? This trail went in one direction to an open view with a big rock and a dead end, then in another direction to a clearing with a house (vaguely mentioned in the notes, but where was the trail now?) We spent a half hour worrying about trespassing on private property, until I finally walked up to the house yelling, “Hello!” and saw that windows were broken and it was obviously unoccupied. Some more time spent unsuccessfully searching for the trail and we were once again facing giving up. But…hey, this looks like a bare spot…hello, trail!

Onward to Potato Knob, which has a rock to climb up on that I nearly fell off of. Other than the vagueness of the fence at Clingmans Peak, our notes were pretty reliable. I am a map person, though, and do much better with a drawing than with written directions, so I was constantly rethinking and rereading and questioning. Jeff was very calm and cool, but was he wondering how I was going to act in the Tetons? Ah, that 20/20 hindsight…

We found a second summit for Potato Knob, a gorgeous view of the Blue Ridge Parkway ribbon and beyond, but our last dilemma of the day was finding a different manway to go sharply down to intersect with the Mountains-to-Sea Trail and back to our shuttle car. We tried hard but only hit dead ends at steep overhangs, so ultimately we had to backtrack to another intersection with the MST, which added a couple of miles to our day (nice views and a great trail, though.) Again relying on Peter's notes, we ultimately found the bottom end of this manway, and I guarded our day packs while Jeff went up and scouted it out. He was gone so long that I sprawled out on the trail for a short nap. I had a little bit of time to debate about leaving him…but here he comes. He had followed the manway up to where we had lost it, but said it was ridiculously steep. Glad I took a nap.

Total mileage for the day was 8.2, total elevation gain was 2,727 feet, and to date I have summited 19 of the 40 SB6K’s. We skipped dessert (the Green Knob fire tower) and went our separate ways home. It was a very fun day, but driving in excess of 2.5 hours each way for a day hike is not a habit I want to get into. I much prefer several days of hiking and camping.

Coming soon: Stone Mountain State Park, an AT overnight backpack trip, hiking with my book club, and more!

Few people know how to take a walk. The qualifications are endurance, plain clothes, old shoes, an eye for nature, good humor, vast curiosity, good speech, good silence and nothing too much. ~Ralph Waldo Emerson

Grand Tetons Adventure: Surprise/Ending

Grand Tetons Adventure – Day Seven – 7/31/09 – Surprise Lake and Ampitheater Lake – 9.6 Miles Out-and-Back

By now our breakfasts at the Chuckwagon were automatic and we enjoyed pancakes, eggs, bacon, juice and coffee in the morning chill before heading for our last trailhead. Our final hike in the Grand Tetons was a classic trail up to Ampitheater Lake. The huge and busy parking lot at Lupine Meadows was testament to the popularity of this trail. Looking at the map, it appears that a garden spider drew in this route – just one big zig-zag going up Glacier Gulch. How was I going to do after my day of rest? How were Jeff and Mike going to do after no day of rest and yesterday’s challenging rocks?

The first mile or two of this trail is pretty tame and then the climbing begins - but what a spectacular climb it is. There were flowers, flowers, flowers, and the switchbacks through the open meadows allowed us to look down at Bradley Lake over and over and over again. I was tickled to find that I still had some gas in the ol’ tank. By keeping my pace slow, I made the entire hike up without stopping (except for photo ops, of course.) Many of the other pilgrims wore jeans and parked on every shady rock along the way.

Giant Hyssop - these tall blooms were abundant along this

trail

Sulfur Buckwheat

Mules-ear Wyethia?

One-flower Helian- thella?

Heartleaf Arnica?

Showy Goldeneye? Or something not in my little book?

Bradley Lake in the foreground

What a gorgeous day for a hike!

The three of us were spread out a bit and Jeff, of course, was way up ahead. When I arrived at Surprise Lake, I came upon Jeff with a “surprise” – he was in deep conversa- tion with a young hikerette. I backed up and waited for Mike and then we strolled innocently down to the water’s edge so as not to disturb them, but the hikerette and her friend got away…

There was a lull in the crowd here so we stopped for an early lunch. Surprise Lake was a lovely spot – in fact, I liked it more than Ampitheater Lake, our destination further up the trail. Don’t know why – maybe because Surprise Lake is smaller or the rocks are more comfortable. It has been loved to death, though, and camping near the lake is now prohibited, but there are some backcountry sites in the vicinity so it’s still possible to enjoy a night at the lake.

Ampitheater Lake is only .2 miles past Surprise Lake and the end of the official trail. It’s not too much higher in elevation, but there was significantly more snow lingering here. A faint trail continues along the shoreline and past the lake, climbing up toward Disappointment Peak. Jeff kept going and Mike and I followed for a bit, and then decided it was beautiful enough where we were and sat down. From our vantage point we could hear and faintly see climbers on Disappointment Peak. I can guarantee you I will NEVER be a rock climber! I took photos looking over the cliff we were perched on but they are hopeless – they just don’t convey the depth perception we were seeing. If we had leaned over a little bit more (well, maybe a couple hundred yards more) we might have seen the Teton Glacier nestled in between Grand Teton and Mount Owen. What an awesome spot!

Teewinot Mountain in the background - There is a huge canyon between me and my tree and Teewinot

Looking back down at Ampitheater Lake

The wind picked up considerably and we started back down. Jeff went off exploring another side trail and Mike and I got back in the zig-zag groove. We counted the switchbacks going down – I wonder if he remembers the number? I believe it was over 20 in about three miles. As we descended, more weekend warriors were huffing it uphill. One young woman had on a tee shirt declaring “Outer Banks North Carolina” and I gave her a friendly, “Hey, we’re from North Carolina too.” Turns out she and her friend have recently moved to Charlotte! Now, what are the odds of that? We invited them to check out the Bergs when they get back home.

The trip down was as gorgeous as the way up, of course, and we continued to spot new flowers from this different point of view.

Blue Penstemon

Huge Hollyhocks

Jeff eventually caught up and then passed us. At the end of the 9.6 miles I was happy to put down the pack and take off the boots, although a little sad that our adventures were nearing the end. This was my best hiking day yet – I was finally in competitive canyon hiking shape. Bring on Paintbrush Canyon now, buddy!








The afternoon was still young and Mike was entertaining the idea of kayaking on the Snake River tomorrow after Jeff and I leave, so we spent the next few hours scouting out his paddle, looking at the take-outs and put-ins. A plan was formulated for the next morning: we would drop Mike at his put-in at the Jackson Lake dam, then drop his Jeep at the take-out, and then Jeff and I would pack up tents and head for the airport.

Our explorations took us up as far as the dam, so we continued northward to check out Coulter Bay Village, which includes picnic areas, a campground, a store, gas station, and most importantly – showers. For $4 I got to stand in line with more women and children for the privilege of washing off the day. Of course, women standing in line will strike up a conversation and I met some nice gals, compared campgrounds and national parks, talked to a second grader about what she was looking forward to most about going back to school. Jeff and Mike tell me that this is taboo for the fellas, just keep your eyes averted and get outta there. Yet another reason I’m glad I’m not a guy…

Clean and comfortable, the next item on the agenda was food. Mike took us to a pizza joint at Leeks Marina, where we sat outside in the coolness of the approaching evening and relaxed until it was hard to sit up unaided. We told stories of other trips and adventures. I confessed that I was glad that I had continued on the backpack trip. They are such good guys, they never once said “I told you so.” They gave me credit for spending an entire week with two bachelors. (I did mother hen them a little bit but they tolerated it nicely.) It was a very nice ending to an extraordinary week.

Back for our last night at camp, Mike busied himself with preparations for his kayak trip. Jeff and I packed some and then gave it up since we would have time the next morning. Lights out…sweet dreams…

The best remedy for those who are afraid, lonely or unhappy is to go outside, somewhere where they can be quiet, alone with the heavens, nature and God. Because only then does one feel that all is as it should be and that God wishes to see people happy, amidst the simple beauty of nature. ~ Anne Frank

Grand Tetons Adventure: Saddle Up

Grand Tetons Adventure – Day Six – 7/30/09 – Jackson Hole, WY – 0 Miles 

I slept the sleep of a canyon conqueror, with a tired back, aching feet, a full stomach, and a smile on my face in anticipation of the morning. My day off had been planned long before we left Charlotte, with the option of hiking with Jeff and Mike if I wanted to, but a day of eating and goofing off was the ticket for me. Soooo…the guys headed for some off-trail scrambling up Hanging Canyon to Lake of the Crags and I headed for my day in civilization.

First stop: the Visitor Center to return our bear canister. I wandered around the exhibits there, watched the film and bought a pretty picture book of the Tetons and a little flower ID book. Then I joined the stream of traffic flowing towards Jackson Hole. Second stop: the visitor center there, which I quickly departed because it was crawling with – oh my gosh – tourists. (But I did get my passport stamped for the National Elk Refuge.) Third stop: the Rec center for my second shower of the week. (Note to self: make a top 10 list of things that are great after a backpacking trip). I felt like a runway model when I stepped out of the Rec center, hair flowing in slow motion and heads turning my way…well, at least I was clean. I left the rental car parked at the Rec and took Jackson Hole by storm.

Lunch, window shopping, a coffee shop, a bookstore, more shopping, gawking at high prices, deciding against buying the pink-and-turquoise cowgirl boots, looking at menus for dinner – after about 3 hours Jackson Hole was making me yawn. I sat in the square (with the famous antler arches) for a while reading my book, but some guy was under the impression that we all wanted to hear his cell phone conversation, so I strolled back down to the Rec center. Jeff and Mike were due in around 5:00 or 6:00 p.m. so I settled down on the lawn with my book (A Walk For Sunshine by Jeff Alt – an AT thru-hike as a fundraiser – what a concept!)

The guys arrived, took showers, and we went in search of a good meal. But first, Mike had something on his agenda – a picture of me on a saddle bar stool at the Million Dollar Cowboy Bar. Well…if you insist…

 Then a sumptuous meal at the Silver Dollar as the guys described their hike (difficult, beautiful, technical, stunning) and a nighttime drive back to campground-sweet-campground – tomorrow is our last hike in the Grand Tetons.

 I still find each day too short for all the thoughts I want to think, all the walks I want to take, all the books I want to read and all the friends I want to see. ~John Burroughs

Grand Tetons Adventure: Flower Show On Death Canyon Shelf

Grand Tetons Adventure – Day Five – 7/29/09 – Teton Crest Trail from Alaska Basin/Death Canyon Shelf/Death Canyon Trail – 15+ Miles




Reflection in an unnamed Basin lake

After a cool and comfortable night I woke at first light again to – yippee – a dry tent. We did not have leisure time this morning because our longest trek was ahead of us. Since Jeff confirmed that the Static Peak route was no good, we had nearly 16 miles to go to complete our backpacking fun. Just 16 miles between me and a pizza and a cold soda! I was a happy hiker. Granted, I was no longer unhappy with our adventure and had even come to enjoy it, but real food is a strong enticement after a couple of days of carrying everything on your back.

Mike and I fired up the backpacking stoves in our little protected area between two Buick-sized rocks and were sleepily watching the water come to a boil when I heard or, rather, felt a vague rumbling. Suddenly a very large deer with a very, very large rack lept over the rock that Mike was leaning against, landing about ten yards away near Mike’s tent and gracefully moving out of sight. He was followed immediately by a second deer. I felt more rumbling and had just enough time to say, “Here comes another one,” when a third deer popped up over Mike’s rock. This one took a second leap, then paused and turned back to look at us before continuing on his morning romp with his buddies. As he disappeared, Mike and I looked at each other and burst out laughing. A truly priceless moment and a prime example of why I like to hike and backpack and camp with other people – we will always be able to say, “Do you remember the time…?”

We hit the trail again by 8:00 a.m. and continued our tour of the Alaska Basin. Doesn’t Jeff look raring to go on Day 3?

Here and there we could see small campsites, people in stages of waking and packing up. Battleship Mountain was still dominant on the horizon. Soon we started upward out of the canyon on long switchbacks called the Sheep Steps. The piles of bare rock we passed through are like marmot condos. We saw lots of them along this part of the route.

One more time,kids – when you walk up out of a canyon you are going over a pass. Pass Number 3 for our trip was Mount Meek Pass at 9,276 feet. This was not nearly as daunting as Paintbrush and Hurricane. The approach is rather gentle compared to those two. Mike had passed this way before and could point out precisely where the trail would take us. In this photo, Mount Meek is the magnificent beginning of a miles-long wall of rock. Fortunately, we did not have to go over it – the pass is at its base on the left. Mount Meek Pass is also the point where we left the Jedediah Smith Wilderness behind and re-entered the Grand Tetons National Park.

Me at Mount Meek Pass

Consulting the map - is Jeff taking a nap?

Thus we entered the Death Canyon Shelf, a flat bench on the east flank of a series of incredible mountains, including Mount Meek, Mount Jedidiah Smith, Mount Bannon and Fossil Mountain. Yes, I said flat! We had several miles of leisurely strolling along, losing only about 200 feet of elevation before Fox Creek Pass (our last pass of the trip). On our right the mountains rose straight out of the ground to unbelieveable heights, and to our left the earth fell away into Death Canyon. Then we would descend about 3,000 feet from Fox Creek Pass to the end of Death Canyon – which would make us scream in a different way than going up 3,000 feet.

Here on the Shelf we began to see samples of the flower show that lay ahead.

Columbines are so beautiful, even I can take a good photo.

Tiny Jeff on the trail again. Thank goodness for those red shorts!

I have already forgotten what type of rock is predominant here - but it looks like a patio, doesn't it?

Looking into Death Canyon from the Shelf

Looking down into Death Canyon from the Shelf plus flowers

Fossil Mountain

While on the Shelf we met two more backcountry rangers. When asked what our route was, we told them that we were walking out today so they didn’t check our permits. They were identifying flowers as they walked along. We stopped for a lunch break near the end of the Shelf where we could look down to Fox Creek Pass, where we would begin our descent into Death Canyon. Tiny people were walking along the trail and patches of snow were below the pass – a little bit more slippery fun yet to come.

Mike loaned Jeff some emergency sunglasses to help him walking across the snow. Jeff loves these sunglasses.

The wildflower main event cranked up as we began our descent into the canyon. (I didn’t attempt too many photos because I knew Jeff was breaking a world record for flower photo- graphy. I’ll ask his permission to use some of his shots for a “flower show” here soon.) Anyway, the slope had no trees, just these never-ending beauties, and as we made our way down the dominant colors changed from pink and purple and blue to red, with white and yellow mixed in all the way. The flowers were often waist high and sometimes over my head, and the path was narrow. There were frequent switchbacks as well as water runoffs, and more than once my feet carried me straight a few steps when I should have turned before the dense vegetation stopped me. Again I was channeling Dorothy, only this time instead of wishing for home I felt as though I were approaching the Emerald City through the poppy field...well, maybe I didn't feel quite THAT good, but you know what I mean. In all this beautimousness we passed a good number of people were walking up the trail, including a group of a dozen Boy Scouts and Scout- masters with red faces.

Eventually we reached Death Canyon Trail and settled in for more flat walking. The flower show was a teensy bit past its prime here, but awesome nonetheless. This view looks back up at the Shelf we walked on.

Indian Paintbrush

Parry Primrose

Elephanthead (this flower is very small and very detailed – see the elephant ears and trunk?)

We saw tons of cowparsnip, probably the most pre- dominant flower of all, but I suspect a flower called yampah is also mixed in, which looks very similar.

The walk through Death Canyon was…loooonnnggg. We crossed water many times, usually by benefit of footbridges, and passed many side trails to campsites. This canyon was a busy place – we seemed to be the only people walking out, lots of fresh faces walking in. One young woman I passed asked me if I had seen her friends (“you know, three college age kids” – yeah, right, about 50 of them) because she wasn’t sure where they were supposed to camp. I sure hope she found her friends in that big place! We stopped at the intersection with Alaska Basin Trail, our original planned route down from Static Peak, and I’ll bet Jeff made a vow to return someday.

The three of us were growing weary and we separated, occasionally leapfrogging as we stopped to rest. We were passing beautiful waterfalls and glimpses of Phelps Lake but it was hard to fully appreciate them at the end of this very long trek. Feet and knees were beginning to complain and someone kept putting rocks in my pack every time I stopped. Jeff got a second wind and pulled ahead for the home stretch, while Mike and I fought the good fight up and over the last ridge to Phelps Lake Overlook and then the last mile downhill to the trailhead, arriving around 5:30 p.m. Not bad for a nearly 16-mile day! Taking off a loaded backpack for the last time is truly one of life’s greatest pleasures…

What to do next? The Gros Ventre Campground where we had been staying does not do reservations and we had to sleep somewhere tonight, so that was our first stop. There were a handful of sites left, only one of them large enough, so we hastily put up tents and then went in search of food. At Dornan’s (home of the chuckwagon and teepee dining, remember?) we walked into the Pizza & Pasta Company, placed our orders and sat down to salivate while we waited. And let me tell ya, that was the best pizza I have ever eaten in my long life. It was all I could do to keep from crying as I ate, I was so happy to be there.

 That’s the happy ending to our Grand Tetons backpacking trip…it was epic..it was the best of times…it was the worst of times…it was grand memory-making…and I offer a prayer of thanks for the skills and the physical ability and the companionship and, above all, the mountains themselves.

AND…tomorrow is TOWN DAY!!!!

Backpacking: An extended form of hiking in which people carry double the amount of gear they need for half the distance they planned to go in twice the time it should take. ~Author Unknown