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

Pinckney Island National Wildlife Refuge

Pinckney Island National Wildlife Refuge – 3/17/22 – 11 Miles

“Would you like to see an egret rookery today?” my hiking buddy Carol asked me one morning over coffee. Well, the only answer to that is, “Of course!”

Carol lives on the South Carolina coast, a l-o-n-g way from the mountains where we’ve had many rambling adventures. As an outdoor enthusiast no matter what the location, she’s found the gems of protected public lands near her home. On a spring visit, she introduced me to Pinckney Island National Wildlife Refuge. 

Pinckney Island NWR is a collection of back-barrier islands squeezed between Hilton Head Island and Bluffton on the South Carolina mainland, managed by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service. It is bordered by the Broad River to the north, Skull Creek to the east and Mackay Creek to the west and south. [Trail guide here.] 

From the website: “Pinckney Island National Wildlife Refuge is an important link in the chain of wildlife refuges along the Atlantic Flyway, attracting thousands of migratory birds annually. The refuge also provides nesting habitat, called a rookery, for colonial wading birds such as ibis, egrets, and herons.”

I will spare the turn-by-turn route description and just say that Carol devised an 11-mile hike from the parking lot to White Point at the far end of Pinckney Neck and little diversions in between.

The Main Road

The rookery at Ibis Pond

Egrets in residence

Nina Chapin Pond

Spanish moss

Lunch break 

We walked out to White Point on the northern tip of the island

Walking along Woodpecker Road

Mackay Creek

Of course, Pinckney Island was not always protected; in fact, it wasn’t always called Pinckney Island. It was known to indigenous peoples as Lookout Island prior to passing through several European hands to Charles Pinckney, whose name stuck. [Read more here.] While it is good to know that this ecosystem has been restored to its wild state, it is important to learn and acknowledge the human history and impact.

Between the mid-1700s and mid-1800s there were three plantations on the island; In 1860 there were reported to be 349 enslaved Black people working to produce sea island cotton.

From this website: After the Civil War began, “former slaves continued to live on and farm the land. In 1862 the freed Blacks were being drafted for military service; five graves on the island have markers showing they served with the 21st Company, US Infantry.”

Carol had gained general information on the location of the graves but we were not able to find them on our walk today. [On a subsequent visit, she was successful.]

Near the conclusion of our hike, we met a woman walking with a loaded backpack, a grandmother training for an upcoming long section of the Appalachian Trail. She and Carol commiserated on the lack of elevation to prepare for the mountains. Good luck to her!

Thanks, Carol, for introducing me to Pinckney Island! 

“Those who dwell among the beauties and mysteries of
 the earth are never alone or weary of life.”
  ~Rachel Carson

Linville Falls: Hike to Daffodil Flats

Linville Gorge: Hike to Daffodil Flats – 3/7/22 – 6 Miles

Research and navigation skills are essential when exploring Linville Gorge. This post is not intended to be a comprehensive guide to hiking to Daffodil Flats. Hike at your own risk!

Daffodil Flats, heard about it but had never been. Linville Gorge has kicked my butt enough times that I will only go with knowledgeable and trusted leaders. Fortunately, my hiking buddy Cathy volunteers with someone who knows it intimately as a trail and campsite maintainer.

The story goes that there’s an old homesite at the bottom of Linville Gorge (where the Linville River flows). Someone planted daffodils there and they have spread in joyful abundance. In early spring this patch of the Gorge is carpeted in yellow blooms.

On a promising spring morning, I rode with Cathy and her friend Julie along Kistler Memorial Highway on the western side of the Gorge. From the back seat, I can’t say how we got there, but we ended up at a connector trail to the Mountains-To-Sea Trail.

About a half-mile westbound, where the MST takes a sharp left, another trail continued straight – no signage, but experienced Linville Gorge hikers know it as the Lead Mine Trail. Well, on this day it was marked with pink flagging tape, extensively rehabbed within the last few weeks, a wondrous thing to behold.

Shortoff Mountain across the Gorge

Amazing skilled trail building

We rolled along this new Lead Mine Trail as it undulated in and out of coves on a fairly flat bench with moderate downhills – no more crazy up-and-down drainages. Its one steep section took us down to river level by an old home site, now an extensive camping area. At this point, Lead Mine Trail blends into Linville River Trail.

Although it doesn’t have the extensive steep ups and downs, Linville River Trail is not tame. The path is extremely rugged with roots and large rocks that will trip a hiker who takes her eyes off her feet. 

A mile upstream we reached the unmarked left turn to Daffodil Flats, its flashes of yellow visible through the tree trunks. The juxtaposition of simple domesticity in the rugged, raw Gorge is breathtaking.

Remains of a stacked stone fireplace, I think

I am not stepping on any daffodils in this photo

Only four other hikers were at the Flats when we arrived. We walked around quietly as if in a museum, talking softly and pointing and taking photos. Then…groups of people began streaming in so took our leave.

We walked a little further up Linville River Trail to check on some fire rings that Cathy and Julie had cleaned out and/or dismantled in the past couple of weeks.

On our return hike, those moderate downhills had turned into uphills, manageable at the right pace. Overall, our hike was just under 6 miles. A safe hike in great company and back home by 3pm.

“The earth laughs in flowers.”

 ~Ralph Waldo Emerson