I LIKE BIG BUTT
Peakbagging is one of the more
popular forms of hiking these days. In
Colorado, many hikers endeavor to climb all of the 14ers (peaks above
14,000’). In the northeast, it’s peaks
above 4,000’. Closer to home, we have
South Beyond 6000’ (peaks over 6,000).
There’s
nothing wrong with peakbagging, but it fails to
appeal to me for a couple of reasons.
First, I don’t like the idea of picking my hikes based on some list. I don’t even like grocery lists. I guess I prefer to improvise. Plus, if everybody is using the same list,
won’t the mountains on it get awfully crowded?
Second, I’m not convinced that elevation is the best criteria for what
makes for a great hike. I mean, who’s to
say that Colorado’s Sunshine Peak (14,001’) is a better hike than Emerald Peak
(13,904’)? In North Carolina, I
definitely enjoy summiting Shortoff Mountain (3,000’)
in the Linville Gorge Wilderness more than Mount Gibbs (6,224’), in the Black
Mountains.
Years
ago, I decided to come up with my own little quest. I’d hike every mountain in North Carolina
that has a silly name. As far as quests
go, it isn’t much. In fact, I’ve yet to
come up with a proper list. However,
Pickens Nose, near Standing Indian, and Mollie’s Nipple, in the Smokies, are clearly near the top. First though, I decided to start with The Butts.
There
are a surprising number of Butt Mountains, Butt Knobs, and other assorted butts
in North Carolina. By surprising, I mean
there are 5. Old Butt Knob, in the
Shining Rock Wilderness, is probably the most well-known (possibly due to its
proximity to Greasy Prong and Dog Loser Knob).
Aside from that, there are three Big Butts and a Little Butt. In the 10 years since I started this quest,
I’ve only made it to one Big Butt and Old Butt.
That isn’t very impressive progress.
I guess you could say that I’ve lacked motivation.
Part
of the problem is that it’s hard to find information on The Butts. I mean, you can’t just Google “Big
Butt”. Well, you can, but you probably
don’t want to. Or maybe you do – but
that’s your own business. At the very
least, it’s safe to say that you probably shouldn’t Google “Big Butt” at
work.
So,
my research of these peaks has been rather old fashioned. I’ve spent countless minutes scouring maps
and guidebooks. Despite these
limitations, I was delighted to discover that two of the peaks, Big Butt and
Little Butt, are on the same trail and are separated by less than a mile. It would be easy to knock them both off my
non-existent list on a single dayhike.
The
weather forecast for Labor Day weekend looked delightful. I knew the hike to Big Butt and Little Butt
would be a high-altitude walk with great views of Mount Mitchell and the Black
Mountain Crest. Last weekend seemed like
the perfect time to try it.
Most
people hike to Big Butt from Balsam Gap on the Parkway. Balsam Gap is only 3 miles away, and the
trailhead is over 5,000’ in elevation, so it’s a fairly easy hike. In my opinion, it’s too easy for a proper peakbagging adventure.
Luckily, there is another option.
The Big Butt Trail continues north beyond Big Butt to Cane River
Gap. That trailhead is only at
4,200’.
I
managed to talk Jack into making the long drive to that trailhead on
Sunday. We met in Spartanburg, and Boone
and I rode with him from there. We drove
up through Asheville and on to the sleepy community of Barnardsville. Just beyond town the pavement ended, and we
began the drive up the mountain on “highway” 197. That raise a question – can an unpaved road
really be called a highway?
The
road was in good shape, and we made it to Cane River Gap around 10:15. Upon our arrival, the thermometer in Jack’s
truck displayed a pleasant 58 degrees. I
was delighted! After a miserably hot
summer, fall-like weather sounded wonderful.
While
Jack and I gathered our gear, Boone got in a warmup
by chasing a pickup down the road towards Ogle Meadows. Who would’ve guessed that “Ogle Meadows”
would be so close to “Big Butt”? Boone
eventually returned, and we hit the trail.
We walked up a side road a short distance towards a gate and picked up
the path, which is marked with a forest service sign. We immediately began to climb, winding our
way up the mountain on countless switchbacks.
We hiked through a lovely stretch of open hardwood forest. I’ll bet this is a great stretch of trail for
wildflowers in early May.
Prior
to the hike I’d been concerned about the condition of this end of the
trail. The Big Butt Trail isn’t heavily
traveled, particularly at the northern end.
Fortunately for us, maintenance had been performed on this stretch
recently. Unfortunately, the maintenance
didn’t continue all the way to Big Butt.
About halfway up we reached the ridgecrest
and began following an old roadbed.
Before long, we found the trail crowded by stinging nettles. I had chosen to wear only shorts and a t-shirt,
despite the chilly weather. That proved
to be a mistake, as my legs and arms were an itching horror within minutes.
I
abused myself further by leaving the trail at Flat Rock Gap in search of
water. Foolishly I’d neglected to bring
extra water for Boone. From the gap, I
headed east down a draw in search of a spring.
I found lots more nettles before I reached the spring, which was bone
dry. I wasn’t really surprised, as it
hasn’t rained up there in 2 weeks.
I
returned to the trail and spent several pointless minutes scratching. Then we resumed the hike, climbing a rough
stretch of rocky, partially overgrown trail along the east side of Big
Butt. Finally we reached the ridgecrest south of Big Butt. There we found ribbons marking a faint side path
leading towards the summit. We headed
that way, passing a campsite after a short distance. Beyond, the route was brushy but generally
obvious. Ten minutes later we reached
the marker indicating we had arrived at the 5,900’ summit. Unfortunately, the views from here are
extremely limited. Despite this, we had
lunch there before continuing on.
We
returned to the trail and continued south.
From here on, the trail was in fine shape. After only a couple of minutes, we reached a
Heath Bald. The Azaleas and
Rhododendrons were just tall enough to eliminate most views at first. However, before long we reached an opening
with a nice view west and south. From
there, we had our first glimpse of the Craggy Mountains. Farther west, we could see the peaks and
ridges along the state line near Hot Springs.
A
few minutes later we reached a cliff with a fine view of the Black Mountain
Crest. I’d heard that this trail offered
some of the best views of the Black Mountain Crest. I wasn’t disappointed. The ridge stretched out in front of us, from Celo Knob in the north to Clingmans Peak to the south. Mount Mitchell was clearly visible, although
the new, shorter observation tower is much harder to spot than its predecessor.
We
continued south to Little Butt (Big Butt’s younger sister). The summit of Little Butt is barely
discernable. Here was another cliff with
an even better view of the Black Mountain Crest. We had a short break there, before continuing
south.
Just
after Little Butt was a nasty descent down a narrow crack (yeah, I said it)
between two boulders. There is a rope
tied off here, but the trail was dry, so it wasn’t necessary. In wet or icy conditions though, I’m sure
that rope is mighty handy. We passed
through a gap, and then climbed again to Point Misery.
Point
Misery is actually pretty nice, as it is covered in a spruce fir forest. I’m not sure how it got its name, but I think
it could use an upgrade. I rather liked
the peak, even if the views promised by one guidebook proved to be imaginary. I think I’ll suggest that the USGS rename
Point Misery “Butt Hat Peak”. That would
be fitting, being just up the trail from the Butts.
If
you don’t know what a butt hat is, Google it. Just not at work.
We
continued a bit farther, in search of the aforementioned views, which failed to
materialize. At that point, we could’ve
continued another mile and a half to the Parkway at Balsam Gap. Instead, we turned around there and headed
back. We climbed back up to Point
Misery, and dropped down to Thong Gap (ok, yes, I made that up). Then we suffered through the steep climb back
up Little Butt. We made another stop at
the cliffs there, where we ran into a couple from Weaverville on a
dayhike. They had a dog, too, and Boone
enjoyed playing with him while we snacked and took in the view. Aside from a solo backpacker camped on Little
Butt, they were the only people we saw on the trail all day. That’s pretty impressive for a holiday
weekend with perfect weather.
We
headed straight back from there. We made
pretty good time, despite the difficult footing below Big Butt. When we got close to the trailhead, we were
startled to see several other pickup trucks parked near Jack’s Toyota. We reached the parking area, where we found a
forest ranger and a couple of old-timers lounging in camp chairs. This was a bit startling. I can’t recall the last time I saw a forest
ranger out in the actual forest. I’m not
sure what was going on, but we decided not to ask.
My
first hike to Big Butt and Little Butt was fantastic. The hike was challenging enough to be
worthwhile, without being brutal. We had
the trail mostly to ourselves, and the weather was perfect. I hope to return next spring. Next time, I think I’ll come in from the
Parkway to see the part of the trail we missed.
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