BACK AT THE CHICKEN SHACK
Last weekend brought another
chance to hike in the snow. A minor
storm had blown through on Saturday, plus lingering snow from the previous week
seemed likely. At Bob’s suggestion, we
decided to head up to Montreat and hike to Graybeard Mountain. Graybeard is well over 5000’ in elevation,
and we were certain we’d find snow up there.
Plus the views from Graybeard and nearby Walker Knob are some of the
best around.
Joel decided to join us,
along with Dorcas and Linda. Dorcas and
Linda had the opportunity to hike, since their men were off on a week-long
canoeing trip in Georgia. Our group was
completed by the dogs, Saucony and Izzak.
Christy though, decided to sit this one out. The forecast called for windy conditions and flurries, with highs
in the 20’s. Quite frankly, Christy
would rather go quail hunting with Dick Cheney than hike in those conditions.
We parked at the Graybeard
trailhead at 10AM. My plan was to hike
a partial loop, starting with a climb from the Montreat campground to the
summit of Rocky Head Peak. From there
we’d follow the East Ridge Trail, an old railroad grade, and the Old Toll Road
to the Graybeard Trail. The Graybeard
Trail would take us to the summit and provide our return route.
We had walked down the road
about ½ mile to the campground when Bob realized that he had left his thermos
of soup in the car. This was amusing,
since the last time we had hiked together in the snow he’d left his thermos in
the kitchen at home. At least this time
the soup had made it to the trailhead.
He doubled-back to the car, and caught up with us a few minutes later in
the campground.
We found the well-marked
Rocky Head Trail at campsite 21 near the end of the campground. According to DeHart’s guide, this trail is
.9 miles long and climbs more than 1200’.
Based on those numbers, I was expecting a steep climb. Parts of the trail were steep, but most of
the climb wasn’t bad. By the time we
reached a rock outcrop with a nice view a short distance below the summit, I
was convinced that the distance is understated. Due to the slow climb and various soup and non-soup related
delays getting started, it was already 11:30.
Joel was nowhere to be seen, and we figured he’d be a good 30 minutes
behind us. It was early, but our soup
wasn’t getting any warmer, so we opted for an early lunch. While we ate, snow began to fall, joining
the dusting that was already on the ground below 4000’.
Surprisingly, Joel showed up
only 10 minutes later. I had set a mild
pace up the hill in an effort to keep the group together, and Joel was hanging
in there. By the time everyone had
finished eating, it was noon. We had a
long way to go, so I set a more aggressive pace that afternoon.
We reached the summit of
Rocky Head a few minutes later. Views
from the summit are limited, but snow decorating the tree branches made for a
pretty scene. We joined the East Ridge
Trail, and endured a slippery descent to Long Gap. Here we met the old railroad grade and the old Toll Road, which
follow opposite sides of the East Ridge above Montreat. We chose to follow the less-traveled
railroad grade. A few minutes of hiking
brought us to a junction with the blue-blazed Graybeard Trail just below Pot
Cove Gap. A right turn on the Graybeard
Trail brought us up to the gap, where we met the Old Toll Road again. We followed it briefly, before turning off
onto a footpath.
The next section of trail
was pleasant as we climbed along the chutes and cascades of Flat Creek. Snow, ice, and mud made for slippery walking,
but before long we reached another old railroad grade. The path to the right heads out to the Old
Toll Road, but our route went left, towards Graybeard. Unfortunately, Bob and I were now well ahead
of the rest of the group. At lunch, we
had given Joel, Linda, and Dorcas directions, knowing that Joel and Linda
probably wouldn’t make it all the way to the summit. The turn, like most in Montreat, is well-marked. We felt comfortable that everyone would find
the way, and resumed the climb.
We followed the railroad
grade to the creek, which we rock hopped easily. From there, it only took a couple of minutes to reach the side
trail to Walker Knob and the shelter.
We stopped at the shelter, which is adequate, but certainly not much to
look at. Bob’s wife, Laura, refers to
it as an old chicken shack. I don’t
know if it ever housed chickens, but it would still be a welcome sight in bad
weather. Fortunately that wasn’t an
issue today, as the flurries had stopped and the sun was out. In fact, what snow had been on the ground
was melting rapidly.
Bob and I didn’t really want
to wait at the shelter, and we figured we were well ahead of everyone
else. We decided to walk out to the
Walker Knob overlook, which only takes a couple of minutes from the shelter. There were lots of clouds in the valleys to
the south, but the view was still good.
We had a quick snack, and headed back to the shelter to see if anyone
had shown up.
Joel and Linda were waiting
for us there. But where was
Dorcas? She had gotten ahead of them,
but behind us, on the climb to the shelter.
If she had been between us, where had she gone? I began to worry. Dorcas had spent enough time in the woods to take care of
herself, but there were only a few hours of daylight left. More to the point, her husband, Myron, is a
rather large man, and he wouldn’t be happy to find out that I’d lost his
wife!
We reasoned that there were
two possibilities. Either she had
continued on past the shelter towards Graybeard, or she had somehow gotten off
the trail. I liked the ramifications of
the first scenario better. Bob and I
instructed Joel and Linda to wait at the shelter until 3pm before hiking back
down to the car. That would give them
some time to enjoy the view from Walker Knob.
Meanwhile, we’d hike on to Graybeard, find Dorcas, and return. Or not.
We set a rapid pace up the
mountain. If Dorcas was ahead of us,
she probably thought we were still ahead of her. I wanted to catch up to her before she reached the deserted summit.
We were pushing hard when
Izzak (Dorcas’ dog), barked and took off up the trail. I could only hope that that was a good
sign. A few minutes later, we spotted
Dorcas sitting on a rock beside the trail.
I knew we would find her, but I was still relieved. Our theory had been correct. She had reached the shelter shortly after we
did, but couldn’t find the trail out to the overlook. She decided that we must’ve gone ahead, so she continued up the
mountain.
We resumed the hike
together, and reached the crest of Seven Sisters Ridge a few minutes
later. From there we endured a minor
descent and a final climb to the summit.
At the top, we found the best view of the day. The clouds had disappeared from the high peaks of the Black
Mountains, and we had a clear view. We
could see all of the peaks from the Craggy Mountains to the west to Mount
Mitchell to our north. The view
provided a fitting climax to our hike.
It was getting late, so we
didn’t linger long. We tried to keep a
fast pace down the mountain, but the muddy trail required caution. We passed the shelter at 3:30, knowing we
were 30 minutes behind Joel and Linda.
From there we descended the Flat Creek valley, crossing the stream
several times on rocks. We passed a
number of people along the way, all heading up the mountain late in the
day. Near the end of the hike, we found
a new section of the Graybeard Trail.
Previously the trail had crossed an old bridge and followed a roadbed
out to the trailhead. The trail has now
been rerouted to follow a footpath along the stream. This new path provided a more pleasant ending to the hike. It was almost 5pm when we crossed a new
footbridge to reach the parking lot.
Joel and Linda were there, as they had arrived about 5 minutes
earlier. We piled into our cars, and
headed into Black Mountain for the traditional post-hike feast at My Father’s
Pizza.
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