A FROSTY DEBACLE
Last week, an inch of snow
paralyzed the city of Raleigh. Roads
became impassable. Accidents created
traffic jams that stranded citizens for hours.
Grocery stores ran out of bread and milk. The weather service was predicting a similar mess for Charlotte
over the weekend. What would the local
forecasters call “the big storm” this year?
Last year, it was an arctic blast.
The year before, it was a wintry mix.
What would it be this year? In
honor of our friends in Raleigh, I propose “A frosty debacle”. Admittedly, it sounds like something bad
that might happen at a Wendy’s, but I think it sums it all up nicely.
So, with an impending frosty
debacle due to hit Charlotte Saturday and Sunday, how was I to salvage the
weekend? As it happens, I had a comp
day that I needed to take before the end of the month. So, I took Friday off and went hiking.
I left Charlotte early, but
traffic was still much heavier than what we normally run in to on the way to
the mountains. Of course, most of those
poor souls were on their way to work. I
admit that it felt a little like playing hooky as I headed towards the Black
Mountain Campground north of Marion.
I wasn’t able to drive all
the way to the campground, as forest road 472 is now gated a little over a mile
upstream from highway 80. The road was
damaged during the hurricanes, but is certainly still passable. There are homes upstream from the gate, and
I ran into one of the residents coming out as I organized my gear. Apparently the forest service told him to
make sure the gate stayed locked, though he wasn’t sure why. He did say the forest service was planning
to repair the road, but I’m sure that won’t happen before this spring.
I leashed Saucony and we
headed up the dirt road. We passed three
people out walking, and they were the last folks we saw all day. It took just over 30 minutes to reach the
campground, where I picked up the oddly named Lost Cove Trail towards Green
Knob. I say oddly named, because it
follows a ridge the entire way.
My favorite thing about the
Lost Cove Trail is what the South Toe River Forest Service Map has to say about
it. It actually recommends allowing 10
hours for the round trip hike from the campground to Green Knob. The trail is fairly steep in places, but
it’s only 3 miles to the summit. I’m
confident that hike could be done in less than 10 hours while carrying, for
example, a washing machine. Of course,
the forest service also recommends boiling water for 20 minutes before drinking
it.
I wasn’t in any hurry, but
still made it to the fire tower at the summit in 2 hours. I had expected to encounter snow, but saw
only a dusting at the higher elevations.
Some of the rocks along the trail were icy, but the hazardous spots were
easy to avoid. Although Friday was
between storms, it was still very cloudy.
Most of the surrounding mountains were obscured, and the Black Mountain
Crest was completely hidden. The many
good views from the upper end of the trail and the fire tower were but a memory
from a nicer day.
It wasn’t too cold, and the
wind was minimal, so I had lunch on the tower.
Although the temperatures were reasonable, hot soup from my thermos was
still a pleasure.
After lunch, I continued on
the trail down to the parkway. I knew
the parkway was closed, so I headed down the road towards Laurel Gap. I had anticipated snow on the road, but
there was none to be found, so I had to pound the pavement. Still, walking the parkway was pleasant
without traffic. I passed several rock
faces with impressive icicles, and saw 2 places where the road is badly washed
out from the fall hurricanes. Those
areas are going to need quite a bit of work before the road re-opens.
I reached Laurel Gap and
headed down Neels Creek Road. This dirt
road is also gated, and is washed out in places due to the floods. We descended steadily along Neels Creek, and
spooked a turkey on the way. Eventually
we dropped down on switchbacks and entered a valley with many pleasant
primitive car camping sites. We passed
an old fish hatchery and another gate before emerging on forest road 472. From there, it was just a short hike back to
the car.
I finished the 11-mile in 5
hours of hiking time. Since I was
running early, I decided to do a bonus hike.
A ˝ mile trail nearby leads to Roaring Fork Falls, and I had never been
there. I drove over to the Busic Work
Center, parked at the gate, and followed the gravel forest road past the trail
sign. I followed the road until it
curved and crossed the creek. I picked
up the footpath just before the culvert and headed up into the woods. 100’ later, I passed a huge boulder and
descended to the creek at the base of the waterfall. Roaring Fork Falls is a long tumbling cascade, and made for a
nice end to the day. I recommend it to
anyone that is in the area with an extra 30 minutes to spare.
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