CHASING BOONE
Last
weekend, I joined Bob for a hike in the Black Mountains. We met in Morganton, and Boone and I rode
with him from there. We headed up to the
Black Mountain Campground, which is situated on the South Fork of the Toe River
at the foot of Mount Mitchell. The hiker
parking area was already full when we arrived, so we improvised a spot along
the shoulder of the road. By the time we
finished our hike, there were cars strewn all up and down the road.
Boone
was even more hyper than normal this morning, so I
leashed him to a signpost while we organized our gear. That worked great, until I tried to retrieve
him. In the process, he managed to slip his collar and get away from me. The next thing I knew, he was running circles
through the parking lot at full speed.
No amount of bribery would get him to come, and chasing after him only
encouraged him to run. Finally I tried a
different tactic. I ran away from him,
up the trail and into the woods. He
chased after me, and somehow I was able to corral him.
I
leashed him for the walk through the campground. Unfortunately I’d forgotten his Halti, and he seemed determined to drag me to the top of
the mountain. His early morning run had
only served to warm him up.
We
passed through the campground and picked up the short trail to Setrock Creek Falls on the far side. A short, easy walk brought us to the falls,
which I’d never been to. It’s funny,
because I’d been within a short distance of this waterfall dozens of
times. For some reason I’d never visited
it, and now I wonder why. It’s a nice
waterfall, and it was looking good after all of the recent rain. The lighting conditions were horrific for
photography, but that didn’t stop me from playing with my new camera. We recently purchased a digital SLR Canon Powershot, and I need to learn how to use it before our
vacation in July. I experimented with it
a bit, and learned a few things about manual exposures. Unfortunately, due to the lighting, I didn’t
end up with much to show for my efforts.
We
were just packing up when a family showed up with three dogs. Unfortunately I had my hands full with my
camera, and Boone got away from me again.
Sheer chaos ensued, and the next thing I knew, all four dogs were
chasing each other. They were running
circles around everyone, and splashing through the water. Getting Boone under control proved to be
impossible, so I used the same technique as before. I walked on down the trail, and he chased
after me. I leashed him back up, and
kept him under wraps until we finally passed beyond the last section of the
campground.
From
the falls, we passed a group campground and then followed the River Loop
Trail. I’d never hiked this trail, and
thought it would make a nice addition to our hike to Green Knob. Initially we walked close to the river, which
was lovely and running full. Eventually
the trail climbed up above the river though.
This trail probably doesn’t get a lot of use, but it had recently been
brushed out and was in good condition.
Sometime
later we descended to reach the forest road we had parked on. This road is currently gated, although I’m
not sure why. We followed the road
across the bridge over the river, and got tangled up in a large group of Girl
Scouts or Brownies. There must’ve been
20 young girls, along with a few adults.
They were hiking the same trail, and we were fortunate to catch them
where we did. It was a lot easier
passing by them on the road than it would’ve been on the trail.
We
left the road just after the bridge and climbed into the woods. Soon we were again high above the river. Along here we got a couple of views of the
valley and Commissary Ridge high above.
This trail stretched on and on, and proved to be much longer than I
expected. Somehow I’d misread the map
and thought that the trail was only a mile and a half. It ended up being well over 3 miles, and by
the time we reached the junction with the Green Knob Trail, we were ready for
lunch.
We
walked up the trail a short ways before finding a decent lunch spot on a
rock. While we ate, two groups passed
by, heading downhill. The first also had
a dog, and this time, I didn’t even attempt to restrain Boone. The second was a couple that was on their way
to Mount Mitchell. They had started from
the Parkway and had passed Green Knob early on.
I was stunned when they said that they were planning to hike all the way
to Mount Mitchell – and back. That hike
would be at least 18 miles, with more than 5000’ of elevation gain. It might be feasible for a strong hiker, but
if I was planning to do it, I’d start well before noon. My guess is that they ended up making it to
the top of Mount Mitchell, and then thumbed a ride back to their car.
We
resumed the climb after lunch. The climb
was relentless, and we thought we’d never get there. Bob and I have each hiked this trail several
times, but neither of us remembered it being this hard. It’s quite steep in places, and it could
definitely use a few more switchbacks.
There were some highlights though.
Early on there was a lot of Mountain Laurel in bloom, and later we found
the Rhododendron showing off. We also
passed a bunch of trilliums that were just beginning to bud. I guess they bloom late at high elevations? We only saw one Painted Trillium that was
actually out though.
We
passed a solo hiker shortly before the summit.
She was admiring the view of the Black Mountains from one of the
overlooks along the route. From there we
pushed on a little farther, and finally the fire tower at the summit came into
view. What a relief! We mounted the stairs, eager for the views
that would be our reward for our efforts.
We weren’t disappointed. It was a
sunny, clear day, and the valleys and ridges surrounding us were a brilliant
shade of green thanks to all of the recent rain. From the summit, we had one of the finest
views of the Black Mountain Crest around.
The view also extended as far as the Balsam Mountains to the southwest,
and to Table Rock and Hawksbill overlooking Linville Gorge.
We
had a snack break there, but didn’t linger long. We were well behind schedule, and Boone was
afraid to climb the steps. At first he
waited at the bottom and whined. As time
went on, he got more and more brave.
Before long, he was climbing halfway up the stairs, before turning
around and running to the bottom. By the
time we were ready to go, he had climbed to within a few steps of the top. I’m sure if we’d given him more time, he
would’ve made it. However, I was
concerned that if he did, he would balk at going back down. There was no way I would be able carry a 78
pound dog all the way down those steps!
A
couple of hikers arrived as we were leaving, and they also had dogs. At this point though, Boone seemed too worn
out to play much. We headed back down
the mountain, and made somewhat better time than we had on the way up. The only excitement along the descent was
encountering a Black Rat Snake in the middle of the trail. He took a defensive posture, and I was able
to grab Boone’s collar before he noticed it.
This was fortunate, as I was afraid Boone might try to sniff it and end
up getting bitten on the snout. There
was no feasible way to go around the snake.
Bob was able to prod it off the trail using his trekking poles, and we
were able to finish the hike without any further drama.
We
made it back to the car around 5, which was more than 7 hours after we had
left. We only covered 9 or 10 miles on
our hike, but then I spent a good bit of that time chasing after Boone. On the upside, by the time we got to the car,
there was no need to chase him. He was
more than willing to get in and collapse.
Bob and I might’ve done the same thing, except that we both had to
drive. Our trip to Green Knob had been a
tiring hike, but I’m sure it’s one that we’ll do again.
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