THE WOODS
2009
has been a puzzling year for fall foliage.
The color peaked early at the highest elevations. On October 18th, I joined a group
hike to Cedar Rock from the Pisgah Fish Hatchery. The elevations there are moderate, and I
thought it would be the ideal location for fall color. However, what we found was a lot of colorful
leaves on the ground, and plenty of green leaves still on the trees. So, by the next weekend, I figured another
hike at a moderate elevation was in order.
Years
earlier, I’d hiked to a cliff on Woods Mountain in early November. The cliff provides a great view out over the
Armstrong Creek Valley. That year, we
were a little late. When we arrived, we
found ourselves looking down on bare hardwoods.
This year we’d be earlier though.
I figured it would be the perfect spot for the best fall foliage.
Woods
Mountain is a fairly easy hike from Buck Creek Gap, where highway 80 meets the
Blue Ridge Parkway north of Marion. The
Mountains-to-Sea Trail follows a long ridge all the way from the gap to the
modest summit, where a fire tower used to stand. There is no view from the wooded summit now
though. In fact, the best scenery is
found in the first couple of miles, from cliffs along the narrow ridge. Just hiking from Buck Creek Gap to the cliffs
would be entirely too short and easy to justify the drive from Charlotte to the
trailhead. So, as is often the case with
our hikes, I came up with a harder route.
Last
winter, I had attempted to hike to Woods Mountain from the Armstrong Creek Fish
Hatchery. Our group made it all of 200
yards before reaching the first creek crossing.
The water had been up, and nobody was interested in wading on a
20-degree day. We opted for a backup
plan that day, and I decided to save the hike for warmer weather.
Last
weekend offered the ideal opportunity to do the hike. Wading wouldn’t be bad with temperatures in
the 50’s. Initially, I thought I might
have to do the hike solo. However, Bob
decided to join me, and Dave signed on at the last minute as well. Joel accompanied Bob, and Dave and I brought
our dogs, Sasha and Boone.
The
Armstrong Creek Trail is not particularly well-known. Allen DeHart’s
guide gives it a brief mention in his description of the Woods Mountain Trail (now
part of the MST). In my book (the second
edition), he describes it as “steep and primitive but passable”. In Bob’s book (the third edition), the
wording changes slightly to, “steep, primitive, and may be passable”. At first glance, the descriptions sound
similar, but the difference in wording is significant. We didn’t know what we would get ourselves
into with this hike. Of course, that’s
often true. Many of the trails we
attempt can best be described as “may be passable”. Or not.
The
drive to the trailhead below Little Switzerland was uneventful. We drove up Armstrong Creek Road, passing two
fish hatcheries before reaching a turnaround at a gate. We parked there and organized our gear. At this point, I boldly attempted to saddle
Boone with his “new” doggie backpack.
Well, the pack isn’t really new – it’s a hand-me-down from Saucony, but it’s new to him. Of course, he didn’t want anything to do with
it. He was entirely too excited to sit
still long enough for me to get it buckled on him. I chased him around briefly before giving
up. He was too busy chasing Sasha around
for me to catch up. Instead, I started
up the trail, with my hiking stick in one hand and his pack in the other. This isn’t what I’d had in mind, but I
figured I’d get it on him after he tired himself out.
The
water level at the first crossing of Armstrong Creek was a little lower than it
had been the previous winter. The water
was still up though, thanks to heavy rains over the past two days. However, it was just low enough that rock
hopping was marginally feasible. Unfortunately,
I’d brought my low cut hiking boots. I
could’ve kicked myself, as a couple of additional inches of leather would’ve
been handy. Dave had a similar problem,
as his boots weren’t waterproof at all.
Bob and Joel were more prepared, as they each sported gaiters over full
boots.
We
followed an old road upstream. We
crossed the creek 7 more times, and most of the crossings required some tricky
rock hopping. Despite this, we all made
it through more or less unscathed, although Dave and I both got a little
damp. This part of the hike was
relatively uneventful, aside from the stream crossings. The creek was pleasant, if not particularly
spectacular. One highlight was an old settlement, evidenced by the remains of a stone
chimney. The best part of this stretch
of trail though was probably the peaceful solitude. The Armstrong Creek Trail is not heavily
traveled, and the only sounds were the babbling creek and the wind whipping
through the trees.
After
the final creek crossing, the trail abruptly began to climb. At this point, I spoke with Joel, and gave
him directions for the remainder of the hike.
Joel tends to hike slowly, particularly uphill. Typically with out and back hikes, Joel goes
as far as he can, and turns around when we meet him on our way back down. I figured that would be the case today, but
gave him directions to the cliffs in case he made good time.
We
quickly left Joel behind as we climbed steeply along the now-dwindling
creek. The path was a little hard to
follow at times, thanks to the occasional fallen tree as well as the many
leaves littering the trail. Despite
this, the route was generally obvious – uphill, along the creek. At times, there were even old yellow blazes
marking the path. After a fair climb, we
turned away from the stream, and began climbing switchbacks. This stretch of trail is actually rather
well-built, although the footing is marginal in places. After a few switchbacks, we began to glimpse
our first views through the trees. We
couldn’t see much, but we could definitely tell that we’d found the right place
for fall foliage. Golden leaves
shimmered above us as we climbed towards the top of the ridge.
We
reached a junction with the Mountains-to-Sea Trail on the narrow west ridge of
Woods Mountain. The junction is easy to
spot, as there are cables supporting an old powerline
(now leading nowhere) right at the fork.
We regrouped there briefly, before heading east towards Woods
Mountain. After only a short distance,
we were rewarded with our first views of Buck Creek Gap and the Black Mountains
beyond. Green Knob, The Pinnacle,
Clingmans Peak, Mount Mitchell, and Celo Knob were
all visible from here. There wasn’t much
color in that direction, but the best views were still ahead. A few minutes later, we reached a faint but
obvious side path leading off to the left.
We took this trail, which brought us out to a dramatic cliff towering
above the Armstrong Creek Valley. From here
we were treated to a colorful view of the gold and brownish-red of the oaks and
hickories below. Beyond, we could see
all the way to Grandfather Mountain, Sugar Mountain, Beech Mountain, and the
Roan Highlands. Farther east, Table Rock
and Hawksbill towered over Linville Gorge.
We
had a long, enjoyable lunch break there in the sun. 10 minutes later, we were stunned by Joel’s
arrival! None of us expected to see him
so soon. We were all so impressed, we gave him a round of applause. He definitely seems to be in better shape,
and I was glad he was able to finish the hike.
We
lounged around for awhile before heading back down. We gave Joel a head start, before following
after him. We set a gentle pace on the
way back, as it was still reasonably early, and we only had to cover about 3
miles. Part of the way down, I paused to
take in my surroundings. What I saw was
stunning. We were standing in a rather
ordinary second-growth oak / hickory forest.
The trees weren’t particularly tall or stout. Yet, the way the sunlight was filtering
through all of those golden leaves was magical.
It was one of those rare moments that compel me to return to the
wilderness. I could probably return to
that same spot a hundred times, and not repeat the experience. That’s ok though, because those rare moments
make it all worthwhile.
The
rest of the hike was rather ordinary. We
completed the descent, and then splashed through the creek 8 more times on the
way out. Everyone got wet boots on the
way back, with the exception of Joel, who was waiting for us at the cars. I guess we’re going to have to stop giving
him 30 minute head-starts for the hike back!
Boone
and Sasha seemed to have a great time on the hike. They spent most of it chasing each other
around. That night though, we discovered
another of Boone’s unusual quirks.
Christy burned something in the oven, and turned on the fan over the
stove. Initially, Boone refused to
approach the kitchen, even when we filled his food dish. When we started encouraging him to eat, he
panicked and promptly jumped through one of the living room windows. Fortunately the window was open, but he didn’t
do much for the screen. After Christy
and I recovered from our hysterics, I went out on the back porch to check on
him. He was standing on top of the
picnic table, shaking in fear. Now, Saucony was terrified of the lawn mower, the vacuum
cleaner, and even my hair dryer. But the
kitchen fan? We turned it off, and he
promptly came inside and ate his food.
Now we know how to torment him when he misbehaves. The next time he eats a wireless router (yes, that happened), we’ll close all the doors and windows
and turn on the fan!
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