RETURN TO LINVILLE GORGE

Christy's six-year old nephew joined us recently for his first real hike. A few weeks ago, Nathan came with us on a short hike at Black Balsam Knob. That adventure went well, and we decided he was ready for a serious hike. We decided to bring him on a 7-mile hike in Linville Gorge. We knew it would challenge him, but he was enthusiastic and we were confident that he was ready for it.

Christy, Nathan, Dave, Saucony, and I met Bob and Laura near Hickory and headed up the mountain. While driving through Morganton, we enjoyed a clear view of Table Rock. Nathan was impressed when we told him that he'd be standing on top of it before the end of the day.

We took the road towards the Table Rock picnic area, but parked at the Spence Ridge Trailhead. Our goal for the day was to visit the Chimneys and climb Table Rock, but I wanted nothing to do with parking at the Table Rock picnic area. Instead, we'd park at a lower trailhead and hike up.

We left the trailhead late that morning. It was sunny, but windy and cold. In fact, it was the first really cold day of fall. The sweltering heat and humidity of summer was barely a memory as we started up the first hill.

We reached a small clearing and joined the Mountains-to-Sea Trail. We continued south on the MST, climbing steeply up a rocky trail. The route featured a lot of big steps, but Nathan took on the worst of them without a hint of hesitation.

We reached the path more traveled when we arrived at the junction with the trail up to Table Rock. From there we descended a heavily eroded path that had turned into a small stream from the previous day's rain. Nathan reveled in hopping along the trail in an effort to keep his feet dry. We passed a couple of small caves, which he couldn't resist exploring.

We descended to the Table Rock parking area and I quickly remembered why I hadn't wanted to start from there. The lot was overflowing, with cars pulled off the narrow road leading up to the parking area. The whole place was overrun with a bizarre combination of rock climbing hippies and picnicking rednecks. Fortunately everyone seemed to be getting along, and one group of hippies even had a drum circle going. The rednecks had not countered with a fiddling exposition by the time we left.

We continued hiking on the MST towards Shortoff Mountain. We passed a campsite just beyond the picnic area and wandered through a forest full of orange fungi. Then we reached the first of many great viewpoints at a rock outcrop. It was a clear day, and Bob pointed out the skyline of Charlotte in the distance beyond the South Mountains.

After that first overlook we were treated to a whole series of inspiring views. From the Chimneys we had great vistas east towards the foothills and west to the sheer walls on the far side of the gorge. We were also treated to some unusual flowers. Rhododendron normally bloom in June, but the shrubs on the rim of Linville Gorge must be confused this year. It was late September, but we spotted perhaps a dozen different Rhododendron blossoms.

We continued beyond the high cliffs of the Chimneys. Nathan was fascinated with the rock climbers we saw here. He's already a big Spiderman fan, and it probably won't be long before he'll want to do some climbing of his own.

We wandered through more forest, though these woods were heavily damaged in the fires of a few years ago. In fact, I had trouble following the rough path down to the Amphitheater. Fallen trees had obscured the route, but we found our way through. We reached the cliffs of the Amphitheater in time for lunch. From our perch, we enjoyed a great view down the canyon to Shortoff Mountain and Lake James. Across from us, we spotted a single climber slowly working his way up a huge vertical wall.

Nathan was doing great, so we decided to expand the adventure after lunch. Instead of returning to the main trail, we followed a faint climber's path north along the brink of the cliffs. The views here were even better, as it was possible to look a thousand feet straight down to the foaming whitewater of the Linville River. At times I felt like the Coyote in the Roadrunner cartoons. We stayed well back from the edge as we worked our way back up-canyon.

At one point we had to head into the woods to avoid some sheer cliffs. This part of the route was an ugly mess of bushwhacking. Fallen trees had me nearly convinced that we'd have to retrace our steps. We made it through though, and Nathan never complained. Of course, it was much easier for him to crawl under fallen trees than it was for the rest of us.

After the woods we returned to the cliffs for another awesome stretch of hiking. We reached a point where it might've been possible to descend through a break in the first set of cliffs. We decided to quit while we were ahead though, as the rocks were slippery from the recent rain. Instead we followed a well-traveled path up through the woods and back to the MST. From there, we backtracked through the Chimneys and up the trail towards Table Rock.

It was getting late, but we decided to take the time to enjoy the short side trip to the top of Table Rock. We followed the well-worn path up a set of switchbacks until we reached the boulders on the summit. There were lots of people here, of course, but it seemed like a shock after the solitude we had experienced along the cliffs. Nevertheless we enjoyed our visit to Table Rock. It had been several years since I'd hiked through the Chimneys, and even longer since I'd stood on Table Rock. In fact, Christy had never been to Table Rock, and we've been together over 5 years. I quickly remembered how nice the summit is. The peak offers the best view I've seen of Lake James. To the west, a hole in the high clouds bathed the dark mass of the Black Mountains in a shaft of warm sunlight. The balds of Roan Mountain were visible to the northwest, while the rugged bulk of Grandfather Mountain was easy to spot nearby.

We lingered for awhile, but hunger for something not in a plastic wrapper drove us off the mountain. We hurried down the trail in an unspoken race for the car. Nathan wiped out several times on the steep descent, but his tumbles never fazed him. In fact, he seemed to fully enjoy every bit of the hike, despite the difficulty. He had taken on rocky, steep, wet, rugged trails without complaint. In fact, parts of the hike hadn't had any sort of trail at all. I know many adults that haven't fared nearly as well on their first visit to Linville Gorge.

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