MOUNTAINS IN THE MIST
Last
weekend I joined Spencer, Stephanie, Darrin, and Mitch for a thrilling
adventure in Linville Gorge. The plan
was to hike from Kistler to the river, entirely
off-trail. Spencer had planned a route
that would take us to Window Rock, Hummingbird Falls, the Linville Crags, and Cathedral
Falls. Spencer and Stephanie were most
excited about the descent from the Linville Crags, which would take us through
a series of fissure caves. Because of
that aspect of the hike, I decided to leave the dogs at home.
The
plan was to meet at the Conley Cove Trailhead around 11:30. Since we were starting late, I decided to go
up early and squeeze in a warm up hike.
I drove up the southern end of Kistler, which
was in pretty good shape except for a couple of muddy, rutted areas north of
the Pinch In Trailhead. I drove out Dobson Knob Road for my first
hike. That road was in rougher shape,
with lots of mud and ruts. I was glad I
swapped cars with my wife that morning.
The Prius might not have made it.
It
was foggy when I reached the gate at the end of the drivable part of Dobson
Knob Road. A few pockets of blue sky
high above suggested that it might clear off.
For my first hike, I continued on Dobson Knob Road for about 10 minutes
before turning off on a climber’s trail.
That took me out to the Black Fork cliffs and on to Still Falls. Still Falls is on a small tributary of the
Black Fork, near the remains of an old moonshine still. I chose this destination because the recent
rainy weather promised a nice flow at the falls. I wasn’t disappointed. Although the stream is small, the waterfall
has lots of intricate ledges that make it pretty, and the surrounding cliffs
create an awesome backdrop.
The
clouds were beginning to break up on my hike back. The top of Dobson Knob appeared first, though
the valley remained fogged in. Shortoff also made a partial appearance, with fog filling
the gorge below. I was hoping to get a
photo of that scene, but by the time I reached the overlook on Laurel Knob I
was once again surrounded by fog.
I
met everyone else at the Conley Cove Trailhead about 11:45. From there we piled into Darrin’s truck for a
½ mile drive up Kistler. We parked at a campsite and hiked across the
road. We began our descent there. There was no trail, but there was something
of a beaten path and the bushwhacking wasn’t too bad. At some point we crossed over the former
route of the Rockjock Trail’s northern extension, but
there is no longer anything left of it.
We
continued down the slope until we reached the outcrop called Window Rock. Window Rock features a small natural arch and
a spectacular view of Hawksbill, Table Rock, the Chimneys, the North Carolina
Wall, Wiseman’s View, and a long stretch of the river. Well, I assume the view includes the river. Just below us was a sea of fog filling the gorge. The mist was
in constant motion, lapping at the cliffs of the North Carolina Wall, swirling
around the base of Table Rock, and sending wispy tendrils up the face of
Hawksbill. The next cliff south, Wolf
Point, drifted in and out of mist.
THE CAVES IN THE CRAGS
We
spent a good bit of time savoring the moment.
We took turns exploring the namesake window and photographing the
scene. After a lengthy break, we began
our descent to the base of Hummingbird Falls.
The terrain below Window Rock is vertical, so we contoured into the head
of the gully to its north. From there, a
steep descent with some thick bushwhacking brought us to the bottom of the
waterfall. Hummingbird Falls is
cool. It’s on a low-volume stream, but
it drops into a dark alcove formed by cliffs and a massive boulder. We scrambled through the little slot at the
base of the falls and then up and around to the top of the rock. That offered a neat view of the waterfall,
though my best photos came from the base.
Apparently
there is another waterfall farther upstream, but it would’ve been very
difficult to reach from where we were. Instead
we did some sidehilling to the north. Our goal was to reach a ridge that would lead
down to the Linville Crags.
Unfortunately, cliffs kept pushing us farther uphill. Eventually we reached a point where we could
descend. We dropped down a level and
resumed sidehilling until we reached the ridge. We bushwhacked down the ridge, which brought
us out at the top of the Linville Crags.
The crags are a series of cliffs and towers several hundred feet above
the river. The crags are riddled with a
maze of fissure caves, caverns, and slot canyons.
We
reached an expansive rock face split by a deep, narrow crevice. From here we had a great view of Little Table
Rock, the Chimneys, and the North Carolina Wall. The fog persisted along the river, but the
Sphinx made a surprise appearance, briefly emerging from the murk.
To
this point the route had been interesting and occasionally challenging, but
fairly straight forward. This is where we
got creative. Spencer scouted the route
first, sliding down into the head of the crevice. After a bit of scouting, he announced that he
had found the route, but that we would need a rope. Fortunately he always brings several. He led the way down into the crack. We descend through a deep pile of leaves
between sheer rock walls. Near the lower
end, we arrived at a small hole leading down into the darkness. This was it – our secret express route to the
river.
The
hole was tiny. Spencer suggested that
Stephanie go first, since she was the smallest.
I liked that – weren’t we all going through, too? Fortunately Stephanie is an enthusiastic
caver, and she didn’t hesitate. Spencer
tied his “seatbelt” to a large rock and dropped the rest of it down into the
darkness. Stephanie slithered into the
hole, on her stomach, feet first. From
our vantage point it looked terrifying – a vertical drop into total darkness. She reported that it wasn’t as bad as it
looked. She was able to downclimb the 10’ vertical section on rocks, using the
seatbelt as a safety line.
We
all donned our headlamps and began ferrying packs down. Stephanie did a great job catching them and
finding places to stash them. That was
the awkward part, as the passage below was even narrower than the one
above. Somehow she managed. Spencer followed, and then it was my
turn. I was startled at how tight the
passage was. I really had to wiggle just
to get started. Once through the
opening, I was able to lower my feet onto a narrow ledge. From there, I was able to work my way down
the rocks with the help of the seatbelt.
At this point I realized that the batteries in my headlamp were
low. My light was little better than
nothing. One lesson from today – if you
hike with Spencer and Stephanie, bring a headlamp with fresh batteries!
One
of my favorite moments from this part of the adventure was a conversation
between Spencer and Mitch. Mitch was at
the end of our little procession into the underground.
Spencer: “Hey Mitch, do you think you can bring the
rope”?
Mitch: “How would I do that?”
Spencer: “Think about what it would take to climb down
without the rope. If you are comfortable
with that…bring the rope”.
So,
after we exited the cave, Spencer had to double-back to get the rope.
Once
we were down, we found ourselves in total darkness. We were in a deep, tight slot, with cold
stone walls pressing in on both sides.
The only sound came from our breathing.
We descended through the stone passage, working our way deeper into the
heart of the Linville Crags. There was
one other spot with tricky footing, and towards the end we had to turn sideways
to squeeze through. We finally emerged
from the mouth of the cave, at the very base of one of the largest crags. Emerging into the bright mid-afternoon light
was a bit startling after our adventure in the dark. From the mouth of the cave, we looked
straight up about 100’ to where we’d been an hour earlier. It was amazing to think that we descended
through the heart of that rock to reach this point.
From
there we descended through a series of deep, narrow passages in the rocks. Some of them reminded me of the slot canyons
of Southern Utah. We eventually arrived
at a climber’s access trail coming up from the river. Then, we spent some time exploring the base
of the crags. We found several climbing
routes, and Spencer and Stephanie discovered another cave.
A MOMENT OF REFLECTION AT THE CATHEDRALS
From
there we followed the climber’s trail down towards the river. We reached a nice campsite with its own cave
and crossed over the Linville Gorge Trail.
We continued down to the river, reaching it just downstream from
Cathedral Falls (kayaker’s version).
This is an amazing spot with a big cascade, impressive cliffs, and a
killer swimming hole.
After
some exploring there we returned to the trail and hiked upstream to see
Cathedral Falls (hiker’s version). This
Cathedral Falls is a tall, elegant waterfall on a small tributary stream. Both features are unofficially called
Cathedral Falls. My guess is that the
kayakers named the drop on the river Cathedral Falls first, and hikers
transplanted that name to the waterfall on the tributary just upstream.
Cathedral
Falls was a fine ending to our adventure.
While we were resting there, I noticed something fascinating. I was talking with Stephanie, and something
seemed different about her. At that time
I couldn’t place it, but later it hit me.
She had been glowing. Literally…glowing. It
was as if the thrill of the adventure was shining right through her skin. Then again, I was pretty tired at the
time. Maybe I’d imagined it. It occurred to me that if it was real, it
should show up in photos. I looked at a
few of her photos on Facebook taken while she was hiking, and what do you know,
it does.
So
the next question was whether it was just Stephanie that glows. I looked at some photos I’d taken of Spencer,
and yes, he was glowing, too. Maybe,
when we are thoroughly immersed in something we love, something we are
passionate about, maybe then we all glow.
I’d like to think so.
*********************
It
was after 7pm when we left Cathedral Falls.
We took the Linville Gorge Trail downstream, moving at a rapid clip
after a full day of bushwhacking. We
reached Conley Cove and saw a group of people at the campsite near the junction
of the two trails. They were the first
people we’d seen all day, and at least one of them recognized Spencer.
The
climb out of the canyon was tiring after a long day. We had actually discussed visiting Conley
Cave and climbing up through more passage to reach the rim. It was already after dark when we reached the
turn though, and we could see lights and a smoky campfire in the cave. Since it was late and there were people
camping there, we decided to skip it.
The last 20 minutes of the hike were in total darkness, but the trail
was in good shape. Once back at the car
we drove down to Darrin’s truck. There
we enjoyed a celebratory beverage before parting ways. We all had big plans for the remainder of the
weekend. Darrin would be driving Mitch
to Johnson City, TN for his flight home.
I would be spending the rest of the weekend with my wife in Greenville,
and Spencer and Stephanie were leading a hike to Dellinger Creek Falls and
Daffodil Flats the next day. It was
great hiking with all of them again. I
really appreciate Spencer and Stephanie showing us some of the hidden gems of
Linville Gorge!
Back to North Carolina's High Country
Back to North Carolina
Back to Hiking and Backpacking Trip Reports
Please remember to Leave No Trace!