DRUNK ON ZEN
Brenda
and I returned to our cars after our successful hike to the waterfall on the
Yellow Fork of Paddy Creek. It was
already 1pm, but I thought that we still had time to hike the Rockjock Trail.
Brenda followed me up to the Old Conley Cove Trailhead, where we were
lucky to finding a parking space. By
parking there, we were able to shave about 10 minutes off of the hike. From there we drove back over Dogback Mountain to the Rockjock
Trailhead. There is no parking at the
actual trailhead, but I was able to squeeze my car onto the shoulder just
beyond the trail’s starting point. This
spared us from having to park at the Pinch In
Trailhead and walk on the road for 10 minutes.
We
started the hike with a steep descent through the char left over from the 2007
fires. Views of the lower end of the
gorge opened up all around us as we hiked.
At the bottom of the descent I stopped at a rock outcrop to wait for
Brenda. There is a fantastic view from
here of the river, Shortoff, Lake James, the South
Mountains, Table Rock, the Chimneys, The NC Wall, and the Amphitheatre. Brenda caught up after a few minutes and we
headed north, into the heart of the gorge.
According
to the map, the Rockjock follows a relatively even
contour most of the way. The map
lies. In reality, there are numerous
short but steep ascents and descents in and out of the many side canyons. First up were the two fingers of Mossy
Canyon. We passed Balanced Rock and contoured
into the first canyon. This area is
quite rocky, and several fallen trees slowed us down. We passed through the upper end of the first
canyon. At the second branch of Mossy
Canyon we found a stream that drops over a small, mossy waterfall. Just downstream is a higher waterfall. Although the creek is small, I’d like to get
a closer look at that waterfall sometime.
Ideally I’d like to check it out after a hard rain to give the stream
more volume.
We
crossed the next ridge at T-Shirt Point, where we
paused briefly for a snack. We didn’t
linger long though, as there was a cold wind blowing down the gorge. We then contoured through Crevasse Canyon,
which was a bit disappointing. When I
first hiked Rockjock in 2000 the passage through
Crevasse Canyon was spectacular. After
the fires, the trail was rebuilt higher up on the mountain. The new trail is easier and safer, but it
misses some of amazing scenery that was found on the original route.
We
climbed out of Crevasse Canyon and traversed another ridge. At the far end of the ridge we reached an
obvious side trail marked with a ribbon.
We descended this path, which led us down to Sunshine Point. Sunshine Point offers one of the best views
along the Rockjock Trail, though it does require a
substantial side trip. We didn’t linger
long there either, due to the wind and cold as well as the late hour. We’d gotten a late start, and we were making
slow progress due to the tricky footing and the distracting views.
We
returned to the trail and contoured through Moonshine Canyon. There used to be the remains of an old still here,
but I’m not sure where they are now in relation to the relocated trail. I’m guessing they are downstream from the
current trail location.
We
climbed out of Moonshine and passed through Razors Edge Canyon. There was a fair bit of water running through
here. In fact, Razors Edge Creek was one
of the few we passed that was really flowing.
Just
after climbing out of Razors Edge Canyon we reached another junction marked
with ribbons. After a bit of my usual
confusion here, I realized that we were at the junction with the trail to
Razors Edge. It was getting late, but I
wanted to check out one of my favorite views in the gorge. We descended steeply to a junction that I
didn’t recognize. At this point, a trail
descends steeply towards Razors Edge Creek.
I was pretty sure that was the route to Razors Edge Point. Boone was certain, too, as he headed that way
without waiting to see which way we went.
However,
I was curious about the trail ahead. I
didn’t remember seeing it before, but it had seen a lot of recent traffic. It was marked with ribbons, too. We decided to explore it before doubling back
to Razors Edge Point.
After
a short distance we reached a campsite on Zen Point. There were about 4 guys camping here. Based on the pile of empty beer cans, I’m
guessing they were having a good time!
They were definitely feeling good, but I’m not sure if they managed to
achieve any sort of enlightenment. For a
minute there I thought they might be members of the Spartanburg Steel Products
Beer Drinking Team on a training mission, but I didn’t see a tarp. Spartanburg Steel Products Beer Drinking Team
events always feature large quantities of alcohol and at least one tarp.
I
asked them if we were on Zen Point, as I still wasn’t certain of my location. They told me we were on Hackers Point, which
clarified things for me. It told me that
they didn’t know where they were, since we definitely weren’t on Hackers. Actually, to be accurate, they were confused
about the name of their location. They
told us that they’ve been camping there for the last 15 years, so apparently
they know how to find it.
These
guys were friendly, but I definitely got the impression that they were
hammered. I can’t say that I haven’t
ever gotten drunk camping, but I will say that I haven’t ever gotten drunk
while camping on top of a cliff. I had
to wonder about the wisdom of their plan.
I can’t imagine waking in the middle of the night and stumbling out of
the tent to answer the call of nature only to fall into Zen Canyon. If I have two hopes for how that weekend
ended, it’s that 1) nobody got hurt, and 2) those guys packed all of those
empty cans out.
We
retreated without really taking in the views from Zen Point. So we decided to work our way down to Razors
Edge Point. We descended to the creek
and followed the path out to the overlook.
The trail out there is in better shape than I remembered, probably
because it’s been getting more use. The
view from Razors Edge Point remains one of the most spectacular in the
gorge. The cliffs fell away below us,
all the way to the river 1000’ below.
Razors Edge Rock towered up from the chasm below, and Zen Point loomed
above us. The NC Wall towered above us,
and the jagged peaks of Table Rock, Hawksbill, and Sitting Bear crowded the
sky. The only drawback to this
particular visit was that the late hour and clearing skies left a harsh shadow
along the west side of the gorge. As a
result, my photos from there were less than stellar.
We
lingered there for a few minutes before one of the guys we’d met earlier
emerged on the top of Zen Point. As he
walked out, he kicked a few rocks off the cliff and into the chasm below. I cringed, knowing that there was always a
chance that someone might be hiking the L.O.S.T. route directly below. I’m not sure if he kicked those rocks on
purpose, but even if it was an accident it was still bad form.
He
was still standing on the edge of the precipice, and if he was going to fall
off of Zen Point, I didn’t want to see it.
It was getting late anyway, so we started the rigorous hike back up to
the trail. From there we headed north,
vowing to avoid any further side trips.
At that point it was already 5pm and the sun was dropping behind the west
rim of the gorge.
We
passed through Split Rock and into Bluejay Canyon. Bluejay Falls had a
fair bit of volume, but no ice. From
there we climbed up to Hackers Point and enjoyed views from several spots along
those cliffs. From Hacker’s we passed
through one more minor canyon before climbing to the wooded bluff near Lost Dog
Pond. We skipped that side trip and
descended along a small stream to the campsite on the Old Conley Cove
Trail. At that point we could see the
car, and I was really pleased with myself for leaving it there instead of at
the Conley Cove Trailhead. We reached it
a minute later, at 6pm.
Our
day started with a visit to a relatively unknown waterfall and ended with a
hike on one of my favorite trails. It
just doesn’t get much better than that.
Thanks to Brenda for joining me on this adventure! The best part of this particular Rockjock hike is that it’s the first one I can recall where
I was able to keep track of which canyon I was in pretty much the whole
time. I also managed to not miss the
turn to Razors Edge Point for once. Now
I need to go back to check out the views from Zen Point.
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