BURN
Last Saturday, Bob joined me
on my first hike into Linville Gorge since the 2007 fires. Originally, we planned to hike the
Mountains-to-Sea Trail from Woodlawn to Dobson Knob. At the last minute though, I read that that section of the MST
was badly in need of maintenance due to fallen trees. Since it is a long, challenging hike under the best of
circumstances, we decided to save it for another day.
Our backup plan was to hike
to Shortoff Mountain, in Linville Gorge, utilizing a relatively new trail. The new trail links highway 126, near Lake
James, to the Mountains-to-Sea Trail just east of its crossing of the Linville
River. From there, we planned to follow
the MST up to Shortoff. I was eager to
do this hike, as Shortoff has always been one of my favorite places. Plus, I knew that this hike would provide an
eye-opening look at the damage from the recent fires.
We got a fairly early start,
parking at the “trailhead” just east of the Linville River bridge shortly after
9am. Parking is limited here, at the
beginning of a gated logging road. We
got off the road as far as we could, and Bob, Saucony, and I hit the
trail. We passed around the gate, which
still features signs stating that the area is closed due to the fires. I was a little surprised to see the signs,
but I shouldn’t have been. I’ve noticed
over the years that the National Forest is really good about posting signs like
this, but not so good about taking them down.
Shortly beyond the gate, we
followed the blue-blazed trail to the left and above the road. Initially the trail parallels the road, and
it passes through an area that was recently logged. The beginning of this trail isn’t very enthralling, but it gets
better. Before long, we found ourselves
walking under young but pretty White Pines.
We descended through a series of coves, and crossed an endless
assortment of old paths and roads. The
trail is excellent though, and it’s apparent that a lot of thought and effort
went into its design. To be honest, I
wasn’t expecting much from this first 2 ½-mile section of the hike. This trail definitely exceeded my
expectations. My only complaint is that
it could be blazed better. In some
areas, only one side of the tree is marked.
As a result, we nearly missed a couple of turns on our way back.
Eventually we reached the
banks of the Linville River. Here we
were treated to many fine views of the river, which featured a number of
rapids. These rapids aren’t anything compared
with the boat-chewing cascades farther upstream, but they were still
scenic.
Eventually our stroll along
the river ended, and we climbed over a steep ridge on switchbacks. Beyond, we descended and joined an old
road. This part of the trail is
less-appealing, and it features one surprisingly steep climb. Before long, we joined another road. Here we had our first view of the damage
from the fires. It appears that the
road was used as a fire-break, as one side is thick with vegetation, while the
other is completed charred.
Unfortunately, our route led us through the devastation. We traversed a soot-covered hillside, which
featured a number of blackened but standing trees, and little else. Actually, that isn’t quite true. Upon closer inspection, we noticed the
occasional green plant growing out of the soot. It presented quite a contrast among all that char.
We reached the junction with
the MST right in the middle of the burn.
We followed the MST up the ridge, occasionally dodging fallen
trees. Despite the damage, the trail
was in pretty good shape. However, it
was hard to follow because of the soot.
Plus, every time we had to climb over or under a burned log, we got more
soot on our skin or our clothes. By the
time we finished the hike, we looked like we had been sweeping chimneys all
day.
We eventually joined the
route from the Wolf Pit Road trailhead, but continued to climb. Along the ridge we had some nice views of
the exposed cliffs of Shortoff ahead of us.
One final climb ensued, and we found ourselves on top of the
mountain. The worst of the fire damage
was behind us, but the fires had swept across the peak, too. There were still a lot of burned trees, and
quite a bit of soot. In places, we saw
lingering ice from a recent storm. The
white ice and black soot presented another interesting contrast.
We were treated to many fine
views from Shortoff. First, we reached
a cliff guarded by an old, dead tree.
Here we had a great view down into the gorge. To the south, we could see out over Lake James to the South
Mountains. To the west, we could see
the snow-covered peaks of the Black Mountains.
We continued on, passing a
spring and a number of campsites. We
wandered along the long, gentle summit, occasionally drifting out to the cliffs
to check out the view. We passed a
lovely little pond, which was covered in a thin glaze of ice. Just beyond, we followed a side path out to
my favorite overlook. Here there is a
rock outcrop with a fantastic view up the gorge. From that point, you can see the river rushing down between the
walls of the canyon, with the peaks of Hawksbill, Table Rock, and Dogback
Mountain towering high above.
We lounged there for a while
in the sun, and ate lunch. From our
vantage point, I could clearly see the Pinch-In Trail descending steeply along
a ridge towards the river. Just beyond,
I could make out the canyon-carved cliffs of the gorge’s west rim. It was there that I got myself into a world
of trouble last April, trying to follow what’s left of the RockJock Trail.
I couldn’t help but wonder
if Saucony remembered our lunch spot.
Nine years earlier, we had spent the night there, on what was Christy’s
and Saucony’s first backpacking trip.
It’s hard to believe that we hadn’t made it back since.
After lunch, we headed back
the same way. On our descent, we saw a
couple of guys rock climbing on Shortoff.
Later, we passed a large family hiking up from the Wolf Pit Road trailhead. It was a sunny, warm day, so it shouldn’t
have been a surprise to see other people.
Unfortunately, Bob and I had both forgotten sunscreen. By the end of the day, I had a little bit of
a burn of my own.
We really enjoyed our hike,
despite all of the soot. We re-visited
one of my favorite places, and hiked a new trail in the process. Best of all, the trailhead near Lake James
can be reached from Charlotte in less than 2 hours. I’ll plan on utilizing this trailhead for more hikes in the
Linville Gorge area in the future.
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