I REMEMBER NOW
I
have hiked in Linville Gorge many times over the years, but for some reason, I
haven’t spent much time in the northeast corner of the wilderness. Although I’d been up Hawksbill several times,
and down Devil’s Hole and Brushy Ridge, it’s been years since I’ve explored the
area. Recently I was looking at a map of
the gorge, and realized that it had been at least ten years since I’d hiked the
Jonas Ridge Trail over Sitting Bear and Gingercake
Mountain. For the life of me, I couldn’t
remember why I hadn’t returned to the area.
In fact, I could barely remember anything from the time I had hiked
there. This weekend, I set out to re-discover
what I’d forgotten.
I
planned out an ambitious hike, running from the northern end of the Jonas Ridge
Trailhead to Hawksbill and back. Along
the way, I hoped to explore some primitive trails I’d learned of on http://www.linvillegorge.net. I knew it was unlikely that we’d be able to
do all of this in a single day, but I always like to plan big and modify as
needed.
Boone
and I met Bob and Joel near Hickory, and we took two cars from there. Unfortunately, Joel needed to head home by
3pm, and I knew we probably wouldn’t be finished by then. We drove up to Gingercake
Acres, where I attempted to follow Google directions to the trailhead. Google instructed us to turn right onto
Valley Drive, which doesn’t exist. By
the time we realized we missed the turn, we were well down Table Rock Road,
where it’s hard to turn around. I wasn’t
real interested in driving around in Gingercake Acres
all morning looking for the trailhead, so we altered our plans. We continued on down to the Sitting Bear
trailhead. From there, we could hike to
Sitting Bear and explore some unofficial trails before returning. Then, if time allowed, we could hit
Hawksbill.
We
got started a little before 10am under cloudy skies. The early morning fog had burned off, and
there was no sign of snow or ice from Friday’s storm. Boone, our Weimaraner
puppy, got water from a small stream at the parking area, and we hit the
trail. We made quick work of the modest
climb up to Jonas Ridge, where we found a nice campsite. From there, we enjoyed a pleasant stroll
along the ridge, and passed through another nice campsite tucked in a stand of
White Pines. At this point, the easy
walking ended.
We
began the climb up Sitting Bear, which starts out steep and gets worse as you
go. As the grade increased, we began
slipping and sliding on the leaves and pine needles littering the trail. I had Boone on a leash, and he actually
pulled me up part of this hill. Finally,
after a particularly brutal stretch, we reached a bench with a side trail
leading out to an overlook. Bob and I
checked it out, to take in the view and catch our breath. From the cliff, we had a great view down the
gorge. Hawksbill and Shortoff
were prominent from here, although Table Rock was mostly hidden behind
Hawksbill. It was a great view, but a
stiff wind blowing up the gorge was chilly on our sweaty clothes.
We
returned to the trail, and caught up with Joel at the actual Sitting Bear – an impressive
rock pillar on the crest of the ridge.
From there, we began an even steeper climb, pulling ourselves up the
mountain using roots, rocks, and branches for leverage. The puppy did ok here, as he bounded forward
up one steep pitch after another. As we
finally neared the top, recollection began to seep into my brain. I started to remember climbing this mountain,
10 or 12 years earlier. Afterwards, I
must’ve sworn that I’d never do it again!
I’d kept that promise to myself, but over the years, I’d forgotten why I’d
made it to begin with. Now I was nearly
at the top, but I certainly wasn’t looking forward to going back down.
At
the summit, we explored a couple of additional side trails that led out to
viewpoints. One took us to the east
side, where we had great views of Grandfather Mountain, Hawksbill, Table Rock,
and the foothills below. The other
granted us another fine view of the gorge.
From
the summit of Sitting Bear, we enjoyed easy walking towards Gingercake
Mountain. After a brief gap, we began
looking for the unofficial side trail leading down to Devil’s Cliff and
Mid-Cliff. It wasn’t hard to find, as
the side trail was more obvious than some parts of Jonas Ridge. We made the turn, and descended briefly to a
fork. There we stayed left, and began a
moderate descent along the Devil’s Cliff Trail.
This trail was in good shape, and the walking was easy. We passed a pair of trails heading north,
before the ridge narrowed and rock outcrops loomed ahead. We hurried ahead, looking forward to a lunch
spot with a great view.
We
reached the cliffs, and were surprised to find 2 guys camped there. After seeing nobody on the trails all
morning, we weren’t expecting company down there! They were getting ready to leave, but we
chatted briefly. The one guy actually
lives in Gingercake Acres, and had competed in the
Franklin Challenge trail race in September.
They
headed out, and we settled in to enjoy lunch and a great view. From Devil’s Cliff, there is a great vista
down the gorge that includes Hawksbill, Table Rock, The Chimneys, Shortoff, Dogback Mountain, and a
long stretch of the river, still far below.
The view is quite similar to the one from Babel Tower, which is just a
short distance up the river. After
eating, we explored the area further, and found an equally impressive view up
the canyon. From that vantage point, we
could make out the pinnacle of Babel Tower and the deep gash of Fantasy Creek
Canyon.
At
this point, Joel decided to head back, as he had to work early the next
morning. We wished him well, but continued
our explorations, picking up the Lower Cross Trail heading north from Devil’s
Cliff. This path was narrow and blocked
with deadfall in a couple of places, but it was still fairly easy to
follow. At one point we crossed a dry tributary
of Fantasy Creek, and wondered if it might provide access to that canyon. We knew we didn’t really have time to extend
our hike down to the river though. We
continued on, and made a steep, slippery descent to Fantasy Creek. Here we found some large but dying Hemlocks,
as well as some exceptionally slippery boulders. We tip-toed across the creek, and made a
steep ascent to Mid-Cliff Ridge. After a
short climb, we arrived at a 4-way intersection. We turned left there, and descended to
Mid-Cliff.
The
trail eventually petered out at a series of rock outcrops. There are some views here, but it’s a brushy
area, and the vistas aren’t nearly as good as those found at Devil’s
Cliff. We hung out for a bit there,
before heading back up the Mid-Cliff Trail bound for Gingercake
Mountain. We had just passed the 4-way
junction with the Lower Cross Trail when I paused and took another look at my
map. It doesn’t show the trail heading
north, up the gorge, and that perked my curiosity. Where did it go? If anything, this path was more prominent
than the trail between Devil’s Cliff and Mid-Cliff.
We
still had a little time for exploration, so we decided to check it out. We headed up the gorge, and eventually
reached a fork. We avoided the trail
heading up, and continued ahead.
Eventually this path wound around and down to a minor drop off. It looked like an easy scramble, but I wasn’t
sure if I’d be able to get the dog down.
Bob offered to hold Boone, so I scouted ahead. From the base of the drop, an easy stroll led
out to another cliff. This one offered a
dramatic view of Babel Tower towering above a sharp bend in the river. From there, I could also see the deep gulf of
Henson Creek Canyon, at its confluence with the river. This was a really cool spot, and I knew Bob
would want to see it. I returned to the dropoff, and stayed with Boone while Bob checked it out.
By
this point, it was getting late, and we still needed to get out of the gorge
and back to Bob’s car. We backtracked to
Mid-Cliff, and started up the ridge.
This climb seemed a bit steeper than our descent to Devil’s Cliff, but it
was nothing compared to Sitting Bear! We
passed the intersection with the Red Trail and continued to climb as the first
raindrops began to fall. This was a bit
annoying, as the forecast hadn’t called for any rain until Saturday night. It was too warm for rain gear though (I did
most of the hike in shorts and a t-shirt), so we kept plugging on. The climb was longer than I expected, but we
were a bit tired at this point. It was a
relief when we rejoined the Jonas Ridge Trail on Gingercake
Mountain.
At
this point, we had a decision to make.
It was closing in on 4pm, and the shortest route to Bob’s car was back
down Sitting Bear. However, neither of
us was looking forward to going down that steep slope, particularly in the
rain. Plus, I was afraid that we’d have
trouble getting Boone down a couple of spots.
After all, this was the same puppy that had been apprehensive about
going down my Father-in-laws basement steps a week earlier! Ultimately, we decided to play it safe and
hike out the long way. By going out
through Gingercake Acres, we knew we’d be on the road
long before it got dark.
We
hiked over the crest of Gingercake Mountain, passing
three young Hispanic men hauling large backpacks full of freshly harvested Galax. After pausing briefly to add some clothing,
we descended a rocky jeep road to the trailhead I’d originally planned to start
at. The parking area was empty, and the
road leading to it appeared to be in pretty good condition. We hiked down on switchbacks, passing some
large houses, and running into the backpacker we’d seen earlier at Devil’s
Cliff. We turned right onto Rhododendron
Drive, which we followed briefly out to Table Rock Road. We reached Table Rock Road just in time for
Linville Gorge rush hour, and spent the next 30 minutes dodging speeding
cars. This wasn’t much fun, so we kept a
brisk pace. We reached Bob’s car a few
minutes after 5, shortly before dark. It
was nice to get there before the last of the daylight faded, and before the
really heavy rain moved in.
I’m
looking forward to exploring the northeast end of the gorge more in the
future. There’s a lot there to see,
including Henson Creek, Fantasy Creek, and lots of cliffs. Plus, I still want to get back to
Hawksbill. Next time I’m in the area
though, I may just skip Sitting Bear!
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