I was dying to get out last weekend just to get away. Of course, the weather forecast looked horrible. Sometimes though, you just have to shrug your shoulders and go anyway. Bob, Myron, Dorcas, and Izaak agreed, and met Christy, Saucony, and I at the Pisgah Ranger Station outside of Brevard at 10:30 Saturday morning. From there it was a short drive up Avery Creek Road to a wet, muddy parking area at the trailhead.
We got our gear together and debated our route. Several trails left from the parking area, so we had a number of options to choose from. It clearly had rained heavily before we arrived, but now the sun looked like it was trying to break through. After much debate, we decided to take the ridge route, and hope that the bad weather held off.
We climbed a steep, lightly used trail through Pressley Cove. It was exceptionally humid, and we were all dripping by the time we reached an old forest road at the top of the climb. From there, the hiking was much easier. We followed the road a short distance to the top of the ridge. Then, we picked up the Black Mountain trail (not to be confused with the Black Mountains) and climbed gradually to the north. Less than an hour later we passed over the wooded summit of Black Mountain, and descended to a rock outcrop with a nice view. The clouds were high enough to allow a good vista of Looking Glass Rock, Cedar Rock, Pilot Mountain, and even Black Balsam Knob. We stopped for lunch, and blessed our luck with the weather.
That afternoon conditions got even better. The sun came out, the humidity lessened, and there was even a nice breeze. We continued north over Clawhammer Mountain and Rich Mountain, and then began a long, gradual descent to the Pink Beds. We reached the South Mills River at 4, only to find that our intended campsite was under water. There was a beaver pond just downstream, and it had flooded the area enough to ruin the campsite. Luckily, we found a suitable camping area on the hill just above the river. We set up there, and spent the afternoon exploring the beaver ponds.
I decided to explore the area further before dinner. I did a short hike on the lower portion of the Pink Beds loop. Saucony came with me, but Christy decided to stay in camp. This caused problems, as Saucony can’t stand to have either one of us out of sight. We followed the trail downstream, until we were by the beaver pond, with camp directly across from us. At that point Saucony decided it was time to check on Christy, and of course she couldn’t just go back the way she came. Instead, she swam through the beaver pond. Stupid dog.
I had a very pleasant walk through the Pink Beds. The trail passed several more beaver ponds. New boardwalks and bridges had been constructed over the flooded areas. The banks of the river were covered with blooming trout lilies. The walking was easy, through mixed forest and occasional meadows. Signs of beaver were everywhere, though I didn’t find a lodge. I looped back to camp on the northern portion of the trail, which was less interesting. I made it back just before the rain came. We huddled under Myron’s tarp for dinner. Christy and I had red beans and rice with sausage that was way too salty. Luckily for us, Myron shared his brownies, which helped get that salty taste out of our mouths.
The rain quit after dinner, and we enjoyed a pleasant evening around camp. We went to bed fairly early, and slept great to the sound of tree frogs. It rained off and on throughout the night, but quit by daybreak. Sunday morning Christy and I had a freeze-dried omelet plus bacon. The weather looked hostile, so we packed up quick and were on the trail by 9:30.
We saw the only other people of the weekend while we were breaking camp. Aside from that group of dayhikers, we had the area all to ourselves. We hiked back up Rich Mountain in a heavy fog. Somehow though, the rain never came. We reached Buckhorn Gap and left Saturday’s route behind. We descended the Buckhorn Gap Trail, down into the valley of a tributary to Avery Creek. We reached the creel, and followed it back upstream a short distance to Twin Falls. Twin Falls is unusual, as there are 2 waterfalls next to each other, but on separate streams.
After a small lunch, we hiked back downstream. The woods were very open and unusually pretty, with the rushing stream never far away. We passed several nice campsites, and eventually joined the Avery Creek Trail near the confluence of the streams. We followed Avery Creek downstream, reaching a small waterfall and a swimming hole. Afterwards, we crossed one more bridge over Avery Creek, just upstream from a huge beaver pond. We rarely see beaver ponds in this part of the country, so it was amazing to have yet another one on this trip. This one was immense, and the lodge was clearly visible. Nearby, I found a Jack-in-the-pulpit blooming, and Bob found the first Trillium of the year. It was a pleasant ending to a surprisingly nice trip.
We reached the end of the trail, and walked a mile back down Avery Creek Road to the car. Along the way, the sun came out to reveal a beautiful spring day. It had been a quiet, pleasant weekend, which was exactly what I needed. I’ll have to plan more trips in this often overlooked area.
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