RUMBLIN’,
BUMBLIN’, STUMBLIN’
A
couple of weeks ago, the State of North Carolina announced the purchase of
Chimney Rock Park, a well-known tourist attraction overlooking Lake Lure,
southeast of Asheville. Chimney Rock
will be incorporated in a larger state park in Hickory Nut Gorge, which is
still being developed. It’ll be a
couple of years before the park opens to the public, but that didn’t stop me
from getting a little preview last weekend.
Jack
emailed me last week, suggesting a dayhike to Rumbling Bald and Eagle
Rock. These peaks tower over Lake Lure
and Hickory Nut Gorge. I was thrilled
with the opportunity to check out a new area.
Years ago I did a “hike” at Chimney Rock, and that was the only time I
had explored the area. The opportunity
to explore new territory was appealing, and even better, I didn’t have to do
any of the planning. Occasionally it’s
nice to follow someone else. Thanks go
out to Jack for planning this adventure!
I
met Jack and his friend, Bob, in Lake Lure at 9am on Sunday. From there, it was a short drive to the
“trailhead”. At least we thought it
would be a short drive. Since the area
isn’t officially open, there is no actual trailhead or parking area. In fact, trail access is iffy at best at
this time.
Jack
led the way, using his GPS to guide us to the beginning of an old jeep trail
shown on a somewhat dated topo map. We
followed Boys Camp Road, which departs from highway 64 just west of the bridge
over the Broad River, between Lake Lure and Chimney Rock. Boys Camp Road leads to a gated resort, but
we turned left just before the gate. We
continued steeply uphill, and stopped at a wide dirt road heading steeply
uphill to the left. This looked like
the right place, but there was no place to park. We drove up the steep hill, and found a place to pull off on a
side road. The parking was marginal, as
it appeared that we were in an area being cleared for more housing. There wasn’t anybody around on Sunday
though, so we decided to take a chance.
The road continuing ahead looked like it was going the right way, and
Jack’s GPS confirmed our location. For
the record, this is the first time I’ve found a GPS to be useful on a
hike! It’s hard to say if we’d have
found the correct starting point without it.
We
headed into the woods under sunny skies.
It was a chilly day though, even at our modest 1000’ starting
elevation. We had a big climb ahead of
us, as Shumont Mountain tops out at 3800’.
That meant a net climb of 2800’, which doesn’t include three bonus
climbs in and out of gaps along the ridge.
With those factored in, we were planning on climbing over 3500’. I hadn’t attempted a hike of this difficulty
in some time, and this weekend probably wasn’t the best time to start. The calf muscle I had pulled in August had
been acting up again recently. To make
matters worse, I’d chosen the previous Friday to resume my lower body weight
lifting regimen – a regimen I’d abandoned over the past 7 months. As a result, I was sore. In fact, I’d been sore the day before, but today
was much, much worse. I wasn’t entirely
sure I could walk all day on gentle terrain, let alone up a steep mountain.
Ultimately
I managed, but I struggled to keep up all day.
Just putting one foot in front of the other was a challenge. Jack is a fast hiker, and Bob might actually
be faster. The only thing that slowed
them down all day was the many photographic opportunities present along the
way.
After
a brief warm-up, we turned left at a junction and began climbing a ridge. A few switchbacks eased the grade, but they
didn’t last long. Apparently the
original road builders quickly tired of switchbacks, because we didn’t see any
more of them until just below Shumont Mountain.
After
the switchbacks, we reached a junction with another road heading down to the
left. On our return, a fortunate
navigational error led us down this path, which ends at the top of a sheer
cliff. There is a great view from here,
looking out over Lake Lure and across Hickory Nut Gorge to Chimney Rock. On the
far side of the gorge, we thought we could make out Hickory Nut Falls
freefalling down the ice clad cliffs.
The only drawback to the viewpoint is some graffiti spray painted on the
open rock face. Some of the vandalism
is at the very brink of the cliff. The
paint was annoying, but at least we can hope that the vandal responsible fell
off the cliff while he was at it!
The
next section of climb was nasty. The
old road is steep, and badly eroded.
Eventually the grade eased, and the tread improved somewhat. We finally reached the top of the ridge, and
were treated to a nice view to the peaks at the head of the gorge. Several ups and downs followed, before we
reached the switchbacks below the summit of Shumont Mountain. From there we traversed to the north, and
descended slightly to the gap separating Shumont and Eagle Rock. From there, a short footpath led to the
cliffs of Eagle Rock. A short, easy
scramble led to a rock face with a great view north and east. The view to the north is probably fantastic,
but we couldn’t tell because clouds were rolling in from that direction. I’m looking forward to a return visit to
take in that vista on a clearer day.
A
footbridge led to another section of cliffs with spectacular views in almost
every direction. From the open cliffs,
we had virtually unlimited views across Rumbling Bald and Lake Lure. From this vantage, we could see most of our
rugged ascent route. We could also see
the northeast face of Rumbling Bald, which is as sheer is the wall on its other
side.
We
had planned on lunch there, but the wind was howling across the cliffs. Instead, we retreated to the relative
shelter just below the peak. Conditions
were a little less hostile here, but flurries were falling by the time we
packed up for the hike out.
We
returned by the same route, after a brief ascent to Shumont Mountain. Shumont has only limited views, so I
recommend focusing on Eagle Rock if you hike here, even though Shumont is a bit
higher.
The
descent was relatively uneventful, except for the snow which fell steadily for
over an hour. Once we began loosing
elevation though, we left the snow behind.
By the time we reached the cars, the sun was back out.
It
was only 3pm, so we decided to drive over to the trailhead for the Rumbling
Bald Caves. To get there, drive Boys
Camp Road to Garden Road. Across from
Garden Road is a rough dirt road that leads to a primitive parking area. When we arrived, there must’ve been 50 cars
there. Rumbling Bald is an extremely
popular rock climbing area. We were
fortunate to find a place to park all our cars to begin our final hike of the
day.
We
hiked to the end of the road, which gets rougher as you go. At the end, a steep trail climbs uphill
straight ahead. We avoided this one by
staying on a continuation of the old road, which winds around the mountain to
the right. We passed an eroded section,
and after a few minutes passed a campsite in open woods overlooking Lake
Lure. Just beyond was a junction, and
we veered left, scrambling up through boulders towards the base of the
mountain. The opening to the cave isn’t
visible until you’re right in front of it.
Jack led us there, and Jack and Bob decided to explore. I knew if I started into the cave I’d
probably end up getting carried away. I
wanted to get home in time for the super bowl, and to top it off, I was pretty
much worn out. I knew I was in no
condition to scramble through a cave, so I decided to turn back.
Although
the hike to Rumbling Bald follows an old road, it leads to some great
scenery. I understand that plans call
for this route to be developed as a trail in the new state park. I’m now looking forward to the new park, and
will definitely be spending some time there once it opens (if not before!).
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