Christy, Saucony, and I arrived at the Shining Creek trailhead Saturday morning to find the parking lot full. The cars had overflowed to a clearing on the far side of the road. It was the middle of fall leaf season, and we were in one of the most popular places in North Carolina. I knew we’d see a lot of people, but I reassured Christy that I knew some campsites that would remove us from the masses.
We started our hike along Shining Creek. It was a steady climb, with the stream tumbling past us the whole way. There was some nice fall foliage, though most of it was already on the ground. We stopped for lunch after an hour, and Saucony provided entertainment. The creek was covered with leaves, and she mistakenly assumed that she could walk across them. To top it off, she stepped in at the deepest possible spot. She did the same thing twice more during the weekend. She’s usually a smart dog, but not always a fast learner.
After lunch, we climbed past some nice campsites. We had seen a couple of groups at the beginning of the hike, but the climb had separated us. We actually went a couple of hours without seeing anyone. By early afternoon though, the gray sky opened up. The weather forecasts hadn’t called for rain, but that didn’t stop it. It rained just hard enough to make the gore-tex worthwhile. By the time we had everything on, the shower passed.
As we neared the top of the valley, we had nice views over toward Old Butt Knob (another nominee for favorite name). By mid-afternoon, we reached the Art Loeb trail just south of Shining Rock. We were nearly run-over by a parade of dayhikers and backpackers heading toward the rocks. We headed the other way, in hopes of avoiding the crowds. We passed two springs, which were still flowing despite the dry weather.
Since we had plenty of time, we decided to explore a side trail up Flower Knob. It led to a small cave, and then up to the ridge below the summit. Although it was cloudy, we still had good views east toward Mt. Pisgah and west to the Middle Prong Wilderness. I hiked up through the blueberry bushes, complete with red leaves. At the summit, I had the ultimate view of Shining Rock itself. There was a group camped here, and they seemed to be enjoying their perch.
We returned to the trail, and hiked over and around Grassy Cove Top. We descended the other side, and passed a small spring just before Ivestor Gap. There were a couple of groups camped in the gap. We hiked on, climbing a unnamed hill. At the top, we went off trail to reach a small spruce grove at the summit. We camp there, hidden among the spruce trees. Off to either side were meadows with spectacular views.
I left in search of water, while Christy set up camp. I found a nice piped spring along the Grassy Cove Trail. It took awhile to fill the bucket, since the spring was little more than a trickle. By the time I returned, we were ready for dinner and a fire. We enjoyed sausage and jambalya as we sat around the fire. We were camped just outside of the wilderness area, so the fire was legal. Although we had a hidden campsite, we ended up with neighbors. Two groups came in late, and camped in the meadows nearby. Luckily though, they were pretty quiet. Our evening was quite pleasant, until another shower sent us to the tent early.
We enjoyed 11 hours of sleep before finally getting going Sunday morning. The weather forecast had been for a beautiful day, but the sky was still overcast. I dropped my plan of taking a quick hike up to Tennant Mountain. Instead, we returned to Ivestor Gap and headed down the Grassy Cove Trail.
It didn’t take long to leave the crowds behind. We enjoyed some pleasant ridgeline hiking through tunnels of rhododendron and open forest. We passed several nice campsites, which I regretted not aiming for to begin with. Eventually we left the ridge and descended to Greasy Prong. We crossed the stream on slippery rocks, and had lunch on some boulders. From there, we hiked downstream, passing a natural waterslide along the way. We rock hopped the Big East Fork of the Pigeon River, and continued downstream. Along the way, we passed several small waterfalls and lots of swimming holes. On two occasions, we worked our way down a steep side trail to get a better view.
After hours of solitude, we began to run into people again along the river. The hiking was easy, and we saw a number of places to return to. Overall, it was a nice hike with lots of variety.
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