top of page
Search

A Grand Loop through Linville Gorge Wilderness


A Grand Loop through the wilderness of Linville Gorge! A loop where we covered 45.5 miles and gained over 15,000' elevation over 6 nights / 7 days.


Trails used … Parked at Wolfpit - Shortoff - Olson - MST - Amphitheater - NC Wall - Camel - MST - Table Rock - Table Rock Gap - Spence Ridge - Spence Ridge Connector - Ledge - FS Road to Hawksbill Parking Area - Hawksbill - Jonas Ridge - Devils Cliff - Red South - Reference Rock - Brushy Ridge - Joe Johnson - Long Arm - Gulf Contour - Duggers Creek - Linville Falls - Marion Wright - LGT - MST - Schoonover Crossover - Faulkner Flats - Shortoff



Third backpacking trip of 2024 ... April 13 - 19, 2024

Included ... Mom, Sally, and myself

Day 1 ... April 13, 2024


With much more nervous anxiety bursting at the seams than a normal backpacking trip ... we made our way from SC to Linville Gorge. The plan ... loop around Linville Gorge - the ENTIRE Linville Gorge! We left one car as a resupply in the gravel parking area off of Hwy 105 (it's one of the main Linville Falls access points) then made our way to Wolfpit trailhead. Along the way the early morning light started appearing and we stopped at the Brown Mountain Overlook which not only looks eastward but also westward towards Linville at the backside of Hawksbill, Sitting Bear, and Gingercake Mountains (two of those we'd cross or be on top of during the trip). After taking in the view ... we continued on to the trailhead. We found ourselves a spot and quickly got ourselves loaded up with our packs and was ready to get this adventure started! I'll preface this entire adventure by saying this is not for the faint of heart ... this is a very demanding loop with skills needed in navigating unblazed territory. For the most part the trails are apparent - but there were a couple times we ended up off trail and there were several downed trees to go over and under. This is NOT a normal 40+ mile backpacking trip ... this is a physically and mentally demanding adventure along exposed cliff lines and sheer drop offs. Please use caution…

We were on familiar territory for most of the day ... going up the MST towards Shortoff. We veered off onto Olson trail - because last vear when I was on it I thought my mom would enjoy it. This honestly is one of my personal favorites. Honestly, the trail was a bit easier to follow going south to north. The wind was whipping and we had to brace ourselves a few times to keep from getting blown off the mountain. In the distance, you could see Lake James and the wind cutting across the surface of the lake. As we continued making our way along Olson ... we come out near the cliffs along Shortoff - these are spectacular to take in from this point of view. There

was some water falling off the rocks and it was somewhat magical to watch as the water was falling to see the wind push it against the rock faces. Eventually, we made our way to John's Kitchen where you're actually under the cliff overhang. Unfortunately, this is also where I got injured … I thought I was clear of the overhang and went to stand up and when I did the pressure from my pack hitting the overhang forced my foot to slip off the rock I was on and scraped up my shin pretty good and a scratch on the other leg. Aside from some blood running down my leg - and a bit of pain - I figured nothing was broken other than my pride. And feeling as though - if this is the only injury this trip I'd definitely rather it be me than my mom or Sally. I dusted myself off and took a breather before joining my mom up at Unbelievable Point (I kept calling it Inspiration Point) . but it definitely is unbelievable - the views here are outstanding. After taking in the view ... we continued up to rejoin the MST and continue making our way towards Chimney Gap. We passed by Shortoff Pond ... which was full - it was cool to see especially after seeing it completely dry last year with a fire ring in it. Continuing on past Rockpeak ... we made it to Chimney Gap. Unfortunately, people had already claimed it for the night - so we took our packs off and made our way down to the water source to get water (since on this East Rim the water can get scarce). The bugs were terrible here and there was a big. downed tree right by the water source (not enough to block us thankfully). We finished getting water and made our way back to our packs. After getting our water loaded onto our packs ... we continued down the trail - in hopes of getting the campsite before the MST climbs up toward the ridge near the Chimneys. Unfortunately, that one was taken as well and we saw a few dead trees which made us feel like it might not be the safest place to stay. So, we continued on ... and we got to enjoy the re-route of the MST. Now, instead of going straight up over loose rock... We got to enjoy switchbacks and a nice trail path. And the views looking down the gorge towards Shortoff were outstanding| Thank you to the trail crews and volunteers to helped with this project ... awesome workll At this point - the water weight was really starting to weigh us down .. and we were ready for camp,


Thankfully, we passed a couple of people (they were going towards Chimney Gap) that said the campsites up on the ridge weren't full. So, with that bit of happy news - we found the umph to keep going while enjoying the views along the way. We finally made it to camp ... feeling grateful we'd survived our first day of the trip. As the sun set...we enjoyed our camp meals by the campfire before retreating to the comfort of our sleeping cocoons!


Things to note, this is probably one of the easier sections of this loop. The trail is moderate at worst and very well maintained. Water can be scarce so grab it when you can. Also, sun exposure is pretty high here - just not a lot of leaf cover. Unfortunately, I left my sun shirt at home - so I paid the price on that one! Ihere's some great campsites all along this section ... a couple l've shown in previous videos - but the one before that final push up to the ridge past Chimney Gap looked worse than it did last year. And if you're familiar with it ... then there was a small campsite on the left side of the trail as you're going north ... that campsite had a fallen tree in it. So my biggest piece of advice is look around to make sure there's no widow makers. I highly recommend Olson but only if you're familiar with the gorge ... and watch your footing (don't follow my bad example). Overall, a great first day!



Third backpacking trip of 2024 ... April 13 - 19, 2024

Included … Mom, Sally, and myself

Day 2 ... April 14, 2024



Day 2 started off with watching sunrise from my hammock ... a great way to start the day! We packed up camp and headed a short ways down the MST before taking the side trail to the Amphitheater ... which is an area I saw last year on my ITAYG loop. And I thought my mom would enjoy the view - so down the trail we went - going down seems to take forever but the moment you see the view at the end makes it worth it. Shortly after we arrived another group of women arrived and they took off on the NC Wall trail. This is where we were still deciding if I wanted to attempt the NC Wall trail ... especially since I was unfamiliar with it and we still had a long way to go. But why not add to the adventure ... so off we went. I'll preface this by saying ... this is not a trail for anyone afraid of heights. You're walking along the top of a cliff that drops straight down ... my husband saw the video clip of one point and said we were crazy for doing it. Honestly, it didn't seem too bad to us in the moment... but I am one that tends to go to the edge of things just to see how far it is down. The views along this trail are amazing and well worth the effort! It's probably now my second favorite trail in the gorge! Anyway, we kept following the trail and gawking at the scenery - we even took a brunch break to enjoy the solitude on the trail (because the group of women we saw head this way - we didn't see anymore since they were moving pretty fast). After soaking in the views and reaching the end of the NC wall trail ... We made our way back up to the MST where there were several more people (some hiking and some climbing). We continued along making our way to the Chimneys - where we met some nice people who graciously offered to take our picture. Afterwards, we kept going - coming out in the Table Rock parking area - where it was packed!! We utilized the restrooms and enjoyed some shade ... l'I note that the womens bathroom door still isn't fixed (doesn't lock).

After the short break, we made our way up the Table Rock trail to the summit of Table Rock (along the way showing mom one of my favorite hidden views and we found a wonderfully shady breezy area there as well). I'll note that most of this hike was exposed and very buggy _ even at the summit the bugs were verging on intolerable. So, we rested for a little bit before making our way back down and turning right to stay on the MST. From here it's a nice hike - but very rocky - mom couldn't believe id done this trail in the dark last year! Honestly, I was just grateful we were going downhill for a little while. We came out in the parking area for Spence Ridge and took the left to stay on Spence Ridge. This is a nice walk and we got to see Hawksbill through the trees - which was our next summit. We were ready to setup camp and escape the bugs .. but unfortunately there seemed to be a lot of dead trees in the campsite. I won't even attempt to convey the disappointment - but we didn't want to get crushed by a tree. So, we took a nice long break to filter water and grab extra water because honestly I knew water between here and our resupply was limited .. so I was carrying around 7L and mom was carrying around 4L. And off onto the Spence Connector trail we go - ughhh!!!

At first the trail was great ... well relatively - other than the fact it was uphill. Then it disappeared at a stream ... literally couldn't find it. I went across the stream - couldn't find it, then back across and followed what seemed to be some sort of path through a rhodo thicket (which if you know how big a pain those can be when they're low to the ground) and up a STEEP incline and everything else. Packs getting snagged ... full body workout inducing ... we threatened to give up!! I won't repeat what I was calling this trail... but I had a full out tantrum!

Anyway, thankfully I saw the trail. Best guess ... it probably did cross the stream and then it zigzagged and I just overlooked it. At this point - we're just grateful to be on an actual trail - still difficult because it's pretty steep in places and carrying that extra water wasn't helpingl! I'd read about a campsite being on top of the table area where it the connector trail flattens out.

Unfortunately, we didn't see it. And at this point, frustration took over. We hit the intersection with the Ledge trail in desperate need of a campsite ... and I had no intention of trying to do Ledge trail at this point after the grief this connector trail had given us. We needed camp and a reprieve from the stupid bugs ... so according to Avenza there was a campsite by the road. Well there was - but the bugs were a torrential nightmare there - so I looked at Avenza again and it showed campsites up by the Hawksbill parking area. So, we road walked up to there and thankfully found a great campsite with a fantastic fire area - and even had a great viewpoint looking north! Honestly, I had no clue these campsites were back here - but they were awesomel! Someone had even left a pile of firewood behind and we were able to use that to make a fire and enjoy our evening - while I mentally prepared for climbing Sitting Bear the next day!

Things to note ... most people would probably feel comfortable camping at the campsite by the Spence Ridge/Spence Connector - it was our judgement call to keep going. The NC wall trail was definitely worth doing - but when we popped back out on the MST there was a sign saying it was closed due to the Peregrine falcon nesting until mid-August. There wasn't a sign like that where we went down ... otherwise we wouldn't have done it. But now we know - so don't go down there until after the nesting is over. I think you can still go down to the Amphitheater area (it's outside of the NC wall nesting area. The Spence Connector trail is quite steep and like l've said I lost the trail where it comes out by the creek - and l'lI note that the Avenza app shows it staying on the right side of the creek. If somebody wants to comment and enlighten me about where the trail actually goes - that'd be super helpful! The campsites up by the Hawksbill parking area were fantastic - there's several up there and there's a nice view there as well. The section of trail from Shortoff to Table Rock is probably the busiest of the entire loop due to the accessibility and "easiness" of trails in the area.




Third backpacking trip of 2024 ... April 13 - 19, 2024

Included - Mom, Sally, and myself

Day 3 - April 15, 2024


On this day, I awoke tired seeing the early morning colors through my tarp - which I'd had to deploy to the winds whipping through the area during the night. It was so windy .. Sally was restless in her tent - so I brought her in my hammock. You could hear the trees moving around with the wind - which also causes some anxiety and thoughts of "did I double check for widow makers!?. On top of that, the general stress of deciding whether or not to drag my mom up the Ledge trail especially after the tough start on the the connector trail the previous day. I wanted to do the Ledge trail .. but I also wanted to be able to complete the entire loop with my mom and my sanity. So, I think both of us were tired. As morning broke, we made our way to a nice overlook just below our campsite. After enjoying the view, we pack up camp - thankfully we were able to get mostly packed before the bugs once again resumed harassing us.


After packing up, we made our way back out to the road - where I made the decision to skip the Ledge trail and just go up the Hawksbill trail. For us, this just made our day that much better ..

I'll save the Ledge trail for when I have the extra mental capacity to deal with finding the trail.

This was familiar territory taking the Hawksbill trail - but it did seem much wider than I remembered when I did it as a day hike with mom & dad. So, again thank you to the trail maintainers for keeping it in great condition! And we had the trail all to ourselves all the way to the summit (we also passed our last stream before camp - so we took the time to grab some extra water). At the summit ... there's a couple of campsites and viewpoints (one to the south and one to the north) ... the north viewpoint is the summit of Hawksbill - unfortunately we didn't find the summit marker. We tried to sit and enjoy a brunch ... but the bugs were really aggravating - we endured, soaking up the views and looking at our next climb - Sitting Bear!

l'd read about the scramble up to Sitting Bear ... so I was already dreading this because I knew with packs loaded with water it was going to up the difficulty factor. I was also dreading it - because when we'd camped on top of Sitting Bear last fall ... I didn't see where on earth the trail even was. The one option was a drop of a ledge that was probably taller than me - and deep down I was like how on earth do you go up that!? While all these nagging thoughts were running through my head, we finished up brunch while swatting at the bugs (I'm pretty sure they were laughing at our vain attempts at keeping them at bayl). As we made our way down the mountain, I looked back and saw a guy coming down the mountain. I was like where on earth did you come from - he had similar thoughts. We all thought we had the mountain to ourselves regardless we exchanged pleasantries and kept on our way. Down the mountain, we turned left onto the Jonas Ridge trail - this was all new territory for us. Mercifully, the trail was well traveled and easy to follow and the actual trail was pretty nice hiking. We found a gorgeous little campsite before the last push to go up to Sitting Bear - so we took another break. I'll note, Jonas Ridge doesn't continue straight through the campsite ... it exits to the north in the northwestern corner of this campsite. After finding the trail once again ... we started our ascent.

It starts out with being nice and steep ... then it reared it's ugly head with some stuff where you had to be on hands and feet! This bit was mercifully short and was the calm before the storm ... at least there's a nice overlook or two during this calm stretch and you come out at the base of Sitting Bear. We take in the view before tackling the next section of "trail" ... we put away the trekking poles because from here to the summit of Sitting Bear you literally have to have all hands on deck. This section was especially rooty (thankful for those honestly) and more vertical than horizontal ... all I can say is just make sure you're sure footed with a strong grip with a can-do positive attitude. With the end in sight - I looked to my right to see the ledge I'd mentioned earlier that we saw last year - and guess what the trail continues straight and comes out on top of the ridge! So thankfully, we didn't have to do that part! We got to the ridge top and gave each other high 5's for making it!! We went out the view looking southward toward Hawksbill and Shortoff... we'd hiked all the way here!!


After enjoying the view, we made our way to our favorite campsite on Sitting Bear ridge ... and fortunately it was available. We got to camp around 3 ... so we had time to leisurely setup, take a couple of naps, and just relax. We got to see a rainstorm in the eastern distance ... feeling grateful that it wasn't over us. We then just enjoyed dinner and resumed our resting/relaxing phases. I studied the maps over and over ... because the next day was my personal biggest dread -the NE quad. A quadrant full of unofficial trails and a lot of personal unknowns. My prayer was that we made it through safely with minimal headaches.


Things to note ... this was probably our easiest day in terms of mileage - but only because we skipped Ledge trail. I didn't take skipping Ledge lightly ... but I'd read and watched where people couldn't find the trail or "eventually" found it. Honestly, mentally I just couldn't bear doing that knowing we still had the NE quad the next day. Looking back, could we have done it - probably would I change my decision looking back - no. I wanted this to be a safe and fun trip ... and in my mind we were doing a grand loop not "the" grand loop. We're already talking about doing the Ledge trail in the fall. Regardless of all that, the climb up Sitting Bear is not to be taken lightly so tread carefully, Jonas Ridge is a really nice trail and the vies up at Hawksbill are awesome (it's probably why it's one of the most visited points in the Gorge). Overall, a great third day on the trail!



Third backpacking trip of 2024 ... April 13 - 19, 2024

Included ... Mom, Sally, and myself

Day 4 ... April 16, 2024


Mom and I got up early to watch sunrise ... this was one of the best sunrises of the trip! It was a great beginning to a challenging day.


We headed off north along Jonas Ridge to it's intersection with Devil's Cliff trail where we went down to Devil's Point to see the view (we skipped Celestial Point this time since we'd stopped there last fall). Before Devil's Point - we left our packs by the junction of Red South - grabbed a bit of breakfast and headed down to the view. The view here is gorgeous - and the trail to this point was relatively easy (probably moderate with the climb if you're doing an out & back). I was busy triple checking the route - because my phone was near death (and both battery banks were drained). After soaking in the view and having a mental picture of the map ... we made our way back to our packs and went off into the unknown. The first trail was Red South - which was pretty easy. going other than near a stream where we lost it - when over some deadfall - then found the trail again. The next trail was the side path to Huckleberry Knob - which was another nice view where we took another break (the trail is kinda brushy - so I can only imagine how bad it gets in summer). We returned to the main path and made our way up to Reference Rock - where we got to see a jet fly down the gorge - we thought it was pretty cool! Afterwards, we ended up on Brushy Ridge - it was at this point we took a right (because honestly I was afraid Red North might be hard to follow or have a lot of issues) and took Joe Johnson trail up to Long Arm. The climb up Joe Johnson was bearable and thankfully the bugs weren't nearly as bad as they'd been most of the trip. We took a left onto Long Arm - going through some nice pasture and wide paths. As we turned right onto Gulf Contour - we heard thunder in the distance. So, we took the time to get our packs prepared for rain and rain gear within arms reach. We followed Gulf Contour - which for the "most" part wasn't too bad but there were several over/under trees that we had to contend with along with losing the trail a couple of times.


Thankfully, it didn't take us long to correct ourselves and get back on track. We finally made it to the main Linville Falls visitor area - where trails were wide and several people were hiking. But we made the side trip to Duggar Creek Falls - before making our way towards the visitor center. Much to our dismay, the visitor center was "closed for winter" in mid-April... which also meant the restrooms were closed. Oh well ... we made our way along the main falls trail and took a right onto the side trail that goes up to the gravel parking area off Old Hwy 105 - where our resupply and Monster energy drinks were waiting!!


We were grateful for the picnic tables here ... but there aren't any restrooms or trash cans. So, take your trash with you! We resupplied, left things we didn't need in the car, and made ourselves dinner, along with hot coffee/tea to enjoy once we got to camp. Once again, it was time to put our packs on and continue down the trail. Thankfully, it was a weekday so it was pretty quiet stroll. We once again turned right onto the main Linville Falls trail before bearing right onto the Marion Wright trail. This was another unknown that I was worried about - but honestly it was one of my favorites of the trip - the path was easy to follow and it didn't involve a full body workout! We even got to see some lady slippers! We got to the junction at Pine Gap and the beginning of the Linville Gorge trail. We began looking for a campsite (I was hoping to be by the river) but there seemed to be a lot of dead trees (and a couple of very large ones that were over the trail). So, we kept pushing and found a campsite where mom & I shared the tent because I didn't see a good place to hammock hang. We quickly made camp and started a fire before breaking out our tea and hot chocolate/coffee to raise a toast to making it through the NE quadrant without too much difficulty!


Things to note ... all of the side view points in the NE quadrant are worth seeing (Devils Point, Celestial Point, Reference Rock, and Huckleberry Knob). Expect going through the NE quadrant to be slower going - just be patient and enjoy the process. If you're doing the Grand Loop - I personally recommend a resupply - it was a great moral boost to get some extra treats (Gatorade/Monsters) - as by this point you're probably tired of water! This will probably also be your longest mileage trail day . as there were no obvious campsites between Celestial Point and Bynum Bluff (there was supposed to be one by the river before Bynum Bluff - but dead trees!!).



Third backpacking trip of 2024 ... April 13 - 19, 2024

Included … Mom, Sally, and myself

Day 5 ... April 17, 2024


After a nights rest ... we were ready to see what else was on this north end of the Linville Gorge trail. I have a love/hate relationship with this trail ... it's gorgeous but it is a seemingly relentless rock scramble.


We slowly made our way down the trail over all kinds of ups and downs. There was a rock ledge we had to navigate and remind ourselves to breathe - not much margin for error here. We found a nice little rock overlook where we sat and had some breakfast before coming to the junction with Babel Tower. We left our packs by the trail and made the scramble up to the tower ... this was a very steep scramble.


But if you do it - the view is absolutely worth the effort! It ended up being one of mom's favorite views of the trip! We carefully made our way back down and got our packs back on. We continued down the trail and finally got one some familiar territory when we hit the junction with Spence Ridge - where we took a few minutes to go down to appreciate not having to do this crossing! We then made our way back up the trail to continue south. We passed by Cathedral Falls... we didn't hike down - we just appreciated the view from the trail. We continued down the trail and found a great campsite by the river. As the sun set - the evening light illuminated the skies above us. We made a campfire and joyed our meals before retreating to bed. Unfortunately, shortly after sundown the wind started and could hear the trees over our heads - so not much slumber was had.


Things to note ... between Bynum Bluff and Babel Tower along the Linville Gorge trail there is a narrow ledge that you have to go across. Honestly, it looked scarier watching the video back than what it seemed in person. Also, the scramble up to the top of Babel Tower is very steep. There were places where I had to pick Sally up to get her up and down some of it - thankfully she only weighs 36lbs - but it could be trickier with a larger dog who might be reluctant/resistant to jumping. There is a nice site Cathedral Falls - but it's down a steep hill and I don't remember there being much flat space for a tent. Thankfully, there wasn't as much deadfall in this section of trail - but it's still a very tough section.



Third backpacking trip of 2024 ... April 13 - 19, 2024

Included ... Mom, Sally, and myself

Day 6 ... April 18, 2024


After a rough night trying to sleep with the trees knocking together in the wind ... we slowly pack up as we make time for coffee and a small breakfast by the river before hitting the trail. From here to our next campsite was familiar ground. We pass by one of our campsites from last year near the junction with Conley Cove (excellent tent site) and continue the slog that is the Linville Gorge trail. It's more of the same as what we've done the last day and a half up until the intersection with Pinch-In. Things to note .. this section had more poison ivy near the trail than the rest of the trail. A large downfall has affected one of the steeper little climbs - because you used the roots to pull yourself up whereas this time, we had to claw our way up loose dirt. This was probably the trickiest part of the day. Once we got near the junction with Pinch-In ... we stopped at one of my favorite riverside campsites for a long break to just soak in the views. We then continued down the trail ... passing the quiet field of Daffodil Flats. Shortly, after we started climbing up from the river to the junction with Pinnacle trail - where we stayed straight to stay on the Linville Gorge/Leadmine trail. From this point, we were still trying to decide if we wanted to stop short or try and cross the diver this evening. After talking to some fellow backpackers and knowing ourselves ... we stopped short where we had a fantastic view of Shortoff from our ridgetop campsite. We grabbed water from a stream about a ¼ mile from camp and hauled it up. As the sun set .. casting a shadow on Shortoff - we enjoyed our last trail dinner. After the sun had set and Shortoff was now immersed in darkness, we moved over to the fire to enjoy our after-dinner drinks. Once the fire burned out ... we said goodnight and enjoyed a great night's sleep!


Things to note ... the Linville Gorge trail continues its toughness pretty much all the way to its intersection with Pinch-In. There was also quite a bit more poison ivy on this southern end .. thankfully none of us ended up broken out with it! The trail past Pinnacle does climb one more time - but it wasn't as terrible as I'd remembered. This section of trail also has more shade than most of this loop. The campsite is in pines ... so be super mindful of fires because pine needles tend to be exceptionally dry!


There are several campsites throughout this section - but if you're in this section during a weekend you might have issues finding ones that aren't taken. Also, that tree being down and trying to climb up loose dirt was very tricky - but if you've made it this far around the loop it shouldn't be unmanageable!



Third backpacking trip of 2024 .. April 13 - 19, 2024

included w Mom, Sally, and myself

Day 7 ... April 19, 2024


After a great night's rest - we get up to see the sunrise and early morning over the Gorge before packing up camp. We'd had plans to make coffee and just enjoy the morning - but with rain threatening us from the west we decided to pack up camp instead. Hitting the trail and enjoying the downhill to the river-we finally come to one of the last hurdles of the trip ... crossing the Linville River! Honestly, we weren't sure if we'd be able to. The max recommended safe crossing is when the river is at 200cfs and it was running at 180cfs when I°d checked it that morning. We were prepared to walk around the long way-more than doubling the mileage to the car. However, I left the decision to mom - she decided to test the waters to see if she was going to be comfortable going across. Thankfully, the crossing seemed to be mom approved and we proceeded to cross with extreme caution! The view upstream is absolutely beautiful and worth pausing your crossing to just soak in the view! We finally made it to the other side most of the way it was mid-shin but there were a couple places it was about knee deep. Sally had no issues at all -other than we weren't playing with her while crossing! As we were making our way along side the river following the MST - we passed a campsite where someone had left a campfire smoldering/smoking - so I backtracked to the river crossing and grabbed up extra water (about 5 liters worth) and made sure the campfire was out! Then, we continued on up the trail and started our last climbs. As we made our way up the MST - we took a right onto the blue dot connector trail then a left onto Schoonover Crossover - which shortcutted over to the Faulkner Flats trail. This was a really nice trail that we enjoyed - well until we saw one good sized climb relatively steep over loose rocky soil.


Thankfully, it was pretty short! But about ¾ of the way up this climb - if you turn around - there's a nice view! Shortly after, we intersected with the Faulkner Flats trail - where we took a left. This was a really nice trail - and much easier than climbing straight up the MST! There were a couple of trees across the trail - but if you've made it this far - this is nothing you can't handle! We also saw a small snake - but we didn't stick around to see the parents! There were a couple of nice views - one looking at shortoff and one looking south at Lake James - but overall, it was just a nice walk in the woods. And in a timespan - not too long - we were once again rejoined at the MST and on familiar territory. This is where the wave of emotions hit - WE'D DONE IT!! WE SURVIVED!I - knowing how far we'd come to get back to this point it was sincerely overwhelming! But we slowly made our way down and back to Wolf Pit where the car we'd left almost a week earlier was waiting on us!


Things to note ... I'm still processing that we actually completed this. This was a massive mental effort as well as a physical one. Nothing is easy in the gorge - you work hard but the reward is absolutely worth it. I'm grateful to have gotten to share this experience with my mom and that she actually enjoyed it too! I honestly was worried that I was getting ourselves in over our heads and that it'd just be a miserable sufferfest! Now, I won't lie and say there wasn't any suffering or pain -there was. But there were also views, sunrises, sunsets, laughter, and just wonderful memories. As far as the trails taken - there was quite a bit of poison ivy down by the river/trail. Schoonover Crossover was a great little shortcut over to Faulkner Flats. Id highly recommend Faulkner Flats over the MST for going back up to Wolf Pit. As of this writing - the property owners have decided to (for now continue letting access to Wolf Pit trailhead as long as people don't break the rules and respect boundaries! So, please respect the property owners and if Wolf Pit is full - go explore another area of the Gorge -there's plenty to see and who knows you might even find your own favorite spot! As for the Grand Loop - personally it was a fantastic experience but do come prepared both mentally & physically - because it demands both!

 
 
 

Comments

Rated 0 out of 5 stars.
No ratings yet
Add a rating
Picture2.jpg

© RoseLee Explores                                                                                    Powered and secured by Wix

bottom of page