hike report:
Happy New Year! 18 hikers ignored the rainy forecast and did the traditional NYD hike without rain. In answer to a question about how many years the NYD hike has been done, the first time it appeared in Lets Go was 1/1/06, so this is the 12th time it has been done as an official CMC hike.scout report:
Here's an opportunity to start 2017 outdoors. These trails in Bent Creek on well maintained and moderate. The first mile is along a level, gravel forest service road allowing hikers to warm up their legs before the gentle climb to Five Points with its views. Several of the trails are shared with cyclists. Note the meeting place and time in the CMC schedule. Hope you can join us on this late start with a likely early finish.hike report:
These multi-use trails were shared today with a skier, trail runners and a few cyclists. The distance views were very clear with lots of definition from the snow cover. Someone noted that the rocky sections on Green Lick are easier to traverse when snow covered. The "beautiful" comments were outnumbered by the comments about being hot and needing to shed another layer. Chris pointed out bear tracks crossing the trail and its sliding chute above the trail. Wow! It's safe to say that no one regretted venturing outside on a chilly day. A special thanks is extended to Michael for breaking trail thru the snow for most of the hike.hike report:
20 walkers set out on a warm, cloudy morning for an urban hike along current and future greenways in Asheville. With Brotherhug Barlow as our guide along the future Canie Creek and Hominy Creek Greenway we learned not only about the greenways themselves, but about the history surrounding the land on which they're located. After braving one short stretch of road, we enjoyed the completed greenways from Hominy Park to the French Broad River dog park, stopping along the way to overwhelm Edna's by the river at our lunch break. (Sorry about that!) After walking the soon-to-be completed greenway on the Duke Power connector and the beautiful greenway below New Belgium Brewery, most of the walkers enjoyed an end-of-walk beer at New Belgium's Liquid Center.hike report:
We had 16 people and drove to Tennessee in rain showers, discussing how the forecast was calling for no rain in Erwin, with pleasant temps in the upper 50's. The rain held off for about an hour and we then hiked the rest of the day in off and on showers. The Monday Crew had done 2 days work on the Devil's Creek Trail and it made a big difference, as this trail is rocky and sidling most of the way. The rain held for us to have a nice lunch on the top of Joe Lewis Field and then we completed the hike with a loop around Flattop Mountain, where views of the Nolichuckey River Gorge are good on a clear day, but not so much on our day. The woods roads walking made for good conversation with lots of infectious laughter from the ladies in our fun filled group.scout report:
John Whitehouse's Monday Crew did an excellent job opening the Devil's Creek trail up for us and then doing more work a few weeks ago. The trail is still very rocky and "side hill" in many places so be forewarned, especially if we have some ice and snow on the trail on the 15th. We scouted it on Dec. 31 and enjoyed the winter views. Les and Catherinescout report:
Jim Hull, Bruce Bente, and I scouted this hike on a warm Sunday in January. I've changed the hike somewhat from the way it was led 11 years ago. I'm starting out with a car shuttle that will take us to the western end of Rocky Ridge Trail (1.5 miles from Guion Farm) and from there we will climb the steep Stone Mountain and then go down Rocky Ridge Trail to CCC Road. Then we will follow several trails to Hickory Mountain, a particularly beautiful part of Dupont and then make our way back over some of the maze of trails that make up Dupont State Forest. Come join me for a Sky Valley Ramble.hike report:
I canceled this hike due to a forecast of heavy rains and thunderstorms on January 22. I scheuled it again on February 10 on Meet Up.This hike was a particular project of mine involving learing the the Dupont State Park. I was particularly interested in the Guion Farm-Sky Valley area. So I spent about three months deciding how to do a hike originally done by Rusty Breeding in 2006. I didn't want to do it the way she had done it, which involved walking on Sky Valley Road for 1.5 miles. I realized that Jay Bretz had done a 13 mile loop from Lake Imaging that covered some of the same ground that I was. But 13 miles and walking up a gravel road is not my moderate style. So I came up with this hike, with Hickory Mountain Loop as the centerpiece. One of the most beautiful winter trails I have ever walked, it makes this hike worth while and emphasizes why this is called Sky Valley. I think the 11 people who went on February 10, including some old CMC friends and some new Meet Up Friend agreed.scout report:
What should have been a pleasant scout hike ended up being a real adventure. The access road to the trail head parking lot was closed for some late fall logging. Undeterred, we decided to hike up the access road to the trail head. So we began the hike with an extra 2.5 uphill hike to the trail head. With some simple calculations we quickly realized that that the hike was now 13 plus miles. Since we had started late, we knew we would be lucky to get back by nightfall, so we did not complete the planned scout hike to the top of Ferrin’s Knob. We did reach the parkway in time for a late lunch at the tunnel. We ended up taking a roundabout excursion hike on the way back down. The good news is that the access road is now open, there are fewer leaves on the trail and we are looking forward to starting the hike at the trail head as scheduled. We were fortunate to have Bruce along on this scout, his knowledge of the trails in the area was a real plus considering the changes we made to adjust for the road closing.hike report:
With the luxury of a beautiful start to a January Saturday with full sun and a slight chill in the air, 12 hikers began the trek up Trace Ridge up to the BRP. After a short series of ups and downs we reached the parkway and had the pleasure of enjoying the views from the parkway in complete silence. No autos and motorcycles to disrupt the rustle of the trees and peaceful sounds in the air. We pressed upward and onward to the peak at Ferrins Knob and had lunch on the old fire tower cement footings. After lunch, we took the opportunity to take our group picture before departing. Winding around and down Ferrins knob we returned to the trail head via Bad Fork. Indeed the end of Bad Fork Trail was appropriately named due to some overgrowth and leaves that made the trail a bit difficult to follow. Some stream crossings were a bit challenging. All in all a great day was had by all in perfect hiking weather.scout report:
It was very cold when we set out to scout this hike, but the sun warmed up the trail and we were fortunate to see a few early wildflowers along the way--on January 27th! This is always a great winter hike because it does tend to be warmer in the Gorge and, with no leaves on the trees, the views of the river are spectacular. There were a number of downed trees on the section of trail from the Pullium Creek junction to the rocks at the end and I've asked the trail maintainers to tend to these. But we can get past them if we have to. Let's hope for sun on hike day!hike report:
A dozen hikers enjoyed the warm, beautiful day hiking the Green River Cove Trail. It was definitely a short sleeve (and shorts for some) hike! The kayakers were out in droves and we enjoyed watching them run the rapids. And it was heartening to see trillium leaves and blossoms beginning to emerge.scout report:
As the appointed navigator for hike leader Kathleen, I scouted this yesterday (2/8). I saw no one all day on the trails and had mild mostly cloudy weather. I must say the hike is harder than I thought it would be with 3 longish uphill climbs; Pressley Cove is particularly steep in places. There are a number of decrepit log bridges requiring bravery and good balance throughout the hike. The Bennett Gap trail obviously receives heavy mountain bike usage so expect bike encounters this Sunday. Expect a good workout, pretty woods and some limited winter views. Picture is of the stone chimney at the terminus and lunch spot of the in/out hike.hike report:
This was just a plain super hike! The trail is in excellent condition with very little "technical" places along the trail. It has 3100' of elevation climbing with all but about 300' on the way up to the end point where we then return on the same route. Distance is 11 miles. There is very little" steep" climbing with many good switchbacks. There where 18 hikers, of which 11 had not hiked on this trail prior to today. We left the trail head at 9:15 am. After a long lunch during which several hikers continued on the trail to the BRP (about .1-.2 tenth mi.). At the recommendation of the hike leader (my bad) two hikers took a different trail which did not lead to the BRP which gave them 1 - 1 1/2 additional miles. We enjoyed & relaxed (I did detect some snoozing) for about an hour before returning downhill to the trail head at 4:20 pm. After the hike 14 of us enjoyed good pizza (along with good beer?) at My Fathers Pizza in Black Mountain. It was an honour to have such a great group of enthusiastic hikers on this "not so easy" hike!scout report:
Due to some scheduling issues, I didn't actually scout the hike this time. However, I've led it twice, and on Saturday Steve Pierce (who has also done it with me) will definitely be there. The hike is straightforward, so route-finding isn't an issue. It's a challenging hike with 2500' elevation gain over the 4.7 miles to the rocky outcrop at the top (and return by the same route), but it is a beautiful one. Great views along the way and from the top. My previous scout had us back at the cars at 4:00, then just the drive back to wherever you started computing into back home time. Look forward to seeing you on Saturday if you'll be able to make it. I'm leading it again as a Wednesday hike on March 8.hike report:
After about 30 seconds of drizzle, the skies cleared, turning it into a beautiful, warm, February day. Fourteen of us enjoyed this varied hike in McDowell County that follows Good Road to where we picked up the MST at a nice bridge crossing the Catawba River, and back onto the old Good Road roadbed (there must have been an auto crossing at some point in time). From there, the trail winds its way up to Bald Knob, using many switchbacks, with great views of the Black Mtn range to the west and Lake James to the east. On the way back down, we noticed smoke to the west in the distance that was likely a beginning forest fire – it wasn’t evident as we stopped for our snack break on the way up. It’s a reminder that things are still really dry, so caution is advised. Bald Knob had had a forest fire about two years ago, and I was curious about what regrowth I’d see. It was less than I’d anticipated, probably due to the fact that it’s been very dry lately and also it looked like the area had been burned before the more recent one. Many burned spots still barren, but saw some rhodos and laurel maybe 8” high. Although there were some small fallen trees across the trail, it was evident that whatever club maintains this trail had been working on clearing and on the trail-bed. The new blazes nailed into burned trees sure stood out. It was a congenial group who hiked well together. A special thanks to Steve Pierce for helping out and to Rich Sampson who served as sweep. We started hiking about 10:00 (multiple meeting points slowed our start) and finished about 4:00.hike report:
The sky was a solid blue all day aWe s 15 hikers climbed up to Lookout Rock. Not easy but it was the hardest climb of the day. We took a variety of trails until Pot Cove Gap which had a new pot. The Montreat Wilderness folks also put in a new picnic table. When we got back to the town of Montreat, we were able to get into the church and see the world-famous fresco. About half of us went to Dripolator in Black Mountain for coffee ++scout report:
Debby Jones and I scouted the Montreat hike on a beautiful warm day. We climbed up to Lookout Point where we saw this wonderful view. Then we zigged and zagged back down and eventually walked past the Bear Hunting Club. We hiked to Pot Cove Gap where .... well, you'll just have to see for yourself. That's as far as the hike will go. We started down and eventually got back through Montreat College and our cars. Montreat has many artifacts to make the hike interesting. Thanks, Debby for helping scout the hike.hike report:
This was a beautiful, perfect hiking day trekking southbound on the AT with the near and distant mountain peaks in NC and TN in splendor along the states' border. Observed some small snow patches along the trail on part of the sheltered side of the mountains. Ran into several early thru-hikers headed to Maine -- one being from England. Really appreciate the recent years' new relocated portion of the AT in this area!!scout report:
Sunny skies and beautiful weather for our work in clipping and sawing to clear some of the trails on this hike. 2 years ago, we counted 45 downed trees that we had to go over or under. This year, Bruce counted 89! We cleared the small stuff to make the blocked areas as passable as can be. Be prepared to duck under or climb over many of these downed trees on this hike. Also, the dry leaves which have accumulated on the steep hills will be slick and cover the trail making footing tricky. We took our time and really enjoyed the day. Started at 9:22am and finished a bit before 3:00.hike report:
Four hikers joined me on this great hike for a total of five. We had little troubles traversing the many downed trees. The weather was in the 40s which we found great for this hike. It started to snow and by the time we got to the top view spot, the snow cloud was too thick to see the mountain views, however, during most of the hike, we could see Looking Glass Rock. We saw a few signs of spring;yellow and purple violets and the beginning of trout lilies. The GPS found this hike to be just under 6 miles.scout report:
Linda and I scouted this hike yesterday, March 3. I will hike it clockwise. We can make a short side trip to the Raven Cliff Falls overlook, then steep downhill to Matthews Creek on the Dismal Trail. We cross a log bridge over Matthews Creek, then up the rugged Naturaland Trust Trail past the cathedral to the bridge above Raven Cliff Falls, then back to cars. This is a strenuous hike, 9 miles with 2300 foot elevation gain and loss. It took us 6 1/2 hours. There are good views of Caesar's Head. 4 ladders are involved and a short sidesaddle traverse of a rock ledge. The second meeting place is 9:30AM at Pisgah Forest Bi-Lo, not 8:30 as in the description. Meet me at 10AM at Caesar's Head State Park headquarters. According to the hike log, this trip has not been led since 2008 and never on a weekend.scout report:
Gorgeous! Winter views with sunny skies, so cool to watch skiers on the slopes down below. Cold and Windy! (even though 60 degrees in Asheville). So bring layers for both warmth and wind regardless of weather here. AND the hike was 8.5 miles with 2200' elevation, due to parking a mile away from the trail head.scout report:
Please check with Mike Knies hike leader at Knies06@att.net as to your interest in this hike so that he can inform you of the hike status. Current forecast is 70-90% rain or thunderstorms through out the day. But the forecast has been changing frequently.