Linville Gorge Wilderness - Trip Report

They Say, "Every Mile in the Gorge Feels Like Two" . . . They're Right

The "Grand Canyon of the West".  Those who take the plunge into the canyon call themselves "Gorge Rats".  Hikers at the Linville Gorge Wilderness are instantly greeted with a sign bluntly displaying the statistic that the Gorge leads the state in yearly wilderness rescues.  I can see why.



History

The Linville Gorge Wilderness in the Pisgah National Forest is the third largest wilderness in North Carolina and one of only two gorge wildernesses in the Southern US.  The Gorge is one of the few examples of old growth forest in the Blue Ridge Mountains, since it's challenging terrain made it unappealing for logging.  The Gorge became protected in 1952 when the land was purchased with funds donated by John D. Rockefeller, and it has been a wilderness area since 1964.  Today it remains the only wilderness gorge with no roads at the bottom and no man-made structures within its boundaries.

Nowadays the Linville Gorge has a devoted fan base (check out the Linville Gorge forum), and it is undoubtedly one of the hardest areas to hike in NC.  The rim is punctuated by steep inclines and exposed mountaintops.  The bottom is known for the snail pace it imposes on hikers.  I can say that, despite the challenge of the Linville Gorge, this is easily the most beautiful place I've been to in NC.

Trip Report

Day 0

We pulled into the Wolf Pit parking lot just north of Morganton, NC, (roughly 3.5 hours from Raleigh) at 11:00 PM on a Thursday night intending to do the Linville Gorge Wilderness Loop (aka the "Is That All You Got?" loop when starting from the Spence Ridge TH).  Our plan was to night hike the first 2 miles to a campsite on Shortoff Mountain and set up camp, but Mother Nature had different plans.  Snow, 30+ mph winds, and a single digit F windchill turned us around after about a mile on the trail, and we slept in the Jeep that night in the Wolf Pit parking lot...

Day 1

After a night of cramped, cold sleep, we took off for Shortoff Mountain (for real this time!).  After only 20 minutes of climbing we were greeted with fantastic views of Lake James State Park to the south.

Lake James State Park

Still bitterly cold and windy, we crossed frozen springs and very odd crystallized ice structures the whole way up to Shortoff Mountain.  All the while we did the cold weather hiking dance.  This is a game you play where you constantly remove and add layers while hiking in cold weather because you are either too hot and start sweating, or you are too cold because you were previously sweating.  The second you stop to take off a layer, your body is no longer working so you cool off and want to put whatever you just took off back on again.  This basically happens non-stop until you go crazy and decide to just be cold.

Frozen spring

Hiking up to Shortoff

Looking out on the way up to Shortoff

Another frozen spring

Crystallized ice structures

Then, we summitted Shortoff Mountain, and I saw the view that told me Linville Gorge was a place like no other I've seen in NC.  From these pictures you can see that the Linville Gorge Wilderness has struggled a bit in the past with forest fires, including one that happened just last summer while I was in Los Alamos.  Speaking of which, the burned-out terrain and mesa-like canyon walls actually did remind me a lot of the Los Alamos landscape.

Looking North towards the Gorge

Looking West towards the Appalachians

From here we could see deep into the Gorge (over 1,200' elevation difference between the rim and canyon bottom) and famous Linville peaks like Tablerock Mountain (center-right foreground) and Hawksbill Mountain (center-right background).  From here they looked so close, but they were oh-so far...   We also saw snow-capped mountains to the West in the direction of Mt. Mitchell, the highest mountain east of the Mississippi.

Panorama at Shortoff

Once we got our fill of the magnificent views on Shortoff Mountain, we had to make the descent to Chimney Gap where we planned to fill our water bottles.  The rim of the Linville Gorge knows how to tantalize hikers with awesome (in the truest sense of the word), jaw-dropping views while torturing them with steep drops and climbs.

Looking east from Chimney Gap

Water source at Chimney Gap

Hiking up to Tablerock from Chimney Gap

After resting at Chimney Gap we had to begin the ascent to Tablerock, one of the most popular areas of the Gorge.  On the way to the Tablerock parking lot you must pass "the Chimneys", an area famous for its rock climbing opportunities.  This is the most exposed portion of the hike, and in some parts you are flanked with steep drops on either side.  There is a reason why this area sees the most rescue missions of any area in NC...  Note that in all pictures the sense of scale is almost completely lost, and the distance and size of the features pictured are all farther and larger than they appear.

Looking back at the trail on the way up to the Chimneys

Looking towards the Chimneys

Looking towards Tablerock near the Chimney summit

After safely navigating the Chimneys, which in high wind felt somewhat dangerous at times, we were on the way to the Tablerock parking lot.  From 1/1 to 3/31 the Tablerock parking lot is closed to cars, but some hikers still hike up the mile-long road to make their way to the summit.

Walking into the Tablerock parking lot

Looking back towards the Chimneys

At this point we were completely beat.  Summitting Tablerock only requires about an extra mile of hiking, but we did not have it in us.  We instead decided to move on to the Spence Ridge trail where we would cross the Linville River and hike south through the Gorge the following day.  From Tablerock, the quickest route is the "Little Tablerock Trail", which is one of the most strenuous trails I've ever been on.  At times the incline felt like it was 45 degrees, and it was incredibly muddy.  By the end my knees were shaking with pain, and as I am writing this two days later my knees are still sore to no end.

Another frozen spring

Tablerock from the Little Tablerock summit

Looking south into the Gorge from the Little Tablerock summit

Hawksbill Mountain from the Little Tablerock trail

We met up with the Spence Ridge trail and headed down to the river.  At one point there was a footbridge at this location, but it has been gone for quite some time.  Nevertheless, various sources have claimed that the river is fordable between 100 and 200 cfs, and it is possible to rock-hop below 100 cfs.  On the morning of this hike I had service and checked the flow rate, which showed 120 cfs.  However, I don't see how one could safely cross the river at this flow.  No rocks were close enough together to leap across without having a serious risk of injury, and from several vantage points we were not able to spot anywhere that looked like wading depth.  Unfortunately, this meant our plans had to change...

Looking south from the destroyed Spence footbridge.  Once again, the photo doesn't do the scale of the rocks justice.

Day 2

We camped up trail at the Waterfall Campsite, whose nearby stream generated a calming white noise all night long.  While this night was not as cold and certainly not as windy as the previous night, I still found myself shivering a bit in my pack at 4:00 AM.  Hot coffee, "trail bangers and mash" (Beef sticks + Idahoan instant mashed potatoes), and a cigar warmed me up in a jiffy.

"Waterfall" at the campsite

Walking back up the Spence Ridge trail

 
At this point we had to make a game plan.  A badly rolled ankle and an incident involving the accidental discharge of a can of bear spray meant that we definitely wouldn't be adding any miles to our hike.  Unfortunately, our previous day's route was the most direct route back to the car, so we decided we would try to hike back in one day but camp overnight at Chimney Gap if that were not possible.

Working back up to the Tablerock parking lot

Though today was far more overcast than the previous day, the wind had died down tremendously, and the temperature was warm enough to go shirtless at times.  We slowly worked our way back up the Little Tablerock trail to the Tablerock parking lot.  Here we got lucky.  Normally the Tablerock parking lot is closed during this time, but a volunteer group had shown up to rebuild fire pits near the picnic area, and we were able to arrange a ride back to the car for my injured hiking partner.  However, I decided to hike back alone to the car.  Because I returned on the exact same route, the hike was obviously very similar to the previous day's, though my perspective was more focused on the views to the South rather than the North just because of my direction of travel.  However, I saw far more groups of hikers, likely due to a combination of the weather and that it was a Saturday.

Looking down into Chimney Gap from the chimneys.  Look carefully to follow the trail down and back up to Shortoff.

I stopped for a water break at Chimney Gap and ate a lunch of tuna and crackers.  I want to take the opportunity to endorse Starkist's "Tuna Creations" flavored tuna packets.  These things are amazing on the trail, and so far Thai Chili and Hot Buffalo Style have both been delicious.  I am looking forward to trying both barbecue styles and the Sriracha style.

Working my way down Shortoff

Back at the trailhead

One last look at Lake James

I made it to the car with time to spare before I was reunited with my hiking partner.  We drove back to Raleigh, stopping at Judge's in Morganton for BBQ and Foothills in Winston-Salem for beer.

"The Judge"

Conclusion

I have to admit that I was underestimating the Gorge.  I have blisters in places I've never had before.  My forearms hurt from using my trekking poles to keep myself stable.  My ankles and knees are quietly begging me to be a couch potato for the next week or so.  I expected that inside the Gorge would be slow because of downed trees, though I didn't get to confirm that theory, but I didn't expect that the rim would be so tough.  While I knew there would be elevation gain, I figured that I had done enough mountain hiking in NM to handle it, but there is definitely truth to the adage that "every mile in the Gorge feels like two".  Apparently, doing the full 11 miles in one day is a commendable feat, and while I don't like to toot my own horn, it certainly felt like it.  In the future I would start at the Spence Ridge TH and go south, since I believe that going North-to-South was much easier than going South-to-North, and the trail volunteers agreed with me.  Overall, though I didn't get to enter the Gorge for more than the brief time we considered crossing the river, I thought the hike was unbelievable.  If weather treats you right (we got unlucky the first two days), there are a ton of desirable camping spots on the rim, and our trip was only cut a tad short because of injury and slightly foreboding weather.  Additionally, if you'll allow me to take a subtle sour grapes jab, I've heard from others who have hiked at the Gorge that the scenery of hiking on the rim far exceeds that of hiking near the river, mostly because there aren't any views except canyon walls at the river.  I think as long as I live in NC the Gorge will be on my radar, since it is one of the closest mountain hikes to Raleigh.

Me at the rim

Looking down at the river and Lake James

Frozen-over pond on Shortoff Mountain

Additional Notes

Evidently the 100-200 cfs range is for the river crossing at the southern end, where the river is wider and much less rocky.  The old Spence Bridge crossing is always a rock-hop, but over 100 cfs it becomes more difficult and highly dependent on one's agility and pack weight.