I should have known better. Before breaking camp, I had
put my Thermarest inside of a trash bag and strapped it
to the top of my old Kelty external frame pack. Now, at the
end a bruising day of hiking, crawling, and bushwacking, the protective
wrap is as tattered as the Star Stangled Banner after the bombardment
of Ft. McHenry. We decide the shredded plastic bag is the perfect
symbol of our single-day trek of nearly the entire Linville Gorge
Trail, so Robert gets a snapshot while I hold it up like the battle-scarred
flag it resembles.
The Linville Gorge Wilderness Area is sometimes called the Grand
Canyon of the East, but the metaphor doesn’t exactly fit
because in the real Grand Canyon you aren’t constantly assaulted
by the low hanging branches of rhododendron thickets, or crawling
under downed trees, or ducking to avoid an overhanging rock
face that won’t allow you to walk upright along a narrow slippery
rock shelf that is the only passage along a cliff face that rises
150 feet straight up from the Linville River.
Tucked away in a corner of North Carolina’s Pisgah National Forest,
between Lake James and Grandfather Mountain, the Linville
Gorge Wilderness Area is so rugged that it was spared the
clear-cut logging that was inflicted on most of our eastern
forests shortly after the turn of the century. US Army Rangers
and US Marines do their wilderness training here. Tenderfoots beware:
Linville Gorge is no walk in the park.
And that is why thousands wilderness pilgrims come every year
to pay homage to the Gorge’s remnant virgin forests, spectacular overlooks,
and unruly whitewater river, all of which can be taken
in on a relatively short dayhike.
Named for William Linville, an explorer who lived nearby and was
killed by the Cherokees in 1766, the 12,000 acre Linville
Gorge Wilderness is one of the original components of the
National Wilderness System.
The centerpiece attraction-- the Linville River -- is also the
chief architect of this wilderness sculpture. The river
begins as a trickle high on the southwest slope of nearby
Grandfather Mountain and enters the Gorge at Linville Falls,
an impressive 90 foot multilevel cascade known as a cap-rock
fall. Geologists believe that millions of years ago Linville Falls
was on the Blue Ridge escarpment, about12 miles south of where it
is now. But thanks to a quirk of geology, this area is distinguished
by a hard, erosion-resistant layer of rock that overlays younger,
softer rocks. These softer rocks erode more quickly, undercutting
the hard layer and forming a precipice (the cap) that eventually
collapses of its own weight. Through this process of undermining
and collapsing, Linville Falls has gradually migrated north, leaving
the gorge in its wake.
After leaving the falls, the Linville River drops almost 2000
feet over the next 14 miles as it weaves a serpentine path around the spiny
ridges of the adjacent mountains before spilling into Lake James at the entrance
to the piedmont. Nearly vertical rock outcroppings several
hundred feet high border the river throughout much of the
Gorge. One peninsula, the 400 foot high Babel Tower, stands
above the river like the turret on a medieval castle. Blocked
from its southward course, the river detours and surrounds the
peninsula, nearly forming a moat.
No wonder the Cherokees called the river "Eeseeoh," "a river of
many cliffs." Today, these cliffs attract scores of rock
climbers. Shortoff Mountain and Table Rock, on the east rim
of the Gorge, are two of North Carolina’s premier climbing
destinations.
Linville Gorge features some of the best remnant stands of uncut
forest in the southern Appalachians. If you overturn a
few rocks in the damp coves of virgin hemlock and yellow poplar
there’s a good chance you’ll see a salamander scurry for cover.
But it’s a different world on the dry ridgetops nearby. There,
you’ll find a fire-dependent ecosystem that is home to endangered
plants such as Heller’s Blazing Star and Mountain Golden Heather,
a species that lives nowhere else except nearby Grandfather Mountain.
With such vastly different ecosystems in close proximity, it’s
no surprise that Linville Gorge hosts at least five species of rare
plants.
But it’s the gushing profusion of plant life that makes Linville
Gorge such a treat for hikers. In early spring look for
Large Flowered Trillium and Toad Trillium blooming alongside
the Linville Gorge Trail. In summer look for the white spires
of Galax along the Bynum Bluff Trail and other ridgetop trails.
And don’t forget to look up. Once, while hiking near the Chimneys
on the east rim of the Gorge, a friend spotted a large
crow-sized bird plummeting missle-like into the depths of
the Gorge. It was a Peregrine Falcon, one of many that now call
Linville Gorge home.
Trails on both rims of the distinctly V-shaped gorge lead down
to the river, and the descent is always steep. Cabin Trail,
on the west rim, drops almost 1000 feet in 3/4 of a mile.
The Linville Gorge Trail is the major connecting trail. It parallels
the river on its west side for about 12 miles. Seven trails descend
from the rutted access road SR-1238 (the Kistler Memorial Highway)
to the Linville Gorge Trail. On the east rim, three trails lead
from Forest Road 210 to the river, and only one of these, Spence Ridge,
- receives regular use and is likely to be clear of downed trees. Trails
also lead from Forest Road 210 to Table Rock and Hawksbill Mountains,
two of the most distinctive peaks in the southern Appalachians.
Hikers should remember that this is a federally designated Wilderness
Area. As we learned on our end-to-end trek of the Gorge,
trails are not well maintained and are marked only at the trailheads
at the top. Even veteran hikers will find that it is very easy
to lose the trail. It's no surprise that 45 to 50 hikers per
year get lost or injured and have to be rescued by local emergency
crews.
Linville Gorge can be very crowded on weekends during the summer
months. The busiest trails are Babel Tower on the west
side and Spence Ridge on the east. If possible, plan to go
on a weekday during summer, or better yet, visit between late
fall and early spring, before the bugs come out and the copperheads
and rattlesnakes are not very active.
