{"id":1503,"date":"2013-10-22T23:39:30","date_gmt":"2013-10-23T04:39:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.rattreks.com\/blog\/?p=1503"},"modified":"2013-10-22T23:39:30","modified_gmt":"2013-10-23T04:39:30","slug":"linville-gorge-a-weekend-with-the-gorge-rats-5-25-2013-to-5-26-2013","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.rattreks.com\/blog\/rattreks\/linville-gorge-a-weekend-with-the-gorge-rats-5-25-2013-to-5-26-2013.html","title":{"rendered":"Linville Gorge (A Weekend with The Gorge Rats!) – 5-25-2013 to 5-26-2013"},"content":{"rendered":"

After getting home from Trail Days, I finally got an opportunity to do some hiking in the Linville Gorge also known as the Grand Canyon of the East. The Cherokee Indians called it “Eseeoh,” meaning a river of many cliffs. Today the Linville Gorge is named after explorer William Linville and his son, John, who were killed by Cherokees in the gorge in 1766. This is a place I have been wanting to explore\u00a0 for quite some time now so, when I was invited to join the Gorge Rat’s<\/a> (a group formed and dedicated to the promotion and preservation of the gorge) I jumped at the chance! I had a gig on Friday night so it would be Saturday morning before I could make it to the Gorge Rat`s camp at the Hawksbill Trail head. They gather together here each year in the Spring and Fall. I was welcomed in and felt right at home with these fellow rats.<\/p>\n

\"linville<\/a>

Looking across the lower end of the gorge towards Shortoff Mountain from a rocky overlook beside the Amphitheatre<\/p><\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The first day Mike Jones and his beautiful family<\/a> and friends led us on a moderate hike on the other side (West Rim) of the gorge down the Conley Cove Trail. This trail is one of the easiest descent trails into Linville Gorge<\/a> but does get a bit overgrown with plants in the Summer and has minimal views. It does pass near some nice rock cliffs and caves<\/a> that we took the time to explore. It is at least a 1,200 foot descent to reach the Linville River at the bottom of the gorge. From there you can go North or South on the Linville River Trail<\/a>. If you go North you can cross the river at the Spence Trail on the only bridge across the river in the gorge however, that bridge was washed out by floods earlier this year. We spent some time at the river and ate our lunch before making the climb back up to the top where we started.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Took a pic of this view of the NC mountains out the car window just before the pavement ended. When you get a view like this you know it`s going to be a good trip !<\/p><\/div>\n

\"cliffs\"<\/a>

Exploring the cliffs near the Conley Cove Trail<\/p><\/div>\n

\"cave\"<\/a>

Looking out of one of the caves in the cliffs near the Conley Cove Trail<\/p><\/div>\n

\"hawksbill\"<\/a>

First view of Hawksbill from the Conley Cove Trail<\/p><\/div>\n

\"table<\/a>

First view of Table Rock from the Conley Cove Trail<\/p><\/div>\n

\"table<\/a>

View of Table Rock from the Conley Cove Trail<\/p><\/div>\n

\"table<\/a>

Table Rock from Conley Cove Trail<\/p><\/div>\n

\"table<\/a>

Zoomed shot of Table Rock<\/p><\/div>\n

\"small<\/a>

Small waterfall along the Conley Cove Trail<\/p><\/div>\n

\"Linville<\/a>

Linville River<\/p><\/div>\n

\"linville<\/a>

Linville River (You can see part of the Chimneys in the distance)<\/p><\/div>\n

\"blooms\"<\/a>

Lots of things were in full bloom<\/p><\/div>\n

Once back at the top Mike led us out the Rock Jock Trai<\/a>l and then out a shorter, unmarked,\u00a0 side trail to a favorite spot of his on a rocky outcrop where we got some killer views of the gorge, Hawksbill, and Table Rock, etc., on the East side along with the Chimneys and the NC Wall. Once I seen this view I was instantly hooked and hopefully will be making many future trips to this area. The gorge, or ‘the ditch’ as Mike calls it, is one of the last rugged, wilderness-like places left in our part of the world and has so much to see and do but, much of it is not for the average hiker as there are few maintained trails and to reach all the cool stuff one must be in the know and take the path less traveled. It is very steep and requires a different method of hiking than anywhere I have ever hiked before. The rewards are totally worth it as the views and beauty found here are unmatched.<\/p>\n

\"table<\/a>

Table Rock as seen from an overlook near the Rock Jock Trail<\/p><\/div>\n

\"gorge\"<\/a>

View of the gorge and the NC Wall from the overlook near the Rock Jock Trail<\/p><\/div>\n

\"nc<\/a>

View of the NC Wall from our perch across the gorge<\/p><\/div>\n

\"gorge\"<\/a>

Looking down the gorge towards the NC Wall, The Amphitheatre, and Shortoff Mountain from the overlook near the Rock Jock Trail<\/p><\/div>\n

\"gorge\"<\/a>

More views from the overlook<\/p><\/div>\n

\"nc<\/a>

Zoomed shot of the NC Wall and the Amphitheatre with the Sphinx Rock below<\/p><\/div>\n

\"cliffs\"<\/a>

Zoomed view of the NC Wall, The Amphitheatre and the Sphinx Rock<\/p><\/div>\n

\"the<\/a>

The Chimneys<\/p><\/div>\n

After hanging out on this rocky overlook for awhile, we hiked back to the vehicles and made our way back to the Gorge Rat`s base camp where I was ready to setup camp and cook some camp food. After meeting more of the Gorge Rat`s, I was informed that I HAD to go with them to eat at Famous Louise`s which as it is named, is a famous place in the area to consume some most awesome food.\u00a0 Once there I learned that the Rat`s are quite well known and get preferential treatment ! The restaurant is quite popular and straddles three counties: Burke, McDowell, and Avery. There is a wall dedicated to the Gorge Rats<\/a> with many pictures<\/a> of their group displayed there so I did feel privileged to be included in their presence. We ended up eating here again the next day and did I mention that they have home made pies ? They close on Wednesdays to make pies and their Blackberry Rhubarb pie is phenomenal. After a nice supper there we made our way back to base camp where I was the only one who setup a tent\u00a0<\/a> because all the Rat`s use hammocks and are quite profound at designing, building and using them. We had a great time around a nice fire that night drinking beer and telling stories. I got to meet the legendary Bob Underwood who has explored more of the gorge than probably anyone else and goes bushwhacking to places that no other 71 yr old man would dream of going ! He is hands down THE authority on the Linville Gorge. It was a pleasure to meet him.<\/p>\n

\"tree\"<\/a>

Paper beats rock !<\/p><\/div>\n

\"blooms\"<\/a>\"bloom\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The next day after breakfast (and more pie) Mike took us out to Table Rock<\/a> and led us on an awesome hike out to the Chimneys and then down to <\/em>The Amphitheatre and out the NC Wall. This hike was INTENSE\u00a0 as we hiked along the edge of the super tall cliffs and rock formations that tower high above the gorge. The views out the gorge towards Shortoff Mountain left me speechless. We spent nearly all day doing this loop and I hated when it was over and I look forward to coming back here as soon as I can. Once I completed this hike Mike gave me my official Gorge Rat sticker ! There is so much here I want to see and do and I hope I can make the time to do it.<\/p>\n

\"table<\/a>

Looking over at Table Rock from the Chimneys<\/p><\/div>\n

\"little<\/a>

From this angle you can see what is called Little Table Rock<\/p><\/div>\n

\"view\"<\/a>

View seen beyond Table Rock<\/p><\/div>\n

\"view\"<\/a>

View beyond Table Rock. You can see Brown Mountain easily.<\/p><\/div>\n

\"chimneys\"<\/a>

The Chimneys. If you think these don’t look big, just look for the group of people in the upper left part of the pic !<\/p><\/div>\n

\"chimneys\"<\/a>

Hiking across the Chimneys<\/p><\/div>\n

\"chimneys\"<\/a>

View from the Chimneys<\/p><\/div>\n

\"gorge\"<\/a>

View of the gorge from the Chimneys<\/p><\/div>\n

\"gorge\"<\/a>

Continuing to pan right over the gorge from the Chimneys<\/p><\/div>\n

\"gorge\"<\/a>

panning further right<\/p><\/div>\n

\"gorge\"<\/a>

further right, gorgeous view of the gorge<\/p><\/div>\n

\"chimneys\"<\/a>

Strange square hole in one of the Chimney Rocks<\/p><\/div>\n

\"chimneys<\/a>

Zoomed view of the strange square hole. Be aware that a car would easily fit inside this !<\/p><\/div>\n

\"chimneys\"<\/a>

View from the Chimneys<\/p><\/div>\n

After hiking across the Chimneys, Mike found the faint, unmarked, side trail that leads down a steep hill to the Amphitheatre and the NC Wall. There was another unmarked and hard to find trail leading off to the left that is the way across the top of the Amphitheatre and a super steep drop off trail down into the bottom of it. I want to explore all of that one day. Mike led the way to a cliff at the edge of the NC Wall where the views of the Amphitheatre, the gorge, and Shortoff Mountain were spectacular. From there we would skirt the cliffs edge of the NC Wall all the way back to the Chimneys via another faint side trail.<\/p>\n

\"amphitheatre\"<\/a>

Looking over at the Amphitheatre from the small side trail<\/p><\/div>\n

\"amphitheatre\"<\/a>

The upper cliffs of the Amphitheatre<\/p><\/div>\n

\"amphitheatre\"<\/a>

Opposite wall of the Amphitheatre<\/p><\/div>\n

\"amphitheatre\"<\/a>

Looking across the Amphitheatre towards Shortoff Mountain<\/p><\/div>\n

\"gorge\"<\/a>

Looking across the lower part of the Amphitheatre towards Shortoff Mountain. See the climbers on the cliff ?<\/p><\/div>\n

\"climbers\"<\/a>

Zoomed view. Now can you see the climbers ?<\/p><\/div>\n

\"mike\"<\/a>

A tree hugger on the edge of the cliff !<\/p><\/div>\n

\"cliff<\/a>

Life on the edge. Remember the little red dot on the other cliff is those climbers\u00a0 below us !<\/p><\/div>\n

\"gorge\"<\/a>

View of Shortoff Mountain from the cliff point we were on<\/p><\/div>\n

\"shortoff\"<\/a>

Zoomed view of Shortoff Mountain<\/p><\/div>\n

\"pinch<\/a>

That prominent ridge is the Pinch In Trail (last trail leading out of the gorge on the West side)<\/p><\/div>\n

\"gorge\"<\/a>

Looking back towards Shortoff Mountain from the NC Wall<\/p><\/div>\n

\"gorge\"<\/a>

One of my favorite pics I took that day<\/p><\/div>\n

\"gorge\"<\/a>

Hiking along the edge of the NC Wall (looking towards the upper end of the gorge)<\/p><\/div>\n

\"gorge\"<\/a>

carefully moving along the edge of the NC Wall. It is a LONG way down !!<\/p><\/div>\n

\"gorge\"<\/a>

Looking down into the gorge from the NC Wall<\/p><\/div>\n

\"sphinx<\/a>

Looking down on the Sphinx Rock through a cool curved out spot on the NC Wall (keep in mind that if a climber was on that rock , they would look like an ant as that rock is several stories high)<\/p><\/div>\n

\"cliff<\/a>

Looking back at a tricky place on the NC Wall where you have to climb under an overhanging rock right on the edge of the cliff. This is not for the faint of heart !<\/p><\/div>\n

\"cliff<\/a>

Looking back at the tricky spot under the rock overhang on the cliffs edge.<\/p><\/div>\n

\"cliff<\/a>

Colorful but wet and slick rocks along the top of the NC Wall<\/p><\/div>\n

\"cliff<\/a>

Sitting on the edge of the NC Wall looking back towards Shortoff Mountain<\/p><\/div>\n

\"cliff<\/a>

Peering over the edge of the NC Wall. Take my word for it. It’s a long way down !<\/p><\/div>\n

\"cliff<\/a>

Continuing to make our way back towards the Chimneys and Table Rock<\/p><\/div>\n

\"cliffs\"<\/a>

There are more rock cliffs to play on here than you could do in a lifetime.<\/p><\/div>\n

\"mike\"<\/a>

Mike getting some air !<\/p><\/div>\n

\"mike\"<\/a>

Mike on the cliffs edge (and no trees to hug !)<\/p><\/div>\n

\"cliffs\"<\/a>

Looking over a cliff I am about to hop out on to.<\/p><\/div>\n

\"cliffs\"<\/a>

You have to wonder, how much longer will these stand ?<\/p><\/div>\n

\"cliffs\"<\/a>

Looking between two tall, narrow rock cliffs<\/p><\/div>\n

It took awhile to hike across all the NC Wall and then climb back up to the Chimneys and get back to the car. It was a beautiful day and despite being intensely bright, I still took a lot of pictures.<\/p>\n

\"rock\"<\/a>

Closeup of some of the rock formations along the NC Wall<\/p><\/div>\n

\"dead<\/a>

Somehow I do not think that I am the only one who can see beauty in a dead tree<\/p><\/div>\n

\"table<\/a>

Nice angle of Table Rock, Little Table Rock, and Hawksbill<\/p><\/div>\n

\"chimneys\"<\/a>

Part of the Chimneys<\/p><\/div>\n

\"cliff\"<\/a>

Narrow cliff wall in the Chimneys<\/p><\/div>\n

\"climber\"<\/a>

Young girl climbing one of the popular cliffs of the Chimneys<\/p><\/div>\n

\"climber\"<\/a>

Young girl descending the wall<\/p><\/div>\n

\"climber\"<\/a>

The young girl makes it to the ground<\/p><\/div>\n

\"dog\"<\/a>

Beautiful Collie dog that belonged to the young climber and her family<\/p><\/div>\n

I hated to pack up and leave but I had to work that night so I sadly had to say my goodbyes and make the drive back home in order to get to work on time. I can not wait to get back to this awesome place again. All I can say for now is, thanks Mike !<\/p>\n

\"laurel<\/a>

Laurel Blooms<\/p><\/div>\n

\"laurel<\/a>

Laurel Blooms<\/p><\/div>\n

To see the complete set of photos I took on this adventure, please visit the Photo Gallery here<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

After getting home from Trail Days, I finally got an opportunity to do some hiking in the Linville Gorge also known as the Grand Canyon of the East. The Cherokee Indians called it “Eseeoh,” meaning a river of many cliffs. Today the Linville Gorge is named after explorer William Linville and his son, John, who […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.rattreks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1503"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.rattreks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.rattreks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.rattreks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.rattreks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1503"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"http:\/\/www.rattreks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1503\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1514,"href":"http:\/\/www.rattreks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1503\/revisions\/1514"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.rattreks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1503"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.rattreks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1503"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.rattreks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1503"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}