The Lonesome Pine Cliffs (Rich Mtn) – 3-5-2016
The Rich Mountains chain stretches between the Nolichucky River all the way to where it joins the Bald Mountains chain at Big Butt where the Appalachian Trail is near Coldspring Mountain. The highest point on the Rich Mountain chain is Wilson Knob which is 4,590 feet and it loses elevation down to about 2,200 feet before it reaches the river. There are some very good views along the highest points and if you know where to go there are also a few nice cliffs that hide along its sides. One of the largest and most prominent cliffs is one that not many people even know about and, even if they have seen it from other mountains nearby, would not know how to get to them. On this adventure my friend Bol’Dar and I would visit this cliff system that we have assiduously named the Lonesome Pine Cliffs. This is in part to there being one very small pine tree growing all by itself near the high point of the cliffs which has been there for quite a few years now. There are no real trails to these cliffs but, only hidden ninja routes of old which we relived once again on this journey as we chose one of the steeper and most difficult routes to get there. This would bring us out at the base of the cliffs where we would have to climb its entire length in order to reach the summit.