I knew this climb would not be a picnic — three miles of trail and 2,000 feet of ascent separate Calloway Peak from the Boone Fork trailhead at mile 299.5 on the Blue Ridge Parkway. Don’t let the short distance…
Mountains North
Hikes in the northern mountains of North Carolina
Grandfather Mountain 2, Me 0
by tom • March 21, 2010 • 6 Comments
I want you to know, all 14 of my devoted readers, that at the first sign of spring I darted west to the Real Mountains to do some Real Hiking — no more of this flat-land fakery for me, by…
Winter introduction to Grandfather Mountain
by tom • December 6, 2009 • 17 Comments
Somebody has gotten it into their heads there ought to be winter in the Southern Appalachians. I was not consulted. I was thinking I should have had my head examined when I showed up in autumn apparel at a deep-valley…
Mount Mitchell and points north
by tom • November 16, 2009 • 9 Comments
“It ain’t Mount Tam,” the guy tells me in his distinct Carolina brogue. Seems he’d lived in Sacramento awhile and had dirtied his boots on a few Bay Area trails. I had just clambered through the gnarliest mile in recent…
First hike at Linville Gorge Wilderness
by tom • November 8, 2009 • 8 Comments
Linville Gorge Wilderness is high on all the must-hike lists for the southern Appalachians. The terrain is so ragged and remote that there was never much prospect of cutting down the trees and putting up swanky resorts. It’s all protected…
Wolf Rock Trail, Stone Mountain State Park
by tom • October 11, 2009 • 4 Comments
Tip o’ the hat to Smokies Hiker, who suggested a stroll along Wolf Rock Trail at Stone Mountain State Park. There are no wolves, of course, but there is plenty of rock. My eight-mile loop was a considerable improvement on…
First hike: Stone Mountain State Park
by tom • September 29, 2009 • 7 Comments
Got this one right the first time (for once): There’s a parking lot at either end of the 4.5-mile Stone Mountain Loop. I started at the Upper Lot Trailhead and did what’s become instinctive: followed the arrows to the waterfalls.…
Setting my sights on Stone Mountain
by tom • September 27, 2009 • 7 Comments
Still waiting for the weather to clear so I can head up to Stone Mountain State Park, which is at the foot of the closest thing North Carolina has to a front range of the Great Smokies. Stone Mountain is…