Linville Gorge
Wolfpit Trailhead
3/15 - 3/18/20 (3 nights)
2020 bag nights: 3
Linville Gorge has been on my todo list for a while. I had considered a trip in December but I ended up sick. In the beginning of March, I started thinking about where to go for my spring break and decided that if the weather cooperated, I would do the trip I had planned for December. Of course the Covid thing kept getting worse, but I was going to be going solo and hopefully there would not be too many people in the woods.
The weather forecast looked iffy, but not terrible, certainly no reason to bail, so three nights somewhere new.
I got to the Wolfpit Trailhead about 3, it was obvious that I wasn't the only one with the idea of hiking. A bunch of dayhikers were just coming off the trail as I headed up. I passed a couple more groups of dayhikers on their way out, so I was hopeful that I would not feel crowded.
I wanted to enjoy the sunset, so I planned on stopping at the first good campsite I came to (only about 1.5 miles). I found a nice spot with a great view and no one else around.
It was hotter than I expected and I was glad that I carried a couple of beers with me.
The clouds were a little "thick" for nice colors, but the sunset was still nice.
Looking up the ditch.
For a little bit, there were some birds soaring near by that were fun to watch.
Woke up the next day and I was in the clouds. I could still hear the river far below, but could not see more than about 100 feet in front of me. Since there wasn't anything to see, I figured I would hike down to the river and camp low.
I decided it would be a B&W day for photography.
Shortoff Pond
The Chimneys area felt neat, but all of the views were covered in clouds.
I can't tell, but I'm pretty sure there is a view there somewhere.
I hiked down to the river where the bridge used to be so I could see what the crossing looked like. I considered wading to the other side, but the water was cold and pretty deep and I definitely did not feel like swimming.
I woke up to rain, but it appeared that the clouds might be lifting a bit. I took my time breaking camp, hoping that the rain would stop. I hiked back up to Table Mountain through intermittent rain. The rain had stopped by the time I got to the picnic area for lunch. And the clouds had lifted so I could see where I was.
I had one more night and thought that it looked like it might be a nice sunset so I wanted to be high with a view. So I headed back towards where I stayed the first night.
After the rain stopped, it ended up being a beautiful day for hiking. I passed back through the Chimneys and could see what I had missed the day before.
I began to run into dayhikers as I got closer to my planned campsite and closer to the trailhead.
I got back to "my campsite" and found a giant car camping tent and a roaring campfire and no one around. If I had been hiking out to the car, I would have filled up with water and put the fire out, but I wanted one more night and I was going to have to camp sort of nearby. So I filled up on water for the night/morning and went back up the trail to a different view point. On the way I passed what looked to be a group of young guys who appeared dumb enough to carry that tent for backpacking. I was glad I was a little bit away from their site and hoped that I would not be tempted to kill them at some point :)
The clouds got thicker, so it was another sunset like the first one, not a lot of color but pretty.
I heard the idiots' dog bark a couple times and for a moment heard music, but then things quieted down. I enjoyed the sunset and read a bit before bed.
I woke up and headed back to the car. The idiots were already gone, but they had left a smoldering fire even though water was about two minutes down the trail. I spent about 10 minutes and a couple trips to the spring to put the fire out.
Linville Gorge is very pretty, but way too crowded. Even on the rainy day I passed a couple backpackers and some dayhikers. The nice days had lots of dayhikers and then the idiots with the fire just to cap things off. I suspect that I will go back, but it will be in the middle of winter and hopefully that will keep most of the dayhikers away.
