Linville Gorge Wilderness Escape

Sometimes the best thing to do is to escape it all.  That is what I, Andrew and Andrew’s nephew, Chad, did this weekend and it was great.

On Friday after work, I went home and got the girls into bed since Jenn worked until 7:30 that night.  She got home, I kissed her hello and goodbye and I headed to the hills.  I arrived at about 10:30 and met up with Andrew and Chad.  We ferried the cars to position one at the end of the hike and one at the beginning.

We started our trip at the Devil’s Hole trailhead.  Nice name for it.  It being late at night and dark, we only travelled a few hundred feet until we found a place to make camp.  We set up and stood around a lantern, talked a bit and watched some snail porn before going to bed.

setting up for night one

Andrew setting up

Snail lovin'

Saturday morning, I woke up right before the sun rose and I snapped a picture.  Sorry it is blurry, but the low light didn’t allow for a clear picture without flash.

Good Morning!

After determining which trail was the correct trail – there were a few trails intersecting where we camped – we set out.  Devil’s Hole is a primitive, very steep trail that plunges you into Linville Gorge.  We actually dropped about 1200 feet in elevation in the first mile or so of the hike.  From where we camped the first night to where we set up camp for the second night, we hiked 2.88 miles and had an elevation loss of 4,781 feet and gain of 3,252.  A lot of up and down, but a lot more down!

just getting started

challenging section of trail

almost down!

Around a mile into that hike, we crossed the Linville River.  If you have travelled to the area, you know that the river is a large one that has done a good job of carving out the gorge.  The river basin is littered with boulders the size of houses and rushing water goes around, over and under them all.  We scouted the area for the best place to cross and I changed from my hiking boots to my Keens.  I unstrapped my pack so I could get it off quick if I slipped and we started out.  We hopped from rock to rock as far as we could, then we had to step into the water to get across.  Andrew went in first and then I did.  Chad was going to hand his pack to us to pass back to him after he jumped the span as he did not have water shoes and did not want to get his boots wet.  As I stepped in and tried to find a good spot to stand and receive his pack, I stepped off the rock that was under water and to my surprise I went down – way down.  So far down that my feet did not touch.  Luckily, I caught myself with my arms and was able to make my way back to my feet.  I ended up with wet shorts, half wet shirt and a damp bottom to my pack.  The pack protected everything inside well enough even though it is not waterproof, so I was happy with the outcome.  It could have been much worse.

looking down river

another river shot

those rocks are big...

we have to cross what?

trail markers

From there, we hiked down river and came to the trail that we were to hike out on the next day.  We kept going down the trail until we came to a campsite.  You can see the Garmin stats here.  It was on the river side of the trail, straight down about 75 feet.  I say “straight down”, but the slope was more like 45 degrees, which is pretty darn steep!  I made our way down and surveyed the site.  It was perfect for us: just enough room for a bivy sack for me and some nice trees in which Chad and Andrew could hang their hammocks.

I'm flying!

Is that a bear down there?

Andrew and Chad on the trail

setting up camp 2

camp 2

trail down to camp 2

We just enjoyed the rest of the day.  We went swimming in the river, explored the area a bit and gathered fire wood.  Soon after we got the fire going and were eating dinner, a monsoon began to sweep down the mountain.  Now we knew there was a possibility of a rain storm, and the skies had gotten dark earlier, but they had lightened up and we were caught off guard.  We scrambled to get all of the equipment under our shelters and we waited it out.  Here are a couple of pictures.

wet fire

waiting out the rain

After the rain, we did some more swimming and walked down to the bridge and watched some fools try to ride the rapids and such then went back to the campsite.  The sun had come back out and I was getting hot, so Andrew and I went swimming some more.  We sat around the fire for a bit before we all decided we were tired and we got ready for bed.  That night was uneventful; although I was afraid the mouse I had seen earlier would come sniffing around.  He either didn’t or I didn’t notice.

The next morning I woke up to the sound of the river and the view of the waterfall across the river from us.  It was a very nice way to wake up.

waterfall

We ate some breakfast, loaded our packs and set off.  We walked back to the bridge, crossed over and walked up the trail that led back to the car we had parked the other night.  It was a much gentler trail than we had come down on and my aching legs were grateful.  See the stats here.

climbing out of camp 2

about to cross the bridge

after the hike and ttp'ing

It was a great trip and a nice break from the daily grind.  It was very nice to get home to my girls though.  Mia summed it up nicely with “Daddy, I’m so proud you’re home!” and Sadie welcomed me with her signature smile.