Joe Miller - 100 Classic Hikes in North Carolina

100 CLASSIC HIKES IN

NORTH CAROLINA

100 CLASSIC HIKES IN

NORTH CAROLINA

Coastal Carolina / Piedmont / Blue Ridge Parkway / Pigsah National Forest / Great Smoky Mountains

THE MOUNTAINEERS BOOKS is the nonprofit publishing arm of The Mountaineers, an organization founded in 1906 and dedicated to the exploration, preservation, and enjoyment of outdoor and wilderness areas.

1001 SW Klickitat Way, Suite 201, Seattle, WA 98134

2007 by Joe Miller

All rights reserved

First edition: first printing 2007, second printing 2011

No part of this book may be reproduced in any form, or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, without permission in writing from the publisher.

Manufactured in China

Copy Editor: Brenda Pittsley

Cover and Book Design: The Mountaineers Books

Layout: Marge Mueller, Gray Mouse Graphics

Cartographer: Pease Press Cartography

All photos by the author unless otherwise noted.

Cover photograph: Laurel Bluffs Trail runs along a 2.5-mile stretch of the Eno River in Durham.

Frontispiece: Bluff Mountain Trail on the Blue Ridge Parkway offers a ramble through a stark landscape.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Miller, Joe.

100 classic hikes in North Carolina / by Joe Miller. 1st ed.

p. cm.

ISBN-13: 978-1-59485-054-7

ISBN-10: 1-59485-054-2

1. HikingNorth CarolinaGuidebooks. 2. TrailsNorth CarolinaGuidebooks. 3. North CarolinaGuidebooks. I. Title. II. Title: One hundred classic hikes in North Carolina.

GV199.42.N66M55 2007

796.5109756dc22

2007006870

Printed on recycled paper
ISBN (paperback): 978-1-59485-054-7
ISBN (ebook): 978-1-59485-259-6

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Fork Ridge Trail in the Great Smokies runs through stretches of old-growth forest.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

You cant possibly acknowledge all the folks who, either directly or indirectly, make putting together a guide like this possible. During a week-long trail-scouting tour of the mountains during which I went for four daysfour days!on nothing but campstove coffee, I stumbled upon the Quotations Coffee Cafe in Brevard, which provided a bottomless mug of coffee divine. A small thing? Not really. Thus, I keep the list short.

To my editors at The Mountaineers, a remarkably cheerful and forgiving lot who understand that a deadline is a deadline, sorta, and who showed remarkable tolerance, time and again, for someone who showed an amazing capacity for being incapable of following simple directions. Dana Youlin, Mary Metz, Brenda Pittsleyyoure the best. Lets do this again.

Mostly, I must thank the people who provided moral support as I scouted and wrote this book. Alan Nechemias took me under his wing on a two-week bike tour of North Carolina in 1999 and hes been my go-to outdoors buddy ever since. His observations and suggestions on several marathon trips for this book were invaluable. Two of my best little friends tagged along on a number of hikes, providing the playful perspective that comes from a view of the trail from below five feet. My daughter Hana: Despite being weaned in a snuggly shes no fan of hiking. Yet every time I said, Hey, wanna go check a trail with me? she was packed and in the car. I owe ya, sweetie.

And to Marcy Smith, who was with me every step of this book, even when we were 300 miles apart. Keep walking with me, Marcelle.

The Rocky and Deep rivers converge near the White Pines Preserve.

INTRODUCTION

I was on my way to give a clinic at REI on hiking in North Carolina (and to build some prepublication hype for 100 Classic Hikes in North Carolina), and mentally running through what I planned to say. It seemed like I had my bases covered, I concluded, except for one thing. I picked up the cell phone and called Marcy. Hey, what do you reckon a classic hike is, anyway?

A thoughtful discussion ensued, the bulk of the thought coming from the other end of the line. With a doctorate degree in American literature and a side emphasis in rhetoric, Marcy drew on her exposure to true classics to help me come up with an answer. Finallyand quickly, since my talk was in five minuteswe decided that a classic hike is one that somehow distinguishes itself from the pack, one you could do repeatedly and discover something new each time. Perhaps most importantly, a classic didnt have to be a best hike.

The latter consideration was driven home when I handed out a tentative list of hikes I planned to include in the book. I stress tentative because the list was a work in progress. These were the one hundred bestexcuse me, most classictrails I had come across in fourteen years of writing about the outdoors at The News & Observer in Raleigh. Some were obvious, some obscure. Part of the reason I was doing the clinic was to bounce the list off folks who likely got out in the woods more often than I did; I wanted their feedback.

Good move, I quickly discovered.

One fellow wanted to know why Id chosen a particular section of the 34-mile Falls Lake Trail near Raleigh. The next section up is much more interesting, he argued. He wasnt some one-time hiker of the trail; he was the volunteer responsible for tidying up the section I had planned to include. It was his baby; he thought another baby was prettier. I rehiked both trails and agreed.

Another gentleman prefaced his suggestion by saying This may sound crazy and it did. He suggested a trail around the Mount Pisgah campground. I didnt give his suggestion much thought until I visited the Pisgah area and the trail I was planning to do was in disrepair. What the hey, I thought, and I did the campground trail. Wow, scenic and accessible. It wound up included as part of the Mount Pisgah/Biltmore Loop, .

I solicited trail suggestions through my newspaper blog. I solicited trails through hiking clubs. I solicited from people I met on the trail. Through it all, I discovered that even fourteen years on the trail was no match for sharing notes with other hikers. In the end, half of my original hundred trails didnt make the cut.

CLASSIC DEFINED

In the midst of writing this guide, I took a break to visit family and friends in Denver. During dinner with a friend, I mentioned that I was writing a book to be titled 100 Classic Hikes in North Carolina.

Theres a hundred hikes in North Carolina?! he asked, incredulous. He wasnt being a wise guy, he was dead seriousthis from a person who backpacks fortyfive days a year (albeit all in Colorado).