Two MST Hikes in Two Days

Last Sunday and Monday found me on two different sections of the Mountains to Sea Trail in the North Carolina mountains.  On Sunday, April 7 the CMC hike scheduled a hike from Lake James (actually the end of Wolf Pit Road near the lake) to Table Rock on the east rim of the Linville Gorge.  I have been to Table Rock from the parking area and I have hiked from Wolf Pit Road trailhead to Shortoff Mountain, but I have never hiked the in-between section.  This hike would be my opportunity.
So, early Sunday I met a group of 13 hikers who showed up for a strenuous hike.  After a mile climb up to Shortoff Mountain we were treated to views of the Linville Gorge and far below the Linville River.  Shortoff has a very steep cliff that drops several hundred feet to the gorge below.  The MST  winds along the top of Shortoff through an area that has been burned in the past few years.

After a few miles Table Rock and the ridge called The Chimneys came into view.

Table Rock still looked a long way off, but the day was warm and the trail was good.  We hiked on and gradually dropped in elevation to Chimney Gap.  From that gap to the ridge the trail climbed almost 1,000 feet in about a mile.  Steep going, but we gained the ridge and hiked along the most distinctive feature of the day - The Chimneys, seen in the center of the picture below.

We hiked along and under massive rock formations that are typical of the Linville Gorge.  We reached the Table Rock parking lot and picnic area at 1:00 and then climbed up to the top of Table Rock for lunch with a view.  The distance was 7.7 miles from our start.  After a leisurely lunch and taking n the views we began the hike back.  We reached our cars at the Wolf Pit trailhead a 6:30.  Total distance was 15.3 miles with a total climb of 4,176 feet.  This was a rugged section of the MST that lies outside the Carolina Mountain Club MST 130 Challenge.

The next day a small group of CMC hikers did hike a section for the challenge.  This section followed the MST from Stony Bald Overlook to the French Broad River Overlook along the Blue Ridge Parkway west of Asheville.  It was another warm spring day that had us hiking in short sleeves before lunch.  We had a steep climb up Ferrin Knob and a few other moderate climbs during the day.  The MST wound through several coves that has rhododendron and laurel tunnels that reminded us that this section of the MST is part of the Shut-In Trail that linked the Biltmore Estate with Buck Spring Hunting Lodge located near Mt. Pisgah.  

We saw our first wildflowers on Monday; bloodroot carpeted several areas along the trail.

By 3:30 we had reached the cars at the French Broad Overlook at the end of an 11.7 mile hike.  Our next MST hike will take us a little farther west to the Pisgah Inn and beyond to the Highway 276 crossing of the Blue Ridge Parkway.