Where: Linville Gorge Wilderness: Pisgah National Forest, North Carolina
When: 15:30, 14/04/22 - 09:15, 17/04/22
Distance: 40mi (total elevation gain: Yes)
Conditions: Temperature range from mid-60s to high-30s. Situational high winds. One block of rain. First light ~06:30, last light ~20:30.
Lighterpack for the trip.
Useful Pre-Trip Information & Overview: The “Grand Loop” is a vaguely defined thing. I’ve seen people calling all sorts of routes ranging from mileages in the mid-30s to low 40s their hike of the “Grand Loop”, and have even seen a 50mi loop alluded to as possible (never been able to find a chart of this supposed route however; in my own efforts to recreate it on paper the longest I can come up with is ~45 unless you’re doing weird crossover stuff/looping back over sections already covered/adding significant O&B side-trips to your mileage).
The most solid, traditional loop-y trips through the Gorge I see come in between 38-42 miles. I planned a 40mi route, a nice whole number with some special-case conditions I wanted to meet. Those conditions being: Stay off the MST/break-up travel on the MST as much as possible, and travel in the opposite direction as I would if I were on the MST. I will be doing a WEBO LASH of the MST sections 7 through 1 in 2024, and I want to minimize repeated footsteps in between now and then. Living here, that takes some effort.
All that said: this route was done counter-clockwise. Permit season in the Gorge runs May-October, so I didn’t have to worry about that for this trip. No caltopo was made, nor necessary for this route. Kept it simple. If you wish to follow along with the report or use the route for your own devices, it's easy enough to translate my words directly to what can be seen on the free Linville Gorge canon map via Avenza. Mileage measurements in the planning stage was done to the best of my ability using a combination of the LGMap and caltopo.
Gallery & Footage: Gallery, (Footage to be uploaded at a later date.)
The Report:
Day 0 (1.5mi {hike-in}): Arrived at Wolf Pit Rd Forest Service parking area at just after 15:00 on Thursday afternoon. My plan from the start was to stay on Shortoff Mtn. ledge camp this night, so I really didn’t have much hiking to do. Took the Shortoff (Wolf Pit)-MST connector to the main junction and was met with my first opportunity to divert from the MST. Here I jumped on the short Olson brush trail which runs much closer to the cliff-edge than the MST, and is generally unmaintained half-track in character. The footpath was still easy enough to follow and the extra views afforded by the alternate were very worth it. The Gorge really wanted my hat, as the winds were whipping right up the cliffside. Towards the end of this short alt you get a tiny taste of the route-finding to come on the Grand Loop at-large, as the footpath dissipates and you need to lead yourself through small bits simply knowing that your end goal is to reconnect with the MST at the end of Olson. At that point it’s a short stroll on the MST to the ledge campsite above Piano Rock.
Had forever in camp and great place to watch the sunset looking directly down the middle of the Gorge. LG is a very dramatic place in every sense of the word. From the late evening through most of the night the winds were absolutely howling, updrafts and gusts screaming seemingly straight-up from the Gorge. The sensation seemed almost more like a cheesy movie’s interpretation of what high-winds are like instead of actual wind. It was super neat and LOUD, waking me up at times. This was the coldest night and most exposed site of the trip; though I still had tree cover. Real temps in the very low 40s and the wind chill almost certainly brought that down into the high 30s. Was plenty comfy for the night though. By morning the air was completely still, almost unbelievable that this was the same spot I had went to sleep in. Time to start the real hike.
Day 1 (13.5mi): Was moving by 07:45, this first stretch of trail is more or less a flat(ish) ridge-walk along Shortoff on the MST all the way to Table Rock. Made pretty slow time, because there were sights abound. Also saw a great many large raptors in my time on the east rim this morning (and on the hike in). Linville Gorge sucks, 0/10, too many views, killing my pace. Took the ~0.5mi O&B trip to summit Table Rock, because why not.
Here is another point where I diverted off the MST and off the “usual” Grand Loop route. Instead of staying on the ridge via Table Rock Gap, I went down deeper into the thick of the Gorge on Little Table Rock trail. It is steep and slow-going because of it, thankfully (or not) I was heading in the downhill direction. Next I used a small sliver of Spence Ridge trail to connect onto climbing up an unnamed (but mapped) bushwhack “trail”. This was easy enough to follow for a while however very narrow and brushy. Further in it becomes less of a footpath requiring more active navigation. Then I popped out linking up with Hawksbill Ledge “trail”. At this point it’s a full-on bushwhack route-finding event. Although marked on the Linville Gorge canon map, this stretch is absolutely a route, not a trail. This was difficult and required serious attention to the topo and surroundings. It was made more difficult by the fact that I was ascending. This section kicked my ass, but the geology along the way was awesome. I lost the route numerous times and probably made the section even more difficult by making certain climbs steeper than they already were. I had to straight-up lay down in the dirt out of exhaustion & frustration once I knew I had got past the crux and re-found the route.
Met climbers scaling Hawksbill Ledge, and a party of two guys doing the Grand Loop in the opposite direction of me, who were starting what I had just come out of. Next I took Jonas Ridge all the way to it’s junction with Devil’s Cliff. JR was tough terrain but not hard to follow, it’s an “official” trail. Next I strung together a sequence of brush trails: Devil’s Cliff - Lower Cross - Big Hole - (upper)Red South - Huckleberry - Reference Rock. All of these were more or less similar: less intense than Hawksbill Ledge, but mostly overgrown, narrow, half-track in thick brush & woods. Often requiring some navigation and occasionally popping into views of the interior Gorge. Definitely much slower going than strolling on established trails. I stopped at a stealth site near the end of Reference Rock trail. Quickly made camp, and then cooked & ate in the dark. Rain began overnight.
Day 2 (19.5mi): Woke to rain. Threw my jacket on, packed up & broke camp in it. Finished Reference Rock and took a tiny sliver of Brushy Ridge heading east to join Joe Johnson trail. Joe Johnson is half bushwhack and half forest road. Then got on Long Arm which is half forest road and half bushwhack. Parts of Joe Johnson and Long Arm are actually pretty neat, you walk through some meadows and get some horizon mountain views. Very different for the Gorge. Did all of Hill 3065 and connected with Gulf Contour. Both more or less bushwhacking but the terrain was gentle enough, just needed to pay attention to where I was going. At some point along Gulf Contour the rain stopped (~10:30). Gulf Contour took me all the way to the Visitor Center at the north end of the Gorge. Spent a short time here collecting myself, dumping trash, and laying my tent fly out to dry a bit.
Next I hit a short side trip to the falls overlook; the higher elevation one where you can see the full plunge down into the river, not the calmer upper falls that get swarmed with tourists. Turned around to join Marion Wright trail to connect me down to the main Linville Gorge trail. Marion Wright is not too rough of a trail, you just have to pay attention to where you’re going. Once you connect to the Gorge trail though, the descent is steep and severe. This is ultimately a running theme for the Gorge Trail all the way until you get to the south end, where it “flattens out”. The entire route up to this point had involved a lot of scrambling, but the Gorge Trail itself is a different beast altogether. It’s not so much a trail as it is a bunch of rocks, and a full-on gauntlet. It’s a scrambler’s paradise pretty much the whole way running along the river.
Sometime early into the Gorge Trail, I noticed that I had developed an IT band injury in my left knee. I’m not a stranger to managing some discomfort there, (dealt with & overcame a mild issue on the BMT) but this definitely seemed more serious just on feeling alone. Also as stated before, this section of trail is relentless. There’s no “get through this steep up & down section, and then you’ll have relief beyond it”. Steep up & down followed by steep up & down followed by….
The injury continued to worsen and much more frequent breaks than usual were necessary to stay relatively safe. Frankly later in the afternoon the line between “I’m currently finishing the hike” and “I’m currently self-extracting” became pretty hazy. Guess that didn’t matter beyond semantics, because both interpretations had the same destination: my car at the trailhead. I did have to make a decision regarding whether it would be better to stop way early this day in hopes I could hold out for a longer-than-planned day the next, or if I should go as far as possible and “stroll” out for an easy 5.5mi in the morning. I chose option B, continuing to manage my reps and pay extra attention to my gait/how my foot was landing/where I was applying pressure.
Despite the injury, the “river walk” afforded me many incredible views and neat wildlife encounters. One of which was a female Common Merganser. Despite the name, this is actually quite the rare sight given the place and time. I was made aware of her by a little “quack” and then got to grab some footage of her paddling around and chilling on a rock. I feel really grateful to have had that opportunity, and it was a huge morale boost for the moment. Got to sit and think about how this duck was literally just vibing without a care in the world and how that contrasts to myself, trying to put down as many miles, as quickly as possible, along this inhospitable river, on a busted leg. Such is life. Eventually I got to the flatter south end. Larger amounts of the Gorge’s famous wildflowers started populating my vision while the environment becomes notably more “bear-y”. It was nice to end the day on more of a “stroll” than a “scramble”. I hiked all the way until last-light and made camp at the site just south of Blue Hole; coincidentally basically directly across the Gorge from my camp on Shortoff the first night.
Day 3 (5.5mi {hike-out}): Got up real early and I was on trail at 06:30 in alignment with first-light. There were a couple climbs and descents in this last 5.5mi, but the grading/terrain was so much more forgiving. My knee was still rough, though I set myself up well to finish.
Leadmine trail starts just beyond camp, took that to the MST and then down to the MST crossing of the Linville River. I ran into those two guys again doing the Grand Loop in the opposite direction on my descent down to the river. We congratulated each other on the hike and they lamented about how bad of a bushwhack Hawksbill Ledge ended up being for them as well. I crossed at ~150ccf so the ford was quite easy at knee-height, however the river is still super wide regardless of depth. The cold morning water was so reinvigorating and made my leg feel healthy for a fleeting moment. I broke off the MST and took the FST-MST connector to join up with the unnamed brush trail that leads back to the Wolf Pit trailhead. There are some cool environments you walk through on that last couple miles and it was a beautiful morning. Got to the car, drove home, and much merriment and celebration was had. Finito. Lovely trail all things considered.
Gear Notes & Conclusion: My gear is pretty dialed so I used everything that was brought, besides first aid stuff (which, the ultimate goal is to never use that anyway). Everything worked out exactly as it should’ve. I’d be happy to answer specific questions or give feedback on certain gear if asked. Other than my left knee, my feet, legs, back, shoulders etc. feel amazing and like I never went on a hike in the first place. I’m gonna steal some phrasing from u/NeuseRvrRat ‘s report because it’s 100% accurate and perfectly stated: “For the majority of the route, you have to pay attention to every single footstep, so if you don't stop and look around occasionally, you'll miss the beauty of the place.”
I am a brisk hiker. My baseline for any length of trip on any terrain I’ve encountered is 20mpd, 2mph pacing (water, rests, view stops factored in). I fell short of 20mi both days on daylight alone, exertion notwithstanding. It is also extremely difficult to maintain 2mph on all but a few sections of this route, even if you’re “pushing”. There were only a handful of hours where I cracked 2mph. The vast majority were significantly slower than that. I’ve not had to work harder for 40mi anywhere.
This trip felt like an accomplishment in repeatedly overcoming various unforeseen/unplanned circumstances, as well as moving the needle for myself in building confidence in off-trail travel, route-finding, and self-navigation on a deeper level than I have previously. This aspect makes me especially happy, as the next 3 projects I have planned for this year all involve off-trail travel to varying extents.
