Sam Knob & Chestnut Bald SB6K’s – 3/31/12 – 9+ Miles
Warning: multiplephotos of Sam Knob (which is a mountain, not a person) – I was a littleobsessed.
Weather.com is a wonderful resource. I had a free Saturday and the forecast forCharlotte was rain, rain, rain. But accordingto weather.com’s hour-by-hour predictions, if I timed it just right in PisgahNational Forest I could dodge the raindrops. And that’s just what I did. Infact, I only encountered rain on the morning drive, and the rest of the day wasfilled with alternating sunshine and interesting clouds.
I was excited for another solo hike and this time I had new Trek hiking poles. Lately my old ones were collapsing atunexpected moments (probably too much dirt in them and they wouldn’t tightenproperly) and I was ready for some new ones, more lightweight and able totelescope down even smaller. So near BlueRidge Parkway milepost 420 I turned onto Forest Road 816 with new gear and anexpansive feeling of anticipation in my chest – ready for Sam Knob and ChestnutBald, two more SB6K’s.
The purpose of FR 816 is to get hikers a mile off the BRP toaccess many trails in the Shining Rock and Middle Prong Wildernesses. There is a large parking area and vaulttoilets at the end of the road and multiple places to pull off along the wayand enough hiking to keep you busy for months. Most of the ten SB6K’s in the Great Balsams section can be dayhikedfrom the FR 816 parking areas (some hikes might be longer than you like,though). I hiked to the dualsummits of Sam Knob once before, in pouring rain in July 2006, before I knewwhat an SB6K was, and it wasn’t a full five-mile trip so…time to do it right.
Sam Knob #1, two summits with a dip in between – love atfirst sight
Sam Knob #2The trail to Sam Knob crosses open fields worthy of twirlingin your Sound of Music skirt. Afterabout a half-mile the trail splits – turn right for the Sam Knob SummitTrail. Very quickly I turned again, thistime left, and began ascending into the trees. The trail is very eroded going up this much-loved mountain. In a couple of places there is a teasing viewof what will be laid out to enjoy on the Pisgah buffet at the summit.Near the top the trail splits again and either choice takesthe hiker to a summit. This is one casewhere two roads diverge and you should take them both! First I went to the right. The wind was strong and clouds were movingquickly all around.
The prominent bump in the left background is the Devil’s Court- house, an imposing rock outcropping reachable by a short, steep trail froma parking area on the Blue Ridge Parkway – but also reachable by me from whereI presently stood. The mountain in themiddle foreground is Little Sam Knob. Helooks like his hair is drooping rakishly over one eye. The highest peak in the right background isMount Hardy, an SB6K which I conquered a couple of months ago. I take great pleasure in being able to orientmyself by landmarks to keep track of where I am in the world. Where are all the people? It was a stunning Saturday and the parking lot was full of cars. I had the place to myself.
Shuffling over to the other summit (the oh-so-slightlyhigher of the two) I had a quick snack. This chunk of quartz is as big as a Volkswagen. Mount Hardy is the high point in the distance. The sky islooking quite ominous, eh?Okay, let’s walk on over to the Devil’s Courthouse. First I descended the Sam Knob Summit Trail,passed that first intersection and headed towards Flat Laurel Creek. The trail was wet from recent rains and severalwooden footbridges helped keep my feet dry. I heard the creek long before I saw it andwondered if I would be getting wet after all. But although the creek was robust, I was able to rock hop across.
And then went back to sit and savor the moment.On the far side of the creek there is a T intersection – theFlat Laurel Creek Trail. Turning left, Iwalked happily along with the creek on my left and Little Sam Knob on my right,looking for my next intersection, a right turn onto Little Sam Knob Trail. Although this is a wilderness area, signagewas very good and I was feeling full of myself. I passed a wide-looking space on my right but there was no sign so Istrode confidently on down the trail…until I got that familiarthis-doesn’t-look-right-anymore-I’ve-gone-too-far feeling. Geez, here we go again.
I backtracked to that wide-looking space, still notconvinced it was legit, but it sloped gently up and around the left flank of LittleSam and certainly was a trail. After abouta mile I saw a single yellow blaze on a tree. Well, this must be it.
A common reminder of logging days in these mountains 
A nice campsite if you don’t mind being in the middle of thetrail
My next landmark was at my old friend, the Mountains-to-SeaTrail – took a right turn here towards the Devil’s Courthouse, which is ablue-blazed side trail off of the MST with no designation. The blue blaze trail crosses over the BRP andjoins the main steep trail to the summit. 
Here I encount- ered a bit of humanity on a blustery andexciting Saturday, allowing me to be included in the photo this time (Little Sam and Sam Knob in the center #3). A full circle moment: a photo of Sam Knob from Devil’s Courthouseto bookend the photo I had taken a couple of hours earlier. 
Sam Knob and Little Sam on the far right #4One goal completed, one SB6K to go, the part I was mostnervous about. I back- tracked on the MST,bypassed Little Sam Knob Trail and continued on in search of ChestnutBald. Similar to Mount Hardy, it doesnot have a maintained trail but I had vague instructions to help me find thepathway, things like walk ten paces past the big rock and look over your leftshoulder for the old NPS boundary sign.
And I found the break in the trees stepping off theright-hand side of the MST, but there was nothing like the trail going up MountHardy. Was I good enough now at“feeling” my way to the top? It wassupposed to be short. I tried to keep ina straight line and I saw a couple of orange tags. I kept climbing straight up until there wasno more “up” and I declared this tree the summit of Chestnut Bald. AND I found my way back down. Triumph!
Back on the MST eastbound, almost immediately I reached asuperb lookout point that deserved a few minutes for lunch and celebration of abeautiful day and a mission accomplished. That is Looking Glass Rock in the distance. Can you believe I have never climbed it? Somebody write that down on the list…Just a couple of miles more on the MST to cross over intoShining Rock Wilderness. Speaking ofShining, what is that glinting in the underbrush? It was a tall beer can, looked prettynew. Well, the least I could do wascarry it out. When I picked it up I feltsloshing, so I turned it upside down to pour out whatever was in it. Imagine my surprise when a pink, hairlesslittle leg popped out! I shook the canhard and a tiny, very dead mouse slipped to the ground. Ugh! Yes, I shook the can some more to make sure it was truly empty and thenstuffed it in a side pocket of my daypack. Leave no trace, people.
I crossed FR 816 at its midpoint and turned onto the ArtLoeb Trail towards the summit of Black Balsam. I had already tagged this SB6K, along with Tennent Mountain and GrassyCove Top, on an epic hike to Cold Mountain a couple of years ago, but I wantedto climb it again because it was right there and it was a beautiful day. However, as I neared the summit I saw perhapsa dozen people on it and more on the trail, and I changed my mind. I turned left onto the Art Loeb Spur anddescended to my car at the end of FR 816 – but not before taking a few moreawesome photos of my heartthrobs.
Sam Knob #5
Mount Hardy, Little Sam and Sam Knob #6I have been fortunate to hike in some exotic locales in thepast several years, but this day was as good as it gets for me: I feel God in these mountains.
There are many, many awesome areas along the Blue RidgeParkway to explore and Shining Rock, Middle Prong and Pisgah NF are my favorites. There is so much to see and the elevationgains and hiking are easy to moderate. TheMST runs like a thread all along these areas, criss-crossing the BRP. FYI, I researched my route using DannyBernstein’s “Hiking the Carolina Mountains” and the Carolina Mountain Club’sSB6K link.
Take a day and go exploring, won’t you?
Igo to nature to be soothed and healed, and to have my senses put inorder. ~John Burroughs
Hiç yorum yok:
Yorum Gönder