Several months ago, we identified Memorial Day Weekend as the perfect window of opportunity for one of our more intense backpacking trips planned for the year, a 33 mile long trek along the Art Loeb Trail via the summit of Cold Mountain, made famous by the book and the movie. The Art Loeb Trail itself contains 4 sections, all of which are rated at 'more difficult' to 'most difficult' due to length, elevation gain, difficulty of navigation, etc. To make our trek a little more intriguing, we decided upon the less-popular and more challenging route, originating from the southern terminus of the trail at the Davidson River Campground, just outside of Brevard, NC, and winding to the northern terminus of the the trail at the Daniel Boone Boy Scout Camp, just outside of Canton, NC.
Because the Art Loeb is not a loop trail, one has to either make arrangements to drop a car at the end of the trail or make arrangements for a shuttle that costs somewhere in the ballpark of $125 to come pick you up. Not really having a clue how long it would take us to arrive at point B, we opted for the former decision. Unfortunately for us, the journey was somewhat anticlimactic as we were unable to enjoy what should have been the best part of the trip containing beautiful, panoramic views from vistas above 6,000 feet. Below is a day by day chronicle of our adventure.
Day 1 - Friday May 22, 2009
While soundly asleep at the Sunset Motel in Brevard, NC, everyone is awakened around 2:30am by the screeching of tires followed by an alarming sonic boom that left the entire building shaking. After stumbling to my feet, I managed to make my way outside and discovered that a car had crashed into our building just a couple of rooms down from where we were located. A fire ensued and was shortly put out by another guest of the hotel who made use of one of the fire extinguishers located on the wall. Upon further investigation, the car actually struck a telephone poll and slammed into a column of bricks sending bricks and debris flying in over a 50 yard radius before ultimately crashing into the motel. A police report later obtained indicated the driver moving at speeds in excess of 110 miles an hour in a 35 mph zone. He was charged with DWI - No Insurance, and Reckless Driving. My new 4Runner was hit by a few bricks and debris causing some menacing exterior damage to the paint - jerk. Amazingly and fortunately for them, neither the driver nor the girl in the passenger seat were killed. I was not able to return to sleep until after 5:30am.
Sometime around 9:30am, we arrived at the Art Loeb Trailhead in the Davidson River Campground Area of Pisgah National Forest. After loading up our gear, we began our ascent into the mountains surrounding the Davidson River Valley. It took us nearly an hour of hiking before we escaped the construction noises of nearby Brevard. By mid morning we found ourselves at an intersection with Forest Service Road ? Because the vegetation was somewhat thick we made a critical mistake, missing a sign and a simple turn just a few yards away. This proved to be a costly error setting us back a mile and a half and wasting an hour's worth of energy.
We pushed forward past Neil Gap, Chestnut Knob, and Catpen Gap before breaking for a late lunch at Cat Gap. We enjoyed a lunch of wraps made from tuna and chicken in foil packaging, along with some almonds. The scenery for the majority of the day was fairly dull as we spent most of our time under a canopy of trees. The one redeeming quality was the abundance of blooming mountain laurel and flame azalea which added some flair to the otherwise green forest.
After lunch we really started feeling the effects of exhaustion from the night before as we approached Cedar Rock Mountain. After hiking perhaps a mile or so past Cedar Rock we stopped to filter some water as the water situation tends to be a bit unpredictable on the Art Loeb. This wouldn't be the case during this trip, however, as we crossed over a few more streams and creeks before arriving at the Butter Gap shelter in early evening. We made the decision to stop at the shelter for the evening which turned out to be a good one.
We had some company in the shelter area as some other hikers were camping under a tarp over the hill. For the most part, they kept to themselves. I took a nap as I wasn't feeling well having spent the most time talking to the police the prior evening. Just before sunset we made a dinner of chicken and vegetable pesto pasta that turned out really well. We washed our dishes, placed the bear bag and bear container away from the shelter, and called it a day. It was a warm and muggy night.
Total Distance Traveled: 9.5 miles
Elevation Gain:
Stopping Point: Butter Gap Shelter
Intangibles: exhaustion from the previous night, getting slightly off course, Drew's last breakfast of 2 McDonald's sausage biscuits
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Laura and I made some last minute plans and escaped to Hot Springs, NC for the quintessential, all-American 4th of July experience. Although we were camping for the weekend, we were far from roughing it with the convenient locale of the nearby town along with all of the fellow campers. We spent some time fly fishing, relaxing around town, and we finally made it out to see Max Patch which was well worth the trip! We also managed to cook a few burgers and hot dogs, enjoy some grilled corn on the cob courtesy of some of our neighbors, and as always we met a few interesting characters in town. Hot Springs is no doubt a one of a kind place!
