Lost Cove Cliffs

Friday morning, we took Alex for a long weekend of camping in the mountains.  We drove out to Morganton and took NC-181 into Pisgah National Forest.  Driving down FR-982, we turned on FR-197 and found a nice spot along Upper Creek to set up camp.  Then we drove to FR-464 into the Wilson Creek area and parked at the trailhead for North Harper Creek Shortcut (#266A).  We hiked down the trail, which is also part of the Mountains-to-Sea Trail, down to North Harper Creek and turned left on Harper Creek Trail (#266).  Shortly, we had to wade the creek.

After crossing, the trail passed the top of Bard Falls in another half-mile.  A little further was a scramble path down to the base of the falls.

Unfortunately, it was very sunny and not a cloud in the sky.  I played around on the rocks a little to get some pictures.

The pothole next to the falls was really cool.

Since there didn't look like any chance for a cloud, we headed back.  Driving back on FR-464, we stopped again in a half-mile at the trailhead for Darkside Cliffs.  Darkside Cliffs Trail (#272) was an easy half-mile trail out to the cliffs.

The views of Grandfather Mountain and Grandmother Mountain (with the tower) were great from here.  Down below we could see Lost Cove where we would be hiking tomorrow.

We took a short break here and headed back.

We drove a mile or so back up FR-464 and stopped one more time at the North Harper Creek Falls and Little Lost Cove Cliffs Trailhead.  We first hiked North Harper Creek Falls Trail (#239) down towards North Harper Creek.  The trail ended at North Harper Creek Trail just above North Harper Creek Falls.  

I went out on the rocks for a view of the water flowing down the rock face.  

For whatever reason, I thought we were downstream of the falls so we went right on North Harper Creek Trail (#266).  After a while, I realized we were going the wrong way.  Alex was getting tired so we didn't backtrack and just continued on the trail up to FR-58.  There were some fire pink flowering along the creek.

We hiked FR-58 to FR-464 and continued to the other trailhead for Little Lost Cove Cliffs Trail (#271A).  About half-way along the trail, a short spur led to the cliffs.

We climbed up on the rocks and took a short break, enjoying the views.

Like Darkside Cliffs, there were great views of Grandfather Mountain in the distance.

After a break, we finished up Little Lost Cove Cliffs Trail back at the start of the loop.

From here, we drove back to paved roads and headed into Pineola for pizza at Italian Restaurant.  Then we headed back to camp and built a fire before going to bed.