Shortoff Mountain

Saturday, we took Alex out to the mountains for a long weekend of camping.  We left early and arrived at the Wolf Pit Trailhead for Linville Gorge before 9, but the parking area was already nearly full.  I was surprised it was so crowded in February, but it was nice weather, albeit a little cold.  Linville Gorge is Alex's favorite place to hike, especially on a cold day.  We set off on the trail and headed up though not too steeply.  There was a little bit of ice on the trail.  After meeting up with Mountains-to-Sea Trail, we started getting some nice views and there were a lot of icicles up here.

With full sun and rising temperatures, the icicles were melting quickly.  Continuing on, we started to get views of the gorge as the trail turned north.

There were great views of Table Rock in the distance.

We went to the last good viewpoint and had a break here.  I think this is one of the best views around and shows the depth of the gorge along with the cool rock formations below the Chimneys.

We had a snack up here and then started making our way back.  There were some more nice icicles to see but I don't think they'll be there much longer.

On the way down, I ran into two backpackers who weren't sure where they were going to camp.  I suggested the spot where we had taken a break as one of the best campsites around and it was still open as of when we left.

There were some nice views of Lake James on the hike down.  I also talked to a guy from Marion about the history of Duke Tobacco and cigarettes.

It was still too early to check in to camp, so we headed up NC-181 to the trailhead for Upper Creek Falls.  We started on the upper section of the trail and descended to the top of the waterfall.  With the water way up, crossing the creek was difficult.  Two other people with dogs managed to get across, but Alex didn't want to, so Sandy took him back to the car.  I waded across to see the waterfall, but the light was poor, too bad since the water level was so high.

I then headed down to the lower crossing, which was even more difficult.  The two guys with dogs gave up and headed back the other way.  I was able to get across and took the switchbacks back up the car.

From here, we went to Carbon City Grill for dinner and then to Lake James to set up camp for the night.  It got rather chilly once the sunset, but we made a nice fire.  Even Alex slept with a blanket to stay warm.