Green Knob and Hickory Branch

Sunday I woke up and had breakfast at camp and didn't have to drive from Curtis Creek.  My first hike was up the very steep Snooks Nose Trail (#211).  I had been up to Snooks Nose before, but this time I wanted to hike all the way up to Green Knob.  The trail is brutally steep, so wanted to knock out the climb first thing in the morning.  But it was still hot and humid before 8 and so the climb up was painful.  In about an hour, I made it to Snooks Nose and stopped for a break.

Snooks Nose looks east so didn't have much in the way of views with the bright sunlight.  The next 2 miles to the parkway were uphill but not nearly so steep.  After a total of about 4 miles, I made it to the end of the trail at Green Knob Overlook on the Blue Ridge Parkway.

The overlook had great views looking down towards Curtis Creek.

Lots of false sunflower were blooming at the overlook.

Across the road, I picked up Green Knob Trail (#182) and went another half mile up to the summit.  There's a lookout tower here, but it's locked up so couldn't get in.

I did climb the stairs for a view of the Black Mountains hidden behind clouds.

After a snack, I started making my way back.  The views were better from Snooks Nose and I took a photo stop before the super steep downhill began.

Near the end, I got off the trail to find Slick Falls.  It's a tall waterfall, but the banks are so steep and overgrown with rhododendron, I couldn't get a much of a picture.

Back at camp, I had lunch and then started hiking Hickory Branch Trail (#213).  I stopped for some nice cascades along the creek.

After passing the Hickory Branch Falls, the trail crossed Hickory Branch twice and then a tributary.  Just past the last crossing was another waterfall.  Upper Hickory Branch Falls was a nice tiered waterfall, but there were several dead trees lying over it.

After this point, the trail got really steep and headed away from Hickory Branch and ending at Lead Mine Gap Trail (#212).  Going right, the trail became really overgrown and difficult to follow.  So I went the other way for about a mile before turning back.

I was pretty hungry by the time I got back to camp and headed to Las Salsas in Marion for dinner.

Old Fort Hikes

Saturday, I headed out to the mountains for Labor Day Weekend.  Sandy had to work at the last minute, so I went out solo and tried not to get too many waterfalls without her.  I had a reservation for camping at Curtis Creek and didn't want to add too much extra driving so went to Old Fort for my first hike.  Parking at the picnic area, I backtracked to Old US-70 and headed to the eastern trailhead for Point Lookout Trail (#203).  Point Lookout Trail is a paved trail following the old route of US-70 and had nice views of the foothills and Royal Gorge.

In about 2 miles, I reached Point Lookout with a nice long range view towards Old Fort through the gorge.  This was once a popular stopping point along US-70 when it followed this route.

Finishing the trail at the other end, I followed the road towards I-40 and then to the trailhead for Kitsuma Peak trail (#205).  This trail runs right along the interstate then steeply climbs up its namesake via switchbacks.  The summit of Kitsuma Peak is forested but some cliffs on the north side provide nice views towards Asheville and the Black Mountains.

I took a little break here as it had been a steep climb up and enjoyed the views.

After a short rest, I followed Youngs Ridge Trail (#206) back to the Old Fort Picnic Area.

My next stop was the Catawba Falls trailhead.  Being a Saturday on a holiday weekend, the parking area was packed but I found a spot.  I got my stuff together and set off on the trail.  Since the last time I visited, a bridge was built over Catawba River near the start right where the ruins from the hydroelectric station are.

No more rock hopping the river.  It was really crowded at Catawba Falls so I headed steeply up to the upper falls, which is my favorite one.

A few people were swimming here.  One guy climbed part way up the falls and did a headstand - no wonder so many people die at this one.  After some pictures I headed back down.  It was still crowded at Catawba Falls and poor lighting for a picture.

Heading back, I climbed down for one more waterfall, Lower Catawba Falls.

It looked like part of the dam had washed away, but this one was really scenic in higher water.  Then I made the short hike back to the car.

After stopping in Old Fort for dinner, I headed to Curtis Creek to set up camp.  When I arrived, McDowell County Sheriff's Deputies were blocking my site.  Another camper was drinking (no alcohol permitted in Curtis Creek) and being rowdy so I guess they were issuing a citation.  After they left, I was able to set up.  Once the deputies left, the guy cracked another beer and turned up the music on his truck.  And soon enough, US Forest Service Rangers came by again and gave another citation.  Didn't kick them out though.  There was still an hour or so of daylight and I didn't really want to hang around camp with all the drama, so made the short hike to Hickory Branch Falls.

It was very scenic in the evening light.  As the sun began to set, I hiked back to camp and went to sleep.  Fortunately, the rowdy family quieted down after dark.

Curtis Creek Hikes

This past weekend, we headed out to the Smokies for our annual Fall Foliage trip.  We left early Friday morning and headed west.  Originally, we were planning to head towards Max Patch for a hike, but the weather forecast was for rain and cloudy conditions.  Considering we wouldn’t see much fall color, we moved this hike to Sunday and headed to the Curtis Creek area of Pisgah National Forest near Old Fort.  Driving in on Curtis Creek Road, which becomes Forest Service Road 482, we parked at the Curtis Creek Campground.  After getting our stuff together, we started hiking the Hickory Branch Trail (#213).  The trail heads up then back down a ridge and then crosses Hickory Branch and follows it upstream.  Shortly before the waterfall, we got off the trail and followed a path to the creek and then upstream to the base.

A big tree had fallen at the base, so we had to climb over to get a good picture.  While we were here, a hunting dog came over and greeted us before running off.  We got a couple pictures here and then headed back to the trail.  I thought that there was an upper part of this waterfall, so we continued a short ways further on the trail.  We had pretty decent views of the main waterfall from the trail and soon we came to a small cascade above the falls.

The water level was rather low, but I think it would be really pretty in higher water flow.  After a picture or two, we started heading back to the car.  Although it was fall, there were some late-blooming wildflowers along Hickory Branch.

Back at the car, we drove back on FSR-482 about 0.1 miles and parked along the side of the road at the trailhead for Snooks Nose Trail (#211).  The trail starts off moderate, then gets quite steep as it heads up along Slick Falls Branch via switchbacks.  I think there is a waterfall along here, but the water level was so low, I didn’t think it would be worth the difficult bushwhack.  Past the waterfall, the trail passed a campsite and then got really steep as it continued up the mountain.  A couple much-needed rest breaks along the way gave me an opportunity to see some gentians blooming along the trail.

Finally, in just under 2 miles from the trailhead, we reached Snooks Nose.  A rocky outcrop provided nice views, but we were still a little low in elevation to see peak color.

From here, the trail regained some sanity as we continued up and up.  It was still steep, but not nearly so bad.  We found a rock outcrop just off the trail where we had some nice views looking up towards the Blue Ridge Parkway.

Another short climb took us up to near the peak of Laurel Knob, but there was nowhere to get to the actual summit from here and most views were partially obscured by trees and shrubs on the mountain.  Looking north, we could see the Black Mountains towering in the distance, the summits concealed by clouds.

It was starting to get late and we needed to continue west, so we started heading back.  The really steep part past Snooks Nose was probably even worse going down then going up, but finally we made it back to the car.

Driving back to I-40 and heading west, we stopped in Clyde for dinner at Blue Rooster.  There aren't a lot of options and this place was crowded, so there was a bit of a wait.  We saw a rainbow across the parking and lot and headed to Food Lion for lunch the following day while we waited.  When we finally got seated, it was worth the wait - the food and service were great.  After dinner, we drove into Tennessee.  Heading into Cosby Campground in Great Smoky Mountains National Park, we set up at Group Site 2 and enjoyed the campfire for a bit before going to bed.

Old Fort Waterfalls

Sunday morning, I checked out of the hotel.  I was originally planning to meet friends in South Carolina for the holiday, but wasn’t feeling well, so decided to just go home.  Then Sandy and I could spend Independence Day together.  Past Asheville, I decided to stop at Catawba Falls on the way home.  I hadn’t been here in a couple years and they finally finished the bridge to the parking lot.  I could park in the lot instead of on the side of the road.  Catawba Falls is very popular so glad I got there early; there were only a few cars in the parking lot when I arrived.  From the parking lot, I set off on the Catawba Falls Trail, rock-hopping the river and then following the trail upstream.  After crossing Clover Patch Branch, I found a steep path leading down to a view of Lower Catawba Falls.

Although I’ve been here before several times, I had never been down to see this one.  Kevin Adams mentions this one is his new book.  Although overshadowed by the much larger Catawba and Upper Catawba Falls, this is a nice waterfall.  A cave to the right of the falls made a nice scene, even in the low water level.  Past here was the old dam and then I continued to the base of Catawba Falls.  The water level was low, so this waterfall was definitely not looking its best.

I got a couple pictures and then took the steep path up towards Upper Catawba Falls.

I passed a couple of people on my way up; the high temperature and humidity made the climb that much more strenuous.  By the time I got to Upper Catawba Falls, I was alone and sat and enjoyed the view for a while.

As I was heading back, I again passed the people I had seen earlier.  They had given up and were heading back.  I also spotted some bee balm along the trail.

I made it back to the car before 11 and it was a little too early to head home.  So I drove through Old Fort and parked at the Old Fort Picnic Area in Pisgah National Forest.  From here, I got on the Youngs Ridge Trail heading up towards Kitsuma Peak.  This was a really grueling hike.  It was all uphill and the heat and humidity made it just miserable.  There was almost no breeze and no creek to cool off in.  It took a while, but I made it to the summit of Kitsuma Peak.  There’s a campsite here, but too many trees for any sort of view.

Exploring around a bit, I found some cliffs just down from the summit that had a nice view west towards Black Mountain.

I relaxed here for a little while and then started making my way back.  It was mostly downhill the whole way, but still strenuous in the heat.  Back at the car, I decided to get one more waterfall before I left.  I drove east on US-70 from Old Fort and turned left on Curtis Creek Road and drove to the campground.  I got on the Hickory Branch Trail (#213), following the trail up and down a ridge to its namesake creek.  After crossing the creek twice, I got off the trail and followed a path to the base of Hickory Branch Falls.

Even in the low water, this was still a scenic waterfall.  A tree had fallen right into the middle of it, so I got to the other side of the creek for a picture.  Then I headed back to the car and started making my way home.