Cold Mountain, North Carolina - October 3, 2009
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Official Trail Information:
The trail began at Camp Daniel Boone, a Boy Scout Camp that sits at what most hikers consider to be the "terminus" of the Art Loeb Trail.
Section 1: Art Loeb Trail IV
This first section of our hike is listed in hikers guides as "Art Loeb Trail IV with an official length of 3.8 miles to Deep Gap on Shining Rock Ledge and has an elevation gain of 1,800 feet.
The trailhead climbs sharply in the first quarter mile over a rocky trail with sometimes unstable footing using long unusued muscles required to step without falling. One thing of note on this trail was the enormous amount of acorns recently shed by the huge oaks trees the entire length of the trail. It was like walking on ballbearings.
We passed a man and women that were doing some needed trail maintenance. In talking with them, we found that they were members of the Carolina Mountain Club. We have seen other members of this particular club in the Middle Prong Wilderness in 2008. Further down the trail, we passed 2 more women from the same club. They were, apparently, of retirement age and were lithe and fit and eager to keep the wilderness accessible to hikers. Their volunteerism is such a worthy endeavor. Phil and I have said many times that this is what we want to do when we retire; trail maintenance for the National Park Service.
Continuing down the trail we climbed some mildly steep sections, but wasn't as steep as what we expected. We made it to Deep Gap in roughly 2 1/4 hours where we stopped and ate a snack and rested.
Section 2: Cold Mountain Trail
The Cold Mountain Trail, beginning at Deep Gap climbs 1,000 feet in 1.4 miles. The trail is rated as "strenuous" and I would tend to agree. My hips were screeming before we reached the top and there were a few times when I wasn't quite sure I would make it. Phil, or course, being part "Billy goat" was barely breathing hard the whole time. We reached the top in approximately 45 minutes 2:30 p.m.
We passed several groups that were looking for campsites near the summit of Cold Mountain and were pleasantly shocked to meet a man and woman that had to be near 70 years old. They had "summited" and were on their way back down, smiling and NOT BREATHING HARD.
I guess, we didn't expect to see as many hikers on such a strenuous hike. I don't know why, we just didn't. It might have had something to do with the weather ... it was a bluebird day. Clear, and the temperature was in the high 50's.
All of our pictures were taken at the top. In retrospect, I wish I had taken pictures of the Boy Scout Camp and the Carolina Mountain Club Volunteers to document their devotion. Maybe next time.
Going Down ...
After spending 30 minutes or so on the top, talking to other hikers and enjoying the view we began our descent. We both hobbled a bit. The trail, being so rocky, was really hard on the knees. I stepped on a pile of acorns that were on top of a rock and fell, twisting the left knee a bit. So, I complained a bit the rest of the way back to the car. We passed a group of college students that had plans to camp on the top of Cold Mountain, but they didn't begin their hike until well after 4:30 p.m. Hmmm... poor planning. I wonder where they really ended up that night.
My Impressions and Observations
I want to do this hike again. I think I'll work out a little more and get in better shape before I do it, though. It gave me a good sense of accomplishment and I was quite proud of myself for not giving up. Phil even asked me it I was proud of "making it" to the top. The tail was difficult for me. I wore a "step counter" just for the heck of it and the final tally of steps taken over the 10.4 mile round trip was 31,911. Phil measured my stride (when I didn't know about it) by measuring my heel prints from one heel footprint to the next heel footprint --- 21 inches. After doing the math ... my stride length times the number of steps, the step counter was surprisingly close the actual trail milieage --- calculated to 10.5+ miles.
The leaves hadn't really begun to change color in earnest, so we may try to do this hike again in a few weeks when the color is at the peak. Or not. There are other hikes in the Shining Rock Wilderness that aren't as hard.
Phil is just the world's greatest hiking buddy. I feel so blessed that he likes to do the same things. He never criticizes when I "mention" that my hips hurt. He never tells me that he thinks I can't do something because I'm a "girl." He lets me set the pace going up, and is always willing to walk slowly behind me.
It was an A+ day! Life is wonderful.