Junior Gorge Rat here...after a few years of dinking and dunking around the gorge, I decided to do a longer trip. I had recently received my new Eldorado and JRB quilts so I wanted to take them out - the Linville Gorge was calling and I went...
I had always wanted to do the Rock Jock Loop, so I set out from the Pinch In parking area and descended down into the gorge...
The ice on the ground had fallen from the trees above. It was like walking on ice from a vending machine. On the steep sections at the higher elevations, I was sweeping it out of the way to get a good foothold. I took my time going down. Eventually the ice faded as I went further down and I was greeted with my first view...
It was foggy and misty...
Eventually I made it to the Linville Gorge Trail. The river was a welcome sight after a steep decent.
I hiked further up the river. The going was slow, as the trail was wet and there were numerous rocks, roots, etc. I underestimated how long it would take, and after several miles it was getting late and my dogs were barking, so I found a campsite next to the river. This was my view from under my Superfly.
I didn’t take any photos of my rig, because I was ready to change out of my wet clothes, eat and get into the hammock. I have a Eldorado heavyweight, with my JRB Greylock 4 and High Sierra Sniveller under the Superfly. I slept very warm and got about ten hours of much-needed shuteye.
I fetched my bear canister and had breakfast from the hammock the next morning.
Got out of camp a little later than I wanted, and got on the trail and realized that I left my water bottle back at a stream, so that cost me some time to retrieve. Finally made it to Conley Cove Trail and headed back up...thank God for the switchbacks!
The going was slow for me, and in my reckoning I decided to skip the Rock Jock and walk the shorter distance from the Conley Cove access back to the Pinch In lot to the car, since I was running out of daylight and had to get home before dark, so I walked the three miles or so down the 105 to the car...
I want to go back and do the proper loop when I can add some more time into my figuring, and hopefully on a clearer day when I can get the full views of the gorge from the Rock Jock. The fog and rain persisted during both days.
I shall return!
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