I had my eye on the Linville Gorge after watching some of Shug’s videos and reports from others here. I finally decided to drive down and check it out. Originally I had planned a solo trip, but just a few weeks ago I went on a date and she was into backpacking also. So I kind of joked about joining me, but we really hit it off so it ended up being planned as our third date! Possibly a risky move but we felt confident it would work out well.

We left at 6am and started pounding out some miles. For lunch, we stopped at a Mexican restaurant in London, KY which was amazing. One last real meal for a while.

Arriving at the trailhead with only about 2 hours of daylight left, we changed into hiking clothes right away. My heart sunk and I’m sure I turned ghost-white when I grabbed my trail hiking shoes to find out I accidentally packed two right-foot shoes! The garage was dark and the blue/black shoes looked alike. I wore some cheap $50 New Balance shoes on the drive down, so those would have to do. I guess it could have been a lot worse.

After the first 30 minutes of climbing, I was already sweating in the cool air and wondering what I got us into. But after seeing Lake James and the surrounding mountains in the setting sun, we were totally motivated. The good site on the point overlooking the gorge was occupied as expected, so we just had to make do with whatever we could since we wanted to get set up with some daylight. First-night’s beer consumed. It worked out fine and we slept well with a clear cool night down to about 45°. One of the brightest nights I’ve ever experienced even though it wasn’t a totally full moon.

The next morning we gathered some water from the spring and continued north. With a high of 73° and sunny it was a bit warm for me, but you really can’t complain about that. Great views of the gorge before dropping down…then back up. A full-on leg workout climbing up to the top past Chimney Gap. But the descent shortly before that? I never want to climb that thing!! Going down was hard enough. The views were great all the way to Table Rock. Then another big drop down towards Spence Ridge trail…I don’t ever want to climb that either. Brutal!! At the bottom, we filtered some water and decided to call it a day. We were ready and wanted a couple hours of daylight to hang out in camp.

Up next was the river crossing. Even though people told me the best place to cross, I still had it in my mind “I’ll find a way across without getting wet.” Nope. So we took the plunge and got not quite waist-deep. I was glad I went barefoot to keep my shoes dry as I watched her dump the water out of her boots. We sat on the other side with our shorts/pants drying in the strong sun while we had lunch. The quick-changing terrain and views of this place really keep the hike interesting. Down in the gorge, we had a great time listening to nonstop crashing water from the river and hiking through rhododendron and over rocky terrain. After having another snack break by the river, we noticed the cloudless blue sky became cloudy in an instant. The NWS forecast was right on the money. We wanted to knock out more trail so we didn’t leave too much for the next day. As we approached camp it just smelled like rain. Then a few drops. Then a little more, but not enough to really feel it because of the thick canopy above. Once we got to camp we started setting up quick to try and beat the rain. Not a second to spare! I finished staking the tarp out about 15 seconds into the rain. Then it started coming down heavy. It was nice sitting under the tarp having some coffee and chocolate, just watching the fall colors, listening to the river. One of those moments you’re kind of glad it rained. It only lasted about an hour, so afterwards I gathered some firewood and slowly got it started. This night was around 45° and everything dried out nicely in the breeze.

Waking up, the cold front was now past us and the sun coming over the ridge above was a wonderful sight. It felt great to be a little chilled after the previous warm sunny day. Today would be about 63° and sunny with some stiff breezes kicking up later (44mph gusts per the forecast). We had our coffee and breakfast then continued on down the river. As we approached the point of the second river crossing we saw another couple getting ready to cross, so we watched them. It was only about knee high at the deepest point, but the wind was howling through there and almost knocked us in a few times. If there was ever a case for hiking poles, this was it. I couldn’t have done it without them. In fact, they got used HARD on this trip. Best $17.99 I ever spent. On the other side, we took a break and realized we were close to the end. I thought the last 800’ push would be tough but it wasn’t so bad. We just took it slow and enjoyed the unique terrain. Some kind of red clay, smooth rock, pines, bone dry…maybe what some places in AZ or out west look like? Again, the ever-changing terrain during the entire trip kept things interesting. The wind was so strong I lost my cinched-down hat a few times. But it was great to not sweat a drop no matter how much effort I put into the hike.

We got back to the lot around 4PM and had to decide what to do now. I sort of wanted to sneak back in for another night and camp near the cliff, but 44mph wind up there would be pretty nasty. So we started driving west. A hotel, hot shower, beer and dinner sounded really good at this point. So we stopped in Ashville to spend the night while knocking off a little drive time for the next day.

Whew “Gorge Miles”!! I’m glad a heeded the “1.5mph” advice from others. That’s about what we managed to do. Great weather. Everything just worked out perfect. Water, clothing, camps, mileage per day, everything. I’m sure I’m leaving out a lot of details, but this is already getting long.

Even though I was having fun the entire time, there were some tough parts where I thought to myself “I wouldn’t want to do this again; this is a one-time trip.” 30 minutes driving down the highway, I was ready to go back.

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Using the clothes dryer after crossing.


Second crossing, much drier!