All Day  Saturday & Sunday

ALL DAY No. A0804-537 Dec. 7
Coggins – Rim of the Gap –Pinnacle Pass – Naturaland Tr. *8:00 AM
(strenuous)
Hike 10.5, Drive 110, 2800 ft. ascent, Rated A-AA
Jeff McGurk, 864-921-6469, jbsbestfan@hotmail.com
*Meet at Westgate at 8:00 AM to form carpools, and make stop at Bi-Lo in Pisgah Forest at 8:30 AM for additional hikers. Meet leader at Caesar’s Head Visitor Center parking lot at 9:00 AM. From the Visitor Center, we’ll do a loop hike in the Mountain Bridge Wilderness Area. We’ll start on the Frank Coggins Trail and continue on the Rim of the Gap, then cut over to the Pinnacle Pass Trail. We’ll follow this steeply down and then up to intersect with the Naturaland Trust Trail back to our cars. Caution: If the weather is cold, there will be ice on the Rim of the Gap Trail. Topos: Cleveland, Table Rock; also Mountain Bridge Wilderness Area Trail Map

ALL DAY No. A0804-538 Dec. 7
Vineyard Gap – Forge Mtn. Loop *9:00 AM
(moderate)
Hike 7.5, Drive 55, 800 ft. ascent, Rated B-C
Marianne Newman, 828-257-2136, marianneln@msn.com
P400 *Note later start time. This is a nice loop hike from the Turkey Pen parking area, including a walk along the Forge Mtn. ridge, a pleasant stroll along the S. Mills River, and ending with a short, steep climb over a ridge to the parking area. Second meeting place: Turkey Pen parking area at 9:30 AM. Topo: Pisgah Forest; also Nat’l. Geo. PRD map #780

ALL DAY No. A0804-609 Dec. 14
Rich Mtn., Round Top Ridge Trail and AT 8:00 AM
Hike 11.5, Drive 70, 2700 ft. ascent, Rated A-AA
Tish Desjardins, 828-656-2191, desraylet@aol.com
*After the hike there will be a potluck supper in the nearby Bear River Community Lodge. Hikers are requested to contribute food for the supper. Food will be taken to a refrigerator before the hike. Please phone the leader to coordinate what food to bring. From Tanyard Gap we will go north on the AT to the beautiful views from Rich Mountain, then descend to Hot Springs via Round Top Ridge Trail, and return on the Pump Gap Trail and AT to Tanyard Gap. Topo: Hot Springs; also Appalachian Ranger District “Hiking trails in the Hot Springs area” map

Half Day Sunday Hikes

HALF-DAY No. H0804-623 Dec. 7
Kitsuma Peak *12:30 PM
Hike 5 miles, 2000 ft ascent, Rated C-AA
Nonmembers, call Tom Sanders 828-252-6327, tomary2@charter.net
*Note early start time. This popular but somewhat strenuous hike begins near Old Fort and ascends Young Ridge to Kitsuma Peak, overlooking Ridgecrest. Outstanding views along the way. Car shuttle. Second meeting place: parking lot adjacent to McDonalds off I-40 at Exit 64 of I-40 at 12:50 PM.

HALF-DAY No. H0804-624 Dec. 14
Dupont Forest Hooker Falls P.L. #2 (Wintergreen Falls) *12:00 Noon
Hike 5, Drive 70 miles, Rated C-C
Nonmembers, call leader, Becky Elston, 828-749-1886, belston@cytechusa.com
*Note early start time. Meet at Westgate at 12 noon to form carpools, and meet hike leader at Hooker Falls parking lot in Dupont Forest at 12:50 PM. A leisurely paced walk down old logging roads through some beautiful forests.

All Day Wednesday

WEDNESDAY No. W0804-277 Dec.10
Bent Creek Loop #2 8:30 AM
Hike 9-10, Drive 20, 1600 ft. ascent, Rated A-A
Ruth Hartzler 828-251-0886, ruthmtn@charter.net
P400 A nice Bent Creek loop originated by Tom Bindrim, starting at the Hardtimes trailhead. We will hike part of the MST, a little easy off-trail (about 1/3 mile), the Lower Sidehill Trail, and stroll past Lake Powhatan. A great close-in, cool-weather hike. Topo: Dunsmore Mtn., Skyland, and Nat’l. Geo. PRD map #780

WEDNESDAY No. W0804-493 Dec. 17
Pine Mt. Loop II 9:00 AM
Hike 9, Drive 20, 1850 ft. ascent, Rated B-A
Barbara Morgan, 828-738-3395, bcmorg@hughes.net
P400 Hike up to Pine Mtn. from the Bent Creek side via Explorer loop, Chestnut Cove Trail and MST. Bushwhack up to Pine Mtn from BRP, then down other side to MST, down Ruth’s Ridge and the Lower Sidehill Trail to cars. Second meeting place: Ingles Parking lot across from Biltmore Sq. on NC 191 at 9:15 AM. Topos: Enka, Dunsmore Mtn.; also Nat’l. Geo. PRD map #780

Scouting Report: It was a beautiful fall day for hiking from the Bent Creek Road area. Charlie Ferguson and Bruce Bente combined their knowledge of the previously used route with GPS technology, and our group of seven hiked the route as it had been done a couple of years ago. The trail starts off through the lower woods of Bent Creek, FS 479 and winds onto and off various trails and bushwhacks up to the top of Pine Mountain, about 800’ above the BRP tunnel of the same name. We then hiked out to a wonderful lunch spot on Double Top, with tremendous views. We completed the loop, bushwhacking, on the MST, and other trails and eventually completed the loop to the cars. It is a beautiful hike with lots of variety.

Through the scouting trip, we realized that the hike, which had been listed as 9 miles and 1850 feet elevation gain, was more like 10.7 miles and 2500 feet elevation gain. The start and end of the hike have since been altered to start at F479H (Cold Knob Road) and end where 145A (Sidehill Connector) comes back into FS479. This will make the hike very close to the 9 miles in the hike listing in Let’s Go.

Note: The portions of the hike going up the last 800’ of elevation gain to the summit and back down the other side are quite strenuous and are not on established trail.

All-day hikes submitted by Bruce Bente 692-0116, bbente@bellsouth.net . Driving distance is round-trip from Asheville. All Saturday and Sunday hikes assemble at Westgate Shopping Center near I-240 UNLESS OTHERWISE NOTED.

Half Day hikes submitted by Lucy Prim 828-693-6580 lucette32@mchsi.com. Wednesday Hikes are submitted by Charlie Ferguson, 828-398-0213 ccf108@gmail.com and Ann Gleason, 828-859-9387, gleason.ann@gmail.com .

The meeting place for each hike will be designated by the hike leader and will appear in the hike description. Driving mileage will be listed, round trip, from the first designated meeting place.
Leaders: Mail please mail your sign-up sheets. Meet at Westgate unless otherwise noted.