All Day  Saturday & Sunday

ALL DAY NO. A0901-332 March 8
Foothills Trail: Upper and Lower Whitewater Falls *8:30 AM
(strenuous)
Hike 11.6, Drive 115, 1600 ft. ascent, Rated A-A
Charlie Ferguson, 828-778-2431, ccf108@gmail.com
*NOTE: First day of Daylight Savings time. The later start time turns out to be earlier due to DST. Come to hike in the warm weather at the lower elevations! We’ll hike part of the Foothills Trail in NC and SC, featuring two of the region’s most stunning waterfalls. We will begin at the Upper Whitewater Falls parking lot, and hike to the footbridge over the Thompson River. We’ll partially retrace our steps, then take the side trail to Lower Whitewater Falls, and finish at the Duke Power Co. Bad Creek parking lot. Short car shuttle. Second meeting place: Bi-Lo in Pisgah Forest at 9:00 AM. Topos: Reid, Cashiers; also Foothills Trail map.

Photos by Ted Connors and Bruce Bente

Twenty-two strong hikers met at Westgate and the Pisgah Forest Bi-Lo. We began on the Foothills Trail, and after a short spur trail up to an overlook to view Whitewater Falls from about 300 meters away we began the 325-foot descent to the Whitewater River. An easy 1.9 mile walk on well maintained trails alongside the Whitewater River took us to a trail junction. There we went left, continuing on the Foothills trail for about two miles to the Thompson River where we had a leisurely lunch at the bridge.

We returned the way we came, starting with a longish steep uphill until we got to the side trail that went left to the Lower Whitewater Falls overlook. This was a fairly easy 1.9 mile in and out from the Foothills Trail. Like the Upper Falls, this overlook gave a long distance view of the Falls. Returning to the junction near the Whitewater River, we had two more steel foot bridges and a 0.7 mile flat hike to our cars. 

After the hike seventeen very hungry hikers went to Brevard and ate at Ed Boudreaux's. I think this is a record for a CMC post hike supper.

This was a great hike with wonderful hikers on it. The trails were all in good condition with a variety of scenery and forest types to walk through. The total ascent was about 2400 feet, 800 feet more than the original description.--Charlie Ferguson

SATURDAY NO. A0901-256 March 14
Moore Cove Figure-8 Loop *10:00 AM
Hike 7, Drive 70, 1000 ft. ascent, Rated B-B
Jan Onan, 828-698-3237, janonan@bellsouth.net
P400 This moderate double-loop trail follows two old USFS paths. There are a couple of short steep sections and two minor creek crossings. There is a good view of Looking Glass Rock from near Bennett Gap, and other views visible only in the winter. *Meet at Westgate at 10:00 AM to form carpools, and meet leader at the Pisgah Ranger Station on US 276 at 10:40 AM. Topo: Shining Rock; also Nat’l. Geo. PRD map #780

Photos by Jan Onan

Nine hikers turned up for the Moore Cove Figure 8 hike on a wet Saturday morning, including two almost 15 year olds! We started the hike at 11:15 and ended 4 hours later. “Red” Ted volunteered to serve as our sweep.
The rain was light and in some places we were more protected than in others. Although there were no long views, we enjoyed the “many shades of gray” when looking up and out, and hearing the fuller waterfalls and streams. The colors close to us were intense and beautiful. The hike was made even more pleasurable and safer due to our awesome CMC maintenance crew who cut through the many blow-downs discovered on the trail during the scout.  We did not have to traverse up the hill and around, over or under any obstacles. This was especially helpful on the steep incline near the first big waterfall. Many thanks! Trout lily leaves and budding maples were evidence of the first signs of spring.--Jan Onan

ALL DAY NO. A0901-056 March 15
Black Mountain Ramble 8:00 AM
Hike 9.4, Drive 60, 2800 ft. ascent, Rated A-AA
Michael & Kathy Cornn, 828-698-3672, mcornn@aol.com
P400 This great winter hike starts at Turkey Pen parking area, then over Sharpy Mtn. and around Black Mtn., ending at the Pisgah Maintenance parking lot. A long uphill, but with good views from our lunch spot at Black Mtn. Second Meeting place: Intersection of NC 280 and Turkey Pen Rd. at 8:30 AM. Car shuttle. Topo: Pisgah Forest; also Nat’l. Geo. PRD map #780

The hike was canceled due to heavy rain.--Michael Cornn

--Back to Top

Half Day Sunday

HALF-DAY NO. H0901-485 Mar. 8
Old U.S. 70 and the Railroad *1:00 PM
Hike 5, Drive 60, 1300 ft ascent, Rated C-B
Nonmembers, call leader, Gail Lamb, 828-350-0450, galmb46@bellsouth.net
*Note early start time. We will walk up on old old U.S. 70, now blocked off from traffic, to Swannanoa Gap. We will enjoy a view of the valley, railroad and tunnel featured in “The Road” by John Ehle, a book about building the railroad up to Swannanoa Gap. Second meeting place: Parking lot adjacent to McDonald’s at Exit 64 of I-40 at 1:20 PM. Topos: Old Fort, Black Mountain.

HALF-DAY NO. H0901-639 Mar. 15
Pretty Place from the North Carolina side *1:00 PM
Hike 6, Drive 60, 600 ft ascent, Rated C-C
Nonmembers, call leader, Bruce Bente, 828-692-0116, bbente@bellsouth.net.
*Note early start time. We have obtained permission to hike on land that has been protected by a conservation easement. We will drive up a rough road (high clearance vehicles preferred), ford a stream by car, and then hike up old forest roads to enjoy the beautiful view from Pretty Place, and then return via the same route. Topo: Standingstone Mtn.

Photos by Bruce Bente

Sunday the 15th dawned dark, gloomy and rainy, enough so that the all-day hike was cancelled.  But by noontime, the rain stopped and it appeared that the afternoon hike would be possible.  Sure enough, ten hikers showed up for the hike, although not the ones expected…most of the ten were all-day hikers (including the leaders of the cancelled all-day hike!), and only a few half-day hikers came to enjoy an interesting hike.

We proceeded up a private gated road (permission having been generously granted by the owner of Green River Preserve), forded a creek and parked.  Our hike went up an old forest road to the NC-SC border, where we walked the old CCC Rd. along the ridgeline to Pretty Place for the “view”.  The clouds and fog hung heavy, but cleared enough for a few interesting photos.  We could readily see the burnt ground and low bushes from the fire a few weeks ago, and see the bulldozer tracks where it cleared a fire break in the woods.  The fire actually came up to within 100 ft. of the structure itself, but no damage occurred. A pleasant hike and no rain! --submitted by Bruce Bente

--Back to Top

All Day Wednesday

WEDNESDAY NO. W0901-560 Mar. 4
Rube Rock/Groundhog Creek Loop 8:00 AM
Hike 9, Drive 100, 1900 ft. ascent, Rated A-A
Stuart English, 828-883-2447, stuengo@citcom.net
A beautiful loop hike located in the Harmon Den area of Pisgah Nat'l. Forest. We'll start at Brown Gap, southbound on the AT to Rube Rock Trail which descends into the Pigeon River Gorge. Then we'll climb the Groundhog Creek Trail to the AT and back to Brown Gap. Second meeting place: Pilot Truck Stop off I-40 at Exit 24 at 8:30 AM. Topo: Waterville, also USFS Harmon Den & Hot Springs Area Trail Map.

The scheduled Wednesday hike was cancelled due to road conditions on secondary roads leading to the trail head. Instead we did an alternate hike: Bent Creek Loop Shut In Trail to Sleepy Gap to Lake Powhatan by several trails. The hike was a group effort and thanks go to Bob Hysko, who had led the hike before, and Ken Schroeder, who knew it well for their help. In fact most of the people on the hike probably knew the hike better than the leader. I think you call that irony. But it was beautiful, but chilly day as we climbed up the Shut In/MST. At one point we were walking in a foot of snow or more. It made us wonder how much we would have found on Rube Rock. The Sleepy Gap Trail was not quite as treacherous as we expected and we made it to Lake Powahatan without incident and ate our lunch on the picnic tables. We then strolled back to our cars at Sandy Bottoms parking lot, (we couln't even get to French Broad Overlook) by 2PM. This is the hike leader's fault. He should have dawdled more.--Stuart English

WEDNESDAY NO. W0901-076 Mar. 11
Craggy to Little Snowball 8:30 AM
Hike 7.2, Drive 70, 2630 ft. ascent, Rated B-AA
Don Walton, 828-654-9904, donwalton@bellsouth.net.
(rescheduled from October) From Bee Tree Gap at Craggy Gardens, we’ll go 135 feet on MST South, then get on Snowball trail over high rocks (Hawkbill Mtn.) to Little Snowball tower site for great views. We’ll return on the same route. Second meeting place: Bee Tree Gap at 9:00 AM. Topo: Craggy Pinnacle; also USFS South Toe River, Mt. Mitchell & Big Ivy Trail Map

Photo by Don Walton

Fourteen hikers ignored the 20% chance of rain to make the trek out to Snowball Tower Site to look at the views. The Blacks were clouded in so we could not identify the peaks with great accuracy but the general views from the tower site were grand. The CMC has been clearing the trees to bring back the views at the tower site. The views from Hawksbill (High Rocks) was also nice. One hiker tripped and incurred a small scrape on her cheek but will be fine. The round trip took 5 hours and we returned to Westgate at 3:30.--Don Walton

WEDNESDAY NO. W0901-400 Mar. 18
Ferrin Knob via Spencer Branch *8:30 AM
Hike 9, Drive 50, 2200 ft. ascent, Rated B-AA
Ruth Hartzler, 828-251-0886, ruthmtn@charter.net
P400 We will ascend on the Fletcher Creek and Spencer Branch Trails, to our lunch spot atop 4060 ft. Ferrin Knob, the former site of a fire tower. Return via the MST and the Trace Ridge Trail. Second meeting place: North Mills Recreation parking lot at 9:05 AM, but call leader first. Topo: Dunsmore Mtn.; also Natl. Geo PRD map #780

Reports for Wednesday hikes during the eNews publication week will appear in the following eNew--The Editor.

--Back to Top

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.