Another great trip out to the wilderness! On this day, the pup and I took a few friends out to explore the Linville Falls and Gorge. What I love about this area, there's tons to see and places to explore. Using the Blue Ridge Parkway and Memorial Highway as a driving loop provides awesome views of the gorge, Hawksbill, Tablerock and The Chimneys as well as multiple trail heads down to the gorge and vistas to gaze upon the beauty from. Plus, there are about a dozen car camping spots along Memorial Highway. A highly recommended trip, the Linville Falls and Gorge is one of North Carolina's best hiking environments and a must see for all good explorers in the area!

Hike Date: August 2, 2013
Route:  Bad Fork Trail
Type:  Out and Back
Distance:  4 miles
Difficulty:  Moderate
Conditions:  Sunny, cool

Impression: I was looking for a trail that where I wouldn't see another soul, which is sometimes a hard thing to find in Pisgah so close to Asheville, NC. This 2 mile trail is relatively close to the house and a bit off the typical beaten path, so I figured I'd have a decent shot at success...

Near:  Linville, NC
Route:  Hawksbill Trail, Babel Tower Trail, Linville Gorge Trail, Spence Ridge Trail, Little Tablerock Trail, Mountain To Seas Trail, LTT, SRT, LGT, Conley Cove Trail, Memorial Highway (road walk)
Type:  Loop
Distance:  13.6 miles
Difficulty:  Strenuous
Conditions:  cloudy, sunny, cool

Impression:  This is one of my favorite hiking areas. Linville Gorge Wilderness provides an amazing adventure area with tons of camping, rugged trails and incredible views. While the Hawksbill portion of the hike is fairly easy, the loop through the gorge is very difficult...

Hike Date: December 6, 2009
Route:  Profile Tr., Daniel Boone Scout Tr., Grandfather Tr.
Type:  Out and Back
Distance:  11 miles
Conditions:  Icy, snowy, cold
Difficulty:  Extreme

Impression:  This was the most fun and challenging hike i've been on since i left Maine and the AT. While the Profile Trail is all uphill until Calloway Gap, the real challenge isn't until the Grandfather Trail. This rugged, rocky trail has extreme elevation changes and dangerous rock slopes (especially in December). It toke me about 5 1/2 hours to do the 11 miles and that's because of the slow pace needed to do this trail safely. Unbelievably fun, but a serious workout...

Hike Date:  May 15, 2013
Route:  Spencer Gap Trail
Type:  Out and Back
Distance:  3.3 miles
Conditions:  Bright and sunny day!
Difficulty:  Easy

Impressions:  I was looking for something to get into today, as I'm still in my first weeks here in Asheville, NC and love to explore the new area.  After picking up the National Geographic Pisgah Ranger District Map, I headed down the Blue Ridge Parkway in search of adventure. After arriving to and driving down F.R. 5000, I considered a couple of other options before settling for this random trail, Spence Gap.  The current National Geographic Map for the area has this section of trail mislabeled, so the section I've done here is just the upper 1.65 miles near the parkway...