Linville Gorge, NC

In May 2011, my brother and I took a backpacking trip to Linville Gorge, the deepest canyon east of the Mississippi River. The gorge is located about an hour east of Asheville, NC, and takes five hours of driving to reach from Atlanta. My brother and I decided to split the drive into two days, staying one night camping near Highlands, NC at one of our favorite destinations, Jones Gap on the Bartram Trail.

Sunlight and mountains viewed from Jones Gap.

We made it to Linville Gorge the following day late in the morning. Our plan was to hike a 23 mile circuit that would show us some of the best the gorge had to offer. After stopping to check out Wiseman's View, we parked on the west rim of the gorge and began our descent to the gorge floor.

The gorge from Wiseman's View.

The Linville River flows through the gorge bottom.

 Once we made it to the gorge bottom, we began hiking south, following the flow of the Linville River. Soon we realized why hiking in the gorge is considered so strenuous; fallen trees and other debris littered the trail near the river.

We decided to make camp after seven miles of hiking, dirty and tired. We enjoyed a "hobo" dinner for our meal and laid down soon after to sleep. Day one had kicked our butts, but day two had something else in store for us.

We woke up early to get a good start to the second day in the gorge. We knew that this day would involve crossing the Linville River and hiking up Shortoff Mountain; we didn't plan for the overall difficulty the day would bring.

Shortoff Mountain

After wading across the river, we sat down for lunch before embarking up Shortoff. Almost all the foliage on Shortoff had been burned away in a devastating forest fire in 2007. The fire left the path to the summit very exposed. My brother and I made the mistake of only filling up half of our total water bottles before climbing the mountain, thinking it wouldn't take too long to knock out.

The heat that day was incredible, and was made worse by a limited water supply and little shade. My brother and I powered through, and made camp shortly after reaching the summit.

Burned tree on the top of Shortoff Mountain.

As terrible as the day was hiking up Shortoff, the views of the gorge from the top were inspiring.

Looking north up the gorge.

We woke the third and final morning to find a thick fog draped over the gorge.

Daniel looking out into the gorge.

 Our final day involved crossing The Chimneys, climbing Table Rock, descending to the gorge bottom, and then ascending back to where we parked. A grueling, all-day fare proved to be the most fun, and most scenic.

Climbing into The Chimneys

Looking back at The Chimneys

We finished our hike right at nightfall, exhausted. We drove to a nearby hotel to stay in that night and enjoyed the luxuries of showers, clean sheets, and pizza to celebrate our conquering of the gorge. After experiencing Linville Gorge, my brother and I could only describe it as prehistoric - a wilderness area seemingly lost in time.