All Day Saturday & Sunday
SUNDAY NO. A1001-684 March 21
Mackey Mtn. and Sugar Cove Creek Trail *8:00 AM
Hike 12, Drive 70, 2700 ft. ascent, Rated A-AA+
Jim Reel, 828-738-0751, jimr57@yahoo.com
*Form carpools at Westgate, and meet leader at US 70/Curtis Creek Rd. intersection at 8:45 AM. A stop will be made at the Ingles parking lot at Exit 64 of I-40 for additional hikers. Mackey Mountain was part of the first purchase of national forest land under the Weeks Act of 1911 and is designated “Mountain Treasure” by the Wilderness Society. We will hike from the end of Sugar Cove Road up to the Mackey Mountain Trail. We’ll have great winter views and do a short bushwhack to the summit and then near bushwhack on a seldom used section of trail. This hike ends on private property with access permission for only this CMC hike. Topos: Marion West, Old Fort
Scout report for Mackey Mtn. and Sugar Cove Creek Trail, March 21st
Darrell Stamey and I scouted this hike on Sunday, March 7th. On two previous trips in the last two weeks we had already cleared the first 5 miles of trail of extensive ice damage from the Christmas ice storm. We were hoping as we got to higher elevations the damage would be less. We were WRONG! The last 3 miles are clear. The problem was the 3 miles across the two summits of Mackey Mountain, still covered in snow, where we bushwhacked and crawled for six hours as we went over, under, around and through literally hundreds of large and very large tree limbs and tree tops. The ice damage in that area is unbelievable. Almost every tree in that area has had the top broken out of it, making the trail very hard to locate in several places. The total time for our hike was 10 hours for 11.4 miles. Due to these trail conditions, I will not lead the hike as I planned it. We will hike from Sugar Cove Road to the point where the trail becomes impassable, about a half mile past Narrows Knob, and then return on the same trail for a hike of about 11 miles with an elevation gain and loss of about 1800 feet. This will be a great opportunity to view up close the damage to the forests in this area. Jim Reel
SATURDAY NO. A1001-398 March 27
Sunburst – Green Knob – Haywood Gap Trail *8:30 AM
Hike 7, Drive 95, 2000 ft. ascent, Rated B-AA
Charlie Ferguson, 828-625-2677, ccf108@gmail.com
P400 This very strenuous and difficult hike will start with an initial very steep mile (up to 39 degree incline) to Green Knob and its spectacular views, then we’ll do a short bushwhack down to the Grassy Ridge Branch trail. We’ll return on the seldom-hiked lower Haywood Gap Trail returning to the Sunburst Campground. There are two wet crossings. *Wilderness area limited to ten people. Call leader for reservation. Topo: Sam Knob; also NatGeo map #780
SUNDAY NO. A1001-051 March 28
Hickey Fork / Whiteoaks Flats / Pounding Mill *9:00 AM
Hike 8, Drive 85, 1900 ft. ascent, Rated B-A
Tish Desjardins, 828-656-2191, desraylet@aol.com
Thanks to the Forest Service building a splendid new footbridge over Hickey Fork, CMC is able to schedule this hike which we have not done in 10 years. A nice loop hike using three different trails and finishing on the newly and heavily rebuilt Hickey Fork Rd. *Form carpools at Westgate, and meet leader at US25/NC208 intersection at 9:45 AM. 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. Topos: White Rock, Greystone; also NatGeo map #782
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Half Day Sunday
HALF-DAY No. H1001-009 Mar. 21
Ox Creek Road to Rattlesnake Lodge 1:00 PM
Hike 4.4, Drive 30, Rated C-C
Nonmembers, call leader, Bonnie Allen, 828-645-0357, bonnie@allencats.com
This loop hike will feature the historic Rattlesnake Lodge site. Second meeting place: Folk Art Center back parking lot at 1:10 PM.
HALF-DAY NO. H1001-688 Mar. 28
Camp High Rock *12:30 PM
Hike 4, Drive 85, 600 ft ascent, Rated C-C
Nonmembers, call leader, Tom Joyce, 828-885-2152, tominbrevard@webtv.net
*Form carpools at Westgate, and meet leader at Pisgah Forest Bi-Lo at 1:00 PM. This loop hike will explore the 1000 acre grounds of Camp High Rocks, beginning at 3200 ft. and climbing to the Rich Mtn. utility tower at 3782 ft. where we will enjoy 360 deg. views of the surrounding countryside.
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WEDNESDAY NO. W1001-352 Mar. 24
Jones Gap Trail/Coldspring Loop 8:30 AM
Hike 10, Drive 80, 1600 ft. ascent, Rated A-A
Keiko Merl, 828-628-2396, email Keiko
We’ll hike up Jones Gap and Tom Miller Trails past two waterfalls to US 276, then return via Coldspring Trail with several creek crossings. A hiking stick will be helpful. One short but steep climb. Second meeting place: NE corner of Cracker Barrel parking lot at Exit 53 of I-26 at 9:00 AM. Topo: Standingstone Mtn., Cleveland SC; also Mountain Bridge Wilderness map
WEDNESDAY NO. W1001-398 Mar. 31
Sunburst- Green Knob - Haywood Gap Trails *8:30 AM
Hike 7, Drive 95, 2000 ft. ascent, Rated B-AA
Charlie Ferguson, 828-625-2677, ccf108@gmail.com
P400 This very strenuous and difficult hike will start with an initial very steep mile (up to 39 degree incline) to Green Knob and its spectacular views, then we’ll do a short bushwhack down to the Grassy Ridge Branch trail. We’ll return on the seldom-hiked lower Haywood Gap Trail returning to the Sunburst Campground. There are two wet crossings. *Wilderness area limited to ten people. Call leader for reservation. Second meeting place: Trailhead at Sunburst at 9:30 AM, but call leader first. Topo: Sam Knob; also NatGeo map #780
Email your hike reports to Dave Wetmore.The deadline for reports is 9:00 p.m. on the Tuesdays before an eNews comes out. Reports for Wednesday hikes during the eNews publication week will appear in the following eNews--The Editor.
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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 appears in the hike description.
Driving mileage is round trip, based on the first designated meeting place. Meet at Westgate unless otherwise noted.
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