On April 12th I struck out to climb my way to the top of Shining Rock, which is conveniently located in the Shining Rock Wilderness Area of Pisgah National Forest. It's name is derived from the fact that the formation is made up of very white granite, except for various green lichens and mosses desperately vying for a foothold, perched at the top of a mountain. It is my understanding the traditional Cherokee beliefs indicate that this is where the first humans existed on earth.
There are several ways up and today I decided to use the Shining Creek trail, which is accessed from US Hwy 276 located between the Blue Ridge Parkway and the community of Cruso, NC.
The day was sunny and things were fairly dry around the trailhead, but the upper elevations were covered with snow. It would be a 4-mile hike to reach the destination. The trail started out relatively flat while running along the East Fork Pigeon River, which was in an uproar due to recent rain and now occurring snow melt. After a half-mile or so I came upon a series of switchbacks twisting its way through a Rhododendron thicket, which began the initial ascent. Another brief flat ensued with a few gentle rises and dips before the final climb was to be made.
Recent heavy rain had led to a few slides that now created obstacles along the path requiring you to climb over some dirt and rocks that accumulated on the little shelf that the trail provided. One large yet unfortunate Rhododendron fell victim to one slide. Several trees also appeared to have recently fallen across the trail that lead to a short pause every now and then to determine whether it would be more efficient to climb over or crawl under them. The latter often seeming to be the better choice.
After gaining about 1000 feet of elevation to approximately 4500 feet total, I began to run into the snow, which continued to deepen as I ascended further up the trail. A trail that was difficult to differentiate from the many creeks running down the side of the mountain. The melting snow had created a number of tributaries making it even more difficult to detect the trail because the path itself was now a creek of its own. After slipping and sliding for a mile or two, the frozen fun reached a depth of about six inches or so, and increased the trails overall difficulty a bit.
Once I gained enough altitude to be about a mile high, the air chilled considerably and the main conifer species switched from Hemlock to Red Spruce. Occasionally the trees got a kick out of dropping snow on your head and down the back of your neck. There were also several hardwoods along the way including Northern red oak, Yellow birch, hickories, and buckeye. Wild flowers included violets and bluettes.
Reaching the end of Shining Creek trail, I turned northward on the Art Loeb trail for a very short walk to Shining Rock itself. I scrambled up the granite after passing through a blueberry thicket to the very top, achieving a 5940 ft goal. From this vantage point, protected from the wind by a cluster of small spruce, I could look south to see snow capped Black Balsam reaching 6214 ft into the clear blue sky.
It was my original intent to return to the parking area via the Old Butt Knob trail, making a loop of the day's adventure, and eliminating the need to backtrack along a trail I had already used. Well, the recent accumulation of frozen precipitation made that trail completely undetectable. At one point I thought I had found the elusive route but it quickly faded into nothing more than a white oblivion a few yards ahead. Seeing that it was 5 pm, I made the decision to return the same way I had climbed.
Normally, the descent moves more quickly than the climb, only requiring the use of different muscles to remain in control on the decline. Today would be a bit of a different story. The snow, slush, and icy primitive bridges required more stamina and caution than usual. Of course there came a time when even the most determined efforts to remain balanced eventually failed. Yes I went down, and fairly hard, my elbow finding what appeared to be the only exposed rock in the immediate area. It was a highly noticeable occurrence with the unmistakable resonance of a loud THUD! as bone and boulder met in a battle of wits. The blow left the arm temporarily useless. It must have appeared as though as I was attempting a wrestling move on an unsuspecting stone. The rock had every indication that it was the winner, as I was down for at least the count of three. I would have preferred to stay down longer but the ground was still covered in a thin layer of slush and mud, which began to make its presence known through my clothes. In retrospect however, I got up and moved on, the rock remained still. Perhaps I won after all.
I noticed some different scenery on the way back that was mysteriously absent on the prior pass. The question was, was I on the trail this time or not? Even with that question in mind things seemed to fall in place except for one other detail. According to the mileage on the map, the entire loop should have been about 8 miles at the most. Well, with approximately 2 miles remaining to go and the gps indicating that I had already been 8 miles, it became apparent that it was going to be longer than the map suggested. I suddenly felt rather tired and searched deep within to attempt to recall exactly why it is I like doing this to myself, but looking back it was yet another awesome experience, and a great accomplishment for a dayhike.
This photo was taken from the top of Shining Rock looking SSW towards Black Balsam, which is in the background rising to 6,214 ft.
