Black Balsam-Graveyard Fields Loop, Haywood County (5-27-14)
Read MoreGraveyard Ridge Trail (5,430')
Making the easy rock-hop across the headwaters of Dark Prong...
Pisgah National ForestPisgah Ranger DistrictBlue Ridge ParkwayArt LoebSouthern Sixerwildflowerwaterfallsouthern baldBrevardWaynesvilleCantonloggingwildfireShining RockMountains to Seaheath bald
Graveyard Ridge Trail (5,400')
Now ascending slightly from the Dark Prong Crossing, Tennent Mountain dominated the skyline behind me...
Pisgah National ForestPisgah Ranger DistrictBlue Ridge ParkwayArt LoebSouthern Sixerwildflowerwaterfallsouthern baldBrevardWaynesvilleCantonloggingwildfireShining RockMountains to Seaheath bald
Graveyard Ridge Trail (5,440')
From this spot I could see back to the open, rocky ridge I had descended from Tennent earlier...
Pisgah National ForestPisgah Ranger DistrictBlue Ridge ParkwayArt LoebSouthern Sixerwildflowerwaterfallsouthern baldBrevardWaynesvilleCantonloggingwildfireShining RockMountains to Seaheath bald
Graveyard Ridge Trail (5,450')
The Graveyard Ridge Trail just north of its junction with the MST...
Pisgah National ForestPisgah Ranger DistrictBlue Ridge ParkwayArt LoebSouthern Sixerwildflowerwaterfallsouthern baldBrevardWaynesvilleCantonloggingwildfireShining RockMountains to Seaheath bald
Graveyard Ridge Trail (5,450')
A thick, dark tangle of rhododendron to my right contrasts with the relatively airy and bright deciduous forest above and to my left...
Pisgah National ForestPisgah Ranger DistrictBlue Ridge ParkwayArt LoebSouthern Sixerwildflowerwaterfallsouthern baldBrevardWaynesvilleCantonloggingwildfireShining RockMountains to Seaheath bald
Graveyard Ridge Trail (5,450')
Breaking out of the trees onto a large grassy lawn a the junction of the Graveyard Ridge Trail and the Mountains-to-Sea Trail (MST). The GRT continues straight ahead, which I'd be using on my return hike. I'd instead be turning left here onto the MST for the next 2-miles or so...
Pisgah National ForestPisgah Ranger DistrictBlue Ridge ParkwayArt LoebSouthern Sixerwildflowerwaterfallsouthern baldBrevardWaynesvilleCantonloggingwildfireShining RockMountains to Seaheath bald
Graveyard Ridge Trail (5,450')
Looking back to Tennent Mountain from the GRT/MST Trail junction...
Pisgah National ForestPisgah Ranger DistrictBlue Ridge ParkwayArt LoebSouthern Sixerwildflowerwaterfallsouthern baldBrevardWaynesvilleCantonloggingwildfireShining RockMountains to Seaheath bald
Mountains-to-Sea Trail (5,450')
The point at which I realized my planned 8-mile loop was actually a 10-mile loop. I had somehow misread my map and thought it was a mile-ish from here to Graveyard...oops...
Pisgah National ForestPisgah Ranger DistrictBlue Ridge ParkwayArt LoebSouthern Sixerwildflowerwaterfallsouthern baldBrevardWaynesvilleCantonloggingwildfireShining RockMountains to Seaheath bald
Mountains-to-Sea Trail (5,450')
Heading east now on the MST, I was immediately plunged into a narrow rhododendron tunnel. For I'd say about half the time I'd spend on the MST this day, this would be what my surroundings were like...
Pisgah National ForestPisgah Ranger DistrictBlue Ridge ParkwayArt LoebSouthern Sixerwildflowerwaterfallsouthern baldBrevardWaynesvilleCantonloggingwildfireShining RockMountains to Seaheath bald
Mountains-to-Sea Trail (5,480')
Any brief break in the vegetation was cause to attempt a picture though it usually meant stretching and contorting myself to get a decent angle through the leaves...
Pisgah National ForestPisgah Ranger DistrictBlue Ridge ParkwayArt LoebSouthern Sixerwildflowerwaterfallsouthern baldBrevardWaynesvilleCantonloggingwildfireShining RockMountains to Seaheath bald
Mountains-to-Sea Trail (5,500')
Trillium!!! I had as yet missed out on seeing any trillium this year so I was quite excited to still find a good number of Painted Trilliums to keep me company along this tretch of the hike...
Pisgah National ForestPisgah Ranger DistrictBlue Ridge ParkwayArt LoebSouthern Sixerwildflowerwaterfallsouthern baldBrevardWaynesvilleCantonloggingwildfireShining RockMountains to Seaheath bald
Mountains-to-Sea Trail (5,500')
A closer look at a stunning Trillium undulatum...
Pisgah National ForestPisgah Ranger DistrictBlue Ridge ParkwayArt LoebSouthern Sixerwildflowerwaterfallsouthern baldBrevardWaynesvilleCantonloggingwildfireShining RockMountains to Seaheath bald
Mountains-to-Sea Trail (5,520')
For the most part the MST follows a pretty level grade along the north side of Graveyard Ridge with only a few short climbs...
Pisgah National ForestPisgah Ranger DistrictBlue Ridge ParkwayArt LoebSouthern Sixerwildflowerwaterfallsouthern baldBrevardWaynesvilleCantonloggingwildfireShining RockMountains to Seaheath bald
Mountains-to-Sea Trail (5,500')
This was perhaps the best view I got along this stretch of trail, across to Ivestor Ridge and back up to Tennent Mountain (6,040'). Grassy Cove Top (also 6,040') rises in the distance...
Pisgah National ForestPisgah Ranger DistrictBlue Ridge ParkwayArt LoebSouthern Sixerwildflowerwaterfallsouthern baldBrevardWaynesvilleCantonloggingwildfireShining RockMountains to Seaheath bald
Mountains-to-Sea Trail (5,500')
Continuing to tunnel...
Pisgah National ForestPisgah Ranger DistrictBlue Ridge ParkwayArt LoebSouthern Sixerwildflowerwaterfallsouthern baldBrevardWaynesvilleCantonloggingwildfireShining RockMountains to Seaheath bald
Mountains-to-Sea Trail (5,450')
An opening suitable for a panorama along the MST on the north side of Graveyard Ridge...
Pisgah National ForestPisgah Ranger DistrictBlue Ridge ParkwayArt LoebSouthern Sixerwildflowerwaterfallsouthern baldBrevardWaynesvilleCantonloggingwildfireShining RockMountains to Seaheath bald
Mountains-to-Sea Trail (5,400')
Now on the descent once again, the sun was breaking through again bathing me in green...
Pisgah National ForestPisgah Ranger DistrictBlue Ridge ParkwayArt LoebSouthern Sixerwildflowerwaterfallsouthern baldBrevardWaynesvilleCantonloggingwildfireShining RockMountains to Seaheath bald
Mountains-to-Sea Trail (5,200')
After a rather unexpected, steep switchbacked descent I reached the eastern junction of the MST and Graveyard Ridge Trail. I'd be following the GRT back but first I'd continue a bit farther down into Graveyard Fields itself...
Pisgah National ForestPisgah Ranger DistrictBlue Ridge ParkwayArt LoebSouthern Sixerwildflowerwaterfallsouthern baldBrevardWaynesvilleCantonloggingwildfireShining RockMountains to Seaheath bald
Mountains-to-Sea Trail (5,150')
The forest in these parts is really struggling to recover from the logging and subsequent fires which ravaged it in the last century. Young stands of beech trees like this provide hope that it is slowly gaining ground and on its way to better days ahead...
Pisgah National ForestPisgah Ranger DistrictBlue Ridge ParkwayArt LoebSouthern Sixerwildflowerwaterfallsouthern baldBrevardWaynesvilleCantonloggingwildfireShining RockMountains to Seaheath bald
Mountains-to-Sea Trail (5,100')
This interesting multi-stemmed oak no doubt sprouted from an old, long-decayed stump...
Pisgah National ForestPisgah Ranger DistrictBlue Ridge ParkwayArt LoebSouthern Sixerwildflowerwaterfallsouthern baldBrevardWaynesvilleCantonloggingwildfireShining RockMountains to Seaheath bald
Mountains-to-Sea Trail (5,100')
Though much of the forest around here is in recovery, there were a few impressively large specimens that managed to survive the turbulent past century. This gnarled old maple was at least 2-feet in diameter...
Pisgah National ForestPisgah Ranger DistrictBlue Ridge ParkwayArt LoebSouthern Sixerwildflowerwaterfallsouthern baldBrevardWaynesvilleCantonloggingwildfireShining RockMountains to Seaheath bald
Mountains-to-Sea Trail (5,080')
The big kahuna in these parts was this huge hemlock which has somehow even managed to ward off the devastating hemlock woolly adelgid that has killed off so many of its kin. I didn't have a yard-stick but by estimating with my hiking pole this big guy was 32"+ across at chest height!!
Pisgah National ForestPisgah Ranger DistrictBlue Ridge ParkwayArt LoebSouthern Sixerwildflowerwaterfallsouthern baldBrevardWaynesvilleCantonloggingwildfireShining RockMountains to Seaheath bald
Mountains-to-Sea Trail (5,050')
When the sun did break out the fresh spring greens really made my surroundings something special...
Pisgah National ForestPisgah Ranger DistrictBlue Ridge ParkwayArt LoebSouthern Sixerwildflowerwaterfallsouthern baldBrevardWaynesvilleCantonloggingwildfireShining RockMountains to Seaheath bald
Mountains-to-Sea Trail (5,000')
1.8 miles from where I left the Graveyard Ridge Trail on the MST I reached the MST connector which would take me over to Graveyard Fields...
Pisgah National ForestPisgah Ranger DistrictBlue Ridge ParkwayArt LoebSouthern Sixerwildflowerwaterfallsouthern baldBrevardWaynesvilleCantonloggingwildfireShining RockMountains to Seaheath bald
Mountains-to-Sea Connector Trail (5,000')
A pleasant treat...a Catawba Rhododendron in full bloom...
Pisgah National ForestPisgah Ranger DistrictBlue Ridge ParkwayArt LoebSouthern Sixerwildflowerwaterfallsouthern baldBrevardWaynesvilleCantonloggingwildfireShining RockMountains to Seaheath bald
Mountains-to-Sea Connector Trail (5,000')
Just before reaching the Graveyard Fields Loop I passed this enormous, intricately fissured rock...
Pisgah National ForestPisgah Ranger DistrictBlue Ridge ParkwayArt LoebSouthern Sixerwildflowerwaterfallsouthern baldBrevardWaynesvilleCantonloggingwildfireShining RockMountains to Seaheath bald
Mountains-to-Sea Connector Trail (5,000')
Arriving on the rocky banks of Yellowstone Prong at Graveyard Fields...
Pisgah National ForestPisgah Ranger DistrictBlue Ridge ParkwayArt LoebSouthern Sixerwildflowerwaterfallsouthern baldBrevardWaynesvilleCantonloggingwildfireShining RockMountains to Seaheath bald
Mountains-to-Sea Connector Trail (5,000')
Yellowstone Prong is strewn with huge boulders allowing me to hop out to the middle for a look down from the top of Second Falls...
Pisgah National ForestPisgah Ranger DistrictBlue Ridge ParkwayArt LoebSouthern Sixerwildflowerwaterfallsouthern baldBrevardWaynesvilleCantonloggingwildfireShining RockMountains to Seaheath bald
Graveyard Fields Loop Trail (4,980')
No visit to Graveyard Fields is complete without a stop at the humbly-named yet spectacular Second Falls...
Pisgah National ForestPisgah Ranger DistrictBlue Ridge ParkwayArt LoebSouthern Sixerwildflowerwaterfallsouthern baldBrevardWaynesvilleCantonloggingwildfireShining RockMountains to Seaheath bald
Graveyard Fields Loop Trail (4,920')
Second Falls...how the first visitor to this beautiful cascade couldn't come up with anything more unique than Second Falls is beyond me...
Pisgah National ForestPisgah Ranger DistrictBlue Ridge ParkwayArt LoebSouthern Sixerwildflowerwaterfallsouthern baldBrevardWaynesvilleCantonloggingwildfireShining RockMountains to Seaheath bald
Second Falls, Graveyard Fields (4,920')
Second Falls, Graveyard Fields (4,920') - A picture perfect lunch spot alongside Second Falls...
Pisgah National ForestPisgah Ranger DistrictBlue Ridge ParkwayArt LoebSouthern Sixerwildflowerwaterfallsouthern baldBrevardWaynesvilleCantonloggingwildfireShining RockMountains to Seaheath bald
Second Falls, Graveyard Fields (4,920')
The most amazing thing about being here wasn't the scenery but that I was alone. Graveyards Fields at this time of the year is typically swarming with visitors (I usually stay away in the summer). To accommodate all these visitors the park service is enlarging the parking area off the Parkway which has closed it to visitors temporarily during construction. So, if you're willing to walk a few extra miles you can enjoy a summer of solitude this year at Graveyard Fields...a rare experience indeed!...
Pisgah National ForestPisgah Ranger DistrictBlue Ridge ParkwayArt LoebSouthern Sixerwildflowerwaterfallsouthern baldBrevardWaynesvilleCantonloggingwildfireShining RockMountains to Seaheath bald
Graveyard Fields Loop Trail (5,000')
Finished with lunch, I headed back up to the loop and passed by a stream crossing area that had previously been terribly torn up by visitors choosing their own way across. A new boardwalk across the wetland area seems to have done the trick solving the problem and the landscape seems to be recovering nicely...
Pisgah National ForestPisgah Ranger DistrictBlue Ridge ParkwayArt LoebSouthern Sixerwildflowerwaterfallsouthern baldBrevardWaynesvilleCantonloggingwildfireShining RockMountains to Seaheath bald
Graveyard Fields Loop Trail (5,000')
Passing the two-part wooden bridge that crosses Yellowstone Prong above Second Falls...
Pisgah National ForestPisgah Ranger DistrictBlue Ridge ParkwayArt LoebSouthern Sixerwildflowerwaterfallsouthern baldBrevardWaynesvilleCantonloggingwildfireShining RockMountains to Seaheath bald
Graveyard Fields Loop Trail (5,000')
Into the fields...
Pisgah National ForestPisgah Ranger DistrictBlue Ridge ParkwayArt LoebSouthern Sixerwildflowerwaterfallsouthern baldBrevardWaynesvilleCantonloggingwildfireShining RockMountains to Seaheath bald
Graveyard Fields Loop Trail (5,000')
A patch of strongly-scented Galax sending up its own spring flowers...
Pisgah National ForestPisgah Ranger DistrictBlue Ridge ParkwayArt LoebSouthern Sixerwildflowerwaterfallsouthern baldBrevardWaynesvilleCantonloggingwildfireShining RockMountains to Seaheath bald
Graveyard Fields Loop Trail (5,020')
A split-rail fence is an aesthetically pleasing way to keep folks on the trail...
Pisgah National ForestPisgah Ranger DistrictBlue Ridge ParkwayArt LoebSouthern Sixerwildflowerwaterfallsouthern baldBrevardWaynesvilleCantonloggingwildfireShining RockMountains to Seaheath bald
Graveyard Fields Loop Trail (5,020')
Entering the shrubby surroundings of Graveyard Fields itself...
Pisgah National ForestPisgah Ranger DistrictBlue Ridge ParkwayArt LoebSouthern Sixerwildflowerwaterfallsouthern baldBrevardWaynesvilleCantonloggingwildfireShining RockMountains to Seaheath bald
Graveyard Fields Loop Trail (5,040')
The grasses and low shrubs of Graveyard Fields tell of a turbulent past in an area that should be thickly forested. Heavily logged in the early 1900's the valley was reduced to slash piles and bare stumps once the loggers had left (resembling a graveyard, thus its morbid name). Inevitably, fire followed the loggers and the one that sprung up here early last century was so intense that it actually sterilized the soil. With little if any nutrients left to feed them only the hardiest plants have managed to recover and it will be a long, long time before anything resembling a healthy forest will be found here once again...
Pisgah National ForestPisgah Ranger DistrictBlue Ridge ParkwayArt LoebSouthern Sixerwildflowerwaterfallsouthern baldBrevardWaynesvilleCantonloggingwildfireShining RockMountains to Seaheath bald
Graveyard Fields Loop Trail (5,040')
A boardwalk protects the fragile plant-life from any further human disturbance...
Pisgah National ForestPisgah Ranger DistrictBlue Ridge ParkwayArt LoebSouthern Sixerwildflowerwaterfallsouthern baldBrevardWaynesvilleCantonloggingwildfireShining RockMountains to Seaheath bald
Graveyard Fields Loop Trail (5,050')
Unfortunately, my time at Graveyard Fields was all to brief. Before climbing my way back out of the valley I stopped for a few more quiet moments along Yellowstone Prong...
Pisgah National ForestPisgah Ranger DistrictBlue Ridge ParkwayArt LoebSouthern Sixerwildflowerwaterfallsouthern baldBrevardWaynesvilleCantonloggingwildfireShining RockMountains to Seaheath bald
Graveyard Fields Loop Trail (5,050')
Here, the Upper Falls and Graveyard Ridge Connector Trails break off in different directions. I'd be following the Connector Trail for a half mile back up onto Graveyard Ridge...
Pisgah National ForestPisgah Ranger DistrictBlue Ridge ParkwayArt LoebSouthern Sixerwildflowerwaterfallsouthern baldBrevardWaynesvilleCantonloggingwildfireShining RockMountains to Seaheath bald
Graveyard Ridge Connector Trail (5,080')
The Connector Trail climbed only gradually at first but gave me some restricted views back across the valley to the Blue Ridge Parkway above...
Pisgah National ForestPisgah Ranger DistrictBlue Ridge ParkwayArt LoebSouthern Sixerwildflowerwaterfallsouthern baldBrevardWaynesvilleCantonloggingwildfireShining RockMountains to Seaheath bald
Graveyard Ridge Connector Trail (5,100')
A few patches of larger trees started mixing in as I climbed, marking places which must have been spared the hottest parts of the fires which consumed the rest of the valley...
Pisgah National ForestPisgah Ranger DistrictBlue Ridge ParkwayArt LoebSouthern Sixerwildflowerwaterfallsouthern baldBrevardWaynesvilleCantonloggingwildfireShining RockMountains to Seaheath bald
Graveyard Ridge Connector Trail (5120')
An opening reveals Graveyard Ridge ahead, where I'd be catching the trail back up to Black Balsam...
Pisgah National ForestPisgah Ranger DistrictBlue Ridge ParkwayArt LoebSouthern Sixerwildflowerwaterfallsouthern baldBrevardWaynesvilleCantonloggingwildfireShining RockMountains to Seaheath bald
Graveyard Ridge Connector Trail (5,200')
After a rather steep but short climb up a particularly washed out bit of trail I once again found myself on the Graveyard Ridge Trail...
Pisgah National ForestPisgah Ranger DistrictBlue Ridge ParkwayArt LoebSouthern Sixerwildflowerwaterfallsouthern baldBrevardWaynesvilleCantonloggingwildfireShining RockMountains to Seaheath bald
Graveyard Ridge Trail (5,200')
I found this stretch of the Graveyard Ridge Trail to be quite enjoyable as gaining a bit of elevation allowed for a cooling breeze on what had turned out to be a very warm day, even for this elevation...
Pisgah National ForestPisgah Ranger DistrictBlue Ridge ParkwayArt LoebSouthern Sixerwildflowerwaterfallsouthern baldBrevardWaynesvilleCantonloggingwildfireShining RockMountains to Seaheath bald
Graveyard Ridge Trail (5,250')
The Graveyard Ridge Trail seemed well-traveled but smooth it was not...
Pisgah National ForestPisgah Ranger DistrictBlue Ridge ParkwayArt LoebSouthern Sixerwildflowerwaterfallsouthern baldBrevardWaynesvilleCantonloggingwildfireShining RockMountains to Seaheath bald