Linville Gorge - Cabin & Bynum Bluff Trails, Burke County (6-1-13)
Read MoreGotta love Linville Gorge...
LinvillehikePisgah National ForestwildernessHawksbillclimbingHigh CountrywaterfallBabel TowerBynum Bluff
So steep is the trail here, this almost looks like an aerial photo...
LinvillehikePisgah National ForestwildernessHawksbillclimbingHigh CountrywaterfallBabel TowerBynum Bluff
Giving my knees a break on a narrow ledge with an amazing view across to the broad summit of Sitting Bear Mountain (~4,000')...
0640aLinvillehikePisgah National ForestwildernessHawksbillclimbingHigh CountrywaterfallBabel TowerBynum Bluff
I was quite thankful I had decided to use the Cabin Trail for my descent and not my climb out...
LinvillehikePisgah National ForestwildernessHawksbillclimbingHigh CountrywaterfallBabel TowerBynum Bluff
The Cabin Trail as it literally dumped me out onto the Linville Gorge Trail...
LinvillehikePisgah National ForestwildernessHawksbillclimbingHigh CountrywaterfallBabel TowerBynum Bluff
Leaving the Cabin Trail behind I make a hard left onto the Linville Gorge Trail...
LinvillehikePisgah National ForestwildernessHawksbillclimbingHigh CountrywaterfallBabel TowerBynum Bluff
Just because I was now on a marginally more well-traveled trail didn't mean the terrain got any smoother...
LinvillehikePisgah National ForestwildernessHawksbillclimbingHigh CountrywaterfallBabel TowerBynum Bluff
This bulbous fungi is known as a Resinous polypore...new to me!
LinvillehikePisgah National ForestwildernessHawksbillclimbingHigh CountrywaterfallBabel TowerBynum Bluff
No matter where you go in the gorge there are always ghosts of the former hemlock forest wherever you look...
LinvillehikePisgah National ForestwildernessHawksbillclimbingHigh CountrywaterfallBabel TowerBynum Bluff
Passing a rather narrow ledge...
LinvillehikePisgah National ForestwildernessHawksbillclimbingHigh CountrywaterfallBabel TowerBynum Bluff
I'm no geologist but the way the layers of rock were bent and shaped tell of a more violent past to this area...
LinvillehikePisgah National ForestwildernessHawksbillclimbingHigh CountrywaterfallBabel TowerBynum Bluff
Trail crews don't get down here that often so fighting your way through windfall like this isn't all that uncommon in the gorge...
LinvillehikePisgah National ForestwildernessHawksbillclimbingHigh CountrywaterfallBabel TowerBynum Bluff
The Linville Gorge Trail as it wedges itself between a high cliff and even higher tree...
LinvillehikePisgah National ForestwildernessHawksbillclimbingHigh CountrywaterfallBabel TowerBynum Bluff
Everywhere you travel in the gorge are ghostly remnants of the hemlock forests which once thrived here...
LinvillehikePisgah National ForestwildernessHawksbillclimbingHigh CountrywaterfallBabel TowerBynum Bluff
I doubt that some of these dark, shaded rock faces ever dry out...
LinvillehikePisgah National ForestwildernessHawksbillclimbingHigh CountrywaterfallBabel TowerBynum Bluff
As I reached the midpoint along the Linville Gorge Trail, between the Cabin and Bynum Bluff Trails, the path started to descend closer to the river...
LinvillehikePisgah National ForestwildernessHawksbillclimbingHigh CountrywaterfallBabel TowerBynum Bluff
The trail dropped me off atop a large, bare rock outcrop above a point where the Linville River drops over a large ledge at a sharp elbow bend...
LinvillehikePisgah National ForestwildernessHawksbillclimbingHigh CountrywaterfallBabel TowerBynum Bluff
Located at the sharp bend in the Linville River to the south of Bynum Bluff, I have searched for a name to this falls but been unable to find one...
LinvillehikePisgah National ForestwildernessHawksbillclimbingHigh CountrywaterfallBabel TowerBynum Bluff
You'd never guess from this shot that I was sitting at the bottom of one of the deepest, most rugged gorges in the eastern United States. The Linville River flows away to the south in an unnaturally (for it!) calm manner...
0662cLinvillehikePisgah National ForestwildernessHawksbillclimbingHigh CountrywaterfallBabel TowerBynum Bluff
A short vid of my lunch break surroundings below the unnamed falls...
LinvillehikePisgah National ForestwildernessHawksbillclimbingHigh CountrywaterfallBabel TowerBynum Bluff
A wonderful spot for a snack break along the Linville River...
LinvillehikePisgah National ForestwildernessHawksbillclimbingHigh CountrywaterfallBabel TowerBynum Bluff
Yeah, so if you hang a bag to keep it from bears...make sure you yourself can get it back down...
LinvillehikePisgah National ForestwildernessHawksbillclimbingHigh CountrywaterfallBabel TowerBynum Bluff
There was evidence of well-used campsites near the unnamed falls...
LinvillehikePisgah National ForestwildernessHawksbillclimbingHigh CountrywaterfallBabel TowerBynum Bluff
To get up around the unnamed falls the trail had to climb a bit, which offered a nice look downstream...
LinvillehikePisgah National ForestwildernessHawksbillclimbingHigh CountrywaterfallBabel TowerBynum Bluff
It is beyond my comprehension why someone would come to such an amazing natural sanctuary such as this and disrespect it so...
LinvillehikePisgah National ForestwildernessHawksbillclimbingHigh CountrywaterfallBabel TowerBynum Bluff
For a little ways above the falls the Linville Gorge Trail almost hung above the river in places...
LinvillehikePisgah National ForestwildernessHawksbillclimbingHigh CountrywaterfallBabel TowerBynum Bluff
I knew that my uphill climb was soon to begin as I neared the Bynum Bluff Trail so I decided to spend a bit more time lounging and exploring by the river...
LinvillehikePisgah National ForestwildernessHawksbillclimbingHigh CountrywaterfallBabel TowerBynum Bluff
The thickly forested slopes do a good job of hiding just how rugged the walls of this gorge are...
LinvillehikePisgah National ForestwildernessHawksbillclimbingHigh CountrywaterfallBabel TowerBynum Bluff
Groundwater seepage creates countless ribbons of water to spill down an open rock face not far from the river...
LinvillehikePisgah National ForestwildernessHawksbillclimbingHigh CountrywaterfallBabel TowerBynum Bluff
There was no confusing the point at which I was nearing the Bynum Bluff Trail as the Linville Gorge Trail turns its back on the river and begins a leg-straining ascent up the gorge wall...
LinvillehikePisgah National ForestwildernessHawksbillclimbingHigh CountrywaterfallBabel TowerBynum Bluff
Taking a quick breather on the steep but mercifully short climb from the river at a wonderful beauty spot looking upstream. The Bynum Bluffs, which would tower above me later in the hike, can just be seen through the trees to the left...
LinvillehikePisgah National ForestwildernessHawksbillclimbingHigh CountrywaterfallBabel TowerBynum Bluff
Before long the Linville Gorge Trail started to slacken off in its ascent...
LinvillehikePisgah National ForestwildernessHawksbillclimbingHigh CountrywaterfallBabel TowerBynum Bluff