![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
flyminion
Today, I decided to begin my swimming hole explorations of the lower section of Linville Gorge (i.e., downstream of the Conley Cove Trail). I didn’t bother with this section of the gorge last summer because I hadn’t really researched it, and I assumed the river would be relatively mundane through this area. In the upper section of the gorge, the river snakes around several peninsulas while losing over 1000 feet of elevation between Linville Falls and Conley Cove over near-continuous class III-V rapids, which is conducive to geologically interesting swimming holes in low summer flows. Below Conley Cove, the river still loses about 700 feet of elevation over the 8-ish miles to Lake James, but it follows a relatively straight path through boulder-strewn areas with few named rapids. I had scanned Google Earth and marked 14 points of interest (POIs) in the lower gorge, which are numbered from downstream to upstream. My original plan was to do a winter hike to scout them out and determine which ones warranted further exploration in the summertime, since the summer foliage makes it difficult to see the river from the Linville Gorge Trail (LGT). However, I got sick over Christmas break, and the weather/my schedule were uncooperative after that, so I didn’t end up getting down there.Accessing the gorge floor downstream of Conley Cove is more practical (er, direct) from the west rim, where there are four rim-to-floor trails (that I know of): The North Carolina Mountains to Sea Trail (MST), White Oak Stand Trail (aka the Unnamed Trail), Pinch-In Trail, and Conley Cove Trail. POIs 1-3 are in the two-ish mile stretch between White Oak and Pinch In, 4-12 are in the 3-mile stretch between Pinch-In and Conley Cove, and 13-14 are just upstream of Conley Cove. I’ll still probably save 4-12 for a winter scouting trip, given the impracticality of checking out 9 POIs without a clear view, but I figured I could do POIs 1-3 as an out-and-back hike from the White Oak Stand Trail. Allen T. Hyde’s book The Linville Gorge and Wilson Creek Hikers Guide: An Introduction also mentions two spots in this section called Blue Hole and Lunch Rock, so those were on my to-do list as well. I chose to do this hike today because I didn’t have any major expectations. I was mainly just hoping to find a nice pool where I could lie around and catch tan. The flow as of this morning was about 90 cfs, which was a bit higher than any of my previous excursions, but I wasn’t necessarily concerned since this would likely be a less turbulent stretch of river.
I drove to Greensboro last night and spent the night at my stepmom’s house to get a head start this morning. I got up an hour later than I meant to, because the 9 on the alarm clock looked like an 8 without my glasses, so I didn’t end up leaving until 11:00 AM. Also, I neglected to get gas when I stopped for lunch, thinking I could just do it when I got off the Interstate. However, my exit didn’t have a gas station, but I still had a quarter tank, so I thought I might come across one at one of the major intersections near Lake James. I didn't, but I was almost there (as the crow flies), so I figured I had enough. However, when I started up the road when NC 105 turned to gravel, the needle was on the 1 gallon mark, and the warning light was coming on. I thought this might be because the steep incline was causing the gas to pool in the back of the tank, but it didn’t seem to go back up when the road leveled out, so I decided to play it safe and turn back for gas, even though I only had 2.5 more miles to the trailhead. The needle went back up to about 3 gallons when I got back on the paved road, but the warning light came back on before I reached the nearest station, which was 18 minutes away. It ended up being a 40 minute detour. It was also one of those stations with the old manual pumps, which always reminds me what a millennial cidiot I am. I then got stuck behind a truck hauling a boat on the way back to the trailhead.
I drove to the spot I had marked in the GPS for the White Oak Stand Trailhead, but I saw no apparent trail. I drove about 800 feet further and parked at the next obvious pullout thinking that was it, but I didn’t see it, so I drove back to the last pullout I had seen before that. Since it was technically an unnamed trail, I figured it was probably nondescript, so I got out and started walking along the road looking for it. I found it right across from where I had first parked (not sure how I missed it). I followed the trail a short distance to the top of some cliffs that offered a good view of Shortoff Mountain.
I couldn’t figure out where the trail went from here, because the only way forward was to climb down the cliffs. I was so high up that I could clearly see the ridge that the trail was supposed to follow, and it was to the right of the cliffs. I had seen what I thought was a narrow dead-end side trail a short distance back, and I realized that it was probably the “real” trail, so I went back and took it. It was relatively flat for a couple hundred feet, but then it was basically about at 45-degree incline down the hill. My foot immediately went out from under me, but I caught myself on a tree. I want to say it was not quite as treacherous as the Cabin Trail, but easily worse than any of the other rim-to-river trails I’ve been on so far (Devil’s Hole, Babel Tower, Spence Ridge). The first third of the trail was like this, and then it entered a dry, piney area where it became slightly less steep with a couple of very brief flat sections (but it was still a slip hazard due to all the dry pine needles covering the trail). The final third of the trail descended through bottomland hardwoods until intersecting with the Linville Gorge Trail (LGT) at the gorge floor. It was now almost 4:00 PM.
The Blue Hole and POI 1 were a short distance downstream of the trail junction, so I decided to start with those and work my way upstream. The river went around a small island, and POI 1 was at the downstream end of it. The river-right side of the island was very low-flow, so I was able to cross the cobblestone bed with dry feet and take a faint path to a campsite next to POI 1. It was a legit swimming hole with some rocks on the opposite side that offered potential jumps of about 7 feet.
I swam across the pool and snorkeled the rocky area. It was mostly shallow up against the rocks, but there was one area where the bottom dropped down to about 10 feet. There were some logs and sticks on the bottom, but most were at least 8 feet down. This was below the section of rock that looks like it has vegetation growing all over it (near the middle-right in the photo below), but up close it didn’t look like the vegetation would obstruct jumping.
I jumped once and decided to head back up to the Blue Hole, which was only a few hundred feet upstream. It seemed like I could just follow the path through the network of campsites on the island to get there, but it gave out, so I bushwhacked back down to the river and just walked upstream.
The Blue Hole (which wasn’t very blue) also had some small cliffs on the river-left side, but you would have to jump out at least 10 feet to clear the rocks at the bottom, so this one looked like a no-go for jumping. It was still a legit swimming hole, though. It looked at least 10 feet deep in the middle.
I was tired and chilly by this point (the water felt to be in the mid-60s), so I got out and continued upstream to the Lunch Rock.
It didn’t have a swimming hole, so I continued on to POI 2, which is in the area of Daffodil Flats. The area was flat with a lot of herbaceous vegetation (ferns and whatnot), but I didn’t see many daffodils. Maybe they’re obscured by all the other vegetation in the summer.
When I got to the vicinity of POI 2, I noticed a side trail which led to a large open area with several campsites. I followed the network of paths until I came out at a nice pool with a sandy beach.
Once again, this one had cliffs up to about 10 feet on the river-left. Also once again, the rocks jutted out too far underwater for jumping to be safe in much of this area. There was one spot where the water was about 8 feet deep with a sandy bottom if you leapt out far enough, but there was only a certain area where you could land safely without hitting the jutting rocks. I climbed up and thought about jumping, but it was hard to see where the safe landing zone was, so I didn’t try it. I would have needed another person to stand in the water and show me where to jump.
It was now about 4:50 PM. The sun had been in and out of the clouds. I was cold and tired of swimming, and it was clear that there wasn’t going to be much tan to catch, so I decided to check out POI 3. It was located in a flat bottomland area about a quarter mile downstream of the Pinch-In Trail junction. However, I could tell from the map that the LGT bypassed the bottomland area from about 60-80 feet above. As I got to the beginning of it, I spotted a dry, rocky stream bed and a fairly open area of the woods that looked like serviceable ways down. After bypassing about a quarter of the bottomland and seeing no obvious paths, I decided to turn back and try the open-ish area through the woods. I took the path of least resistance and made my way down a couple of steep spots to the river’s edge. It was now about 5:40 PM.
I creek-walked a short distance upstream to POI 3. It looked similar to the Blue Hole and POI 2.
The rocks on the river-left weren’t very high, except for one section about 10-12 feet high near the upstream end of the pool.
I snorkeled it, and it looked like the only potentially jumpable area was cluttered by a dead tree that had fallen across the cliff. It looked like you might be able to jump off the tree, but the water was mostly shallow in any potential landing areas. I can’t remember if there were areas where you could land safely. The pool was deep in the middle, but I think the deepest spot near the tree was maybe only 7 feet or so. After I got out, I took the water temperature, and it was 64.5 °F.
There was a campsite with a fire ring next to this spot (and some trash), so I spent a short amount of time looking for a more established path back to the LGT, but I didn’t spot one, so I went back the way I came.
My plan was to take one final dip in POI 2 to get cold before I started back up the White Oak Stand Trail. I could see through the trees that the setting sun was now illuminating Shortoff Mountain, so I was hoping to get back to the top of the gorge before the sun set.
It was about 7:00 PM by the time I finished swimming in POI 2 and changed back into my hiking boots, so I figured I probably wouldn’t make it back up before the sun set. On the other hand, the longest day of the year is less than two weeks away, so there was hope.
As I started ascending the White Oak Stand Trail, I thought it was a little strenuous, but not too bad. It was definitely a workout when I passed through the dry piney area, and I was hoping my observation on the way in had been wrong about this being less intense than the top third of the trail. Unfortunately, my memory served me correctly. I don’t usually have to stop and take breaks, but it was pretty grueling. From an endurance standpoint, it made the Cabin Trail seem moderate. I think it might be the most grueling, exhausting trail I’ve ever done. Then again, maybe it was the air quality (we’re currently under an advisory from the wildfire smoke in Canada). Either way, my legs are going to hate me when I do another strenuous trek tomorrow. I finally reached the top shortly before 8:00 PM and was immediately sad that I had parked the car a quarter mile down the road from the trailhead.
I got to the Shortoff Mountain overlook at 8:05 PM, and there was just enough sun left to illuminate the upper cliffs. The smoke haze made the view less than crisp, though.
I drove to Marion and stopped at Sonic, because I wanted to try their Strawberry Shortcake Snowball Slush Float. At first I thought I hadn’t “earned” it (i.e., worked up enough of a calorie deficit after having Chili’s last night), because I only hiked 6.7 miles, but after ascending the White Oak Stand Trail, I’m pretty sure I burned off all the Chili’s and then some. However, Sonic was out of the strawberry floats, which I was low key pissed about. I decided my consolation prize would be a mint chocolate chip shake from Cookout (conveniently located next door), and they were sooo slow. I ate my entire bacon cheeseburger and tots while I waited in the drive-thru line. The shake didn’t really hit the spot like it normally does, since that wasn’t what I had my heart set on.
In summary, POIs 1-3 and the Blue Hole were all legit swimming holes, but they were all kind of similar: large pools with rocky areas on the opposite side that offered low but somewhat sketchy jumps of 7-10 feet. I would say the best overall was POI 2, followed by POI 1. POI 3 required a slight bushwhack to get to, and the Blue Hole was mostly lined with herbaceous vegetation on the river-right side, making access annoying. Given that the swimming holes are fairly mundane, and the hike to access them is grueling, I would say they’re not worth the effort of a day trip. They are all located behind primitive campsites, so they would make nice bonuses for campers and backpackers, but I wouldn’t recommend making a special trip for them if your main objective is to go swimming.
