Black Balsam Knob: March 17th - 19th, 2014

Black Balsam Knob:

Length: 17.6 mi
Max. Elevation Gain: 1214'

The Black Balsam Knob area and Shining Rock Wilderness are a very interesting and unique part of Western North Carolina and the Pisgah National Forest, near Brevard and Waynesville, NC.  The main ridge line extending from Black Balsam Knob to Cold Mountain has large portions which are entirely devoid of trees, resulting in amazing, almost continuously unobstructed panoramic vistas.  I had tried in late January to do some hiking in the area, but unfortunately my wife and I left early as she was feeling sick.  I finally made it back in mid-March, and fortunately the temperatures had warmed up substantially.  

An unfortunate aspect of hiking in the area this time of year is that the Blue Ridge Parkway is typically closed.  Thus, to reach Black Balsam Knob you must either take a side trail or hike along the road.  I initially decided to park at the Blue Ridge Parkway and hike along the road. However, I very shortly discovered that the tripod attachment for my camera was attached to my spotting scope - neatly tucked away back in Atlanta, GA. The afternoon was still young, so I got back in my car and drove to a Best Buy in Waynesville, NC to pick up a spare tripod. An unfortunate expense, but I'm glad I did it considering some of the shots I was able to get on the trip.  

Rather than road-hiking along the mist-shrouded, eerily quiet Blue Ridge Parkway, I decided to take the Flat Laurel Creek Trail, which leaves from NC 215 and heads east into the Black Balsam Knob area via a route which takes you between Sam's Knob and Little Sam's Knob.  The parking lot for this trail is hard to find; it's further north than the Mountains-to-Sea Trail (a.k.a, continue down the mountain if coming from the south).  There's a small dirt turn-off on the right with an even smaller post with a tent symbol - this is the Flat Laurel Creek Trailhead.  If you mark a sharp U-shaped turn to the right, you've gone too far.

The trail begins by immediately crossing the extreme upper reaches of the West Fork of the Pigeon River.  The crossing should be relatively easy, unless there's been an inordinate amount of rainfall in the area.  The trailhead is at approximately 5000' elevation, and slowly climbs to about 5500' in between the the two Sam's Knobs.  The trail follows some sort of old road bed, soon crossing a creek with a nice cascade. Thankfully, there is a very nice concrete bridge at this location - no need for crossing! After about a mile or a mile and a half, Flat Laurel Creek becomes visible and audible down to the left.  A nice cascading waterfall becomes visible soon, and not too long after this point I crossed the creek and took the Sam's Knob Trail.  The opposite side of the creek was somewhat muddy and swampy, and required some uneasy navigation to cross unscathed.  The trail climbs about 100', and a side trail summits to Sam's Knob at 6000' to the left; I continued right, where a large grassy flat awaits. It's an easy 1 mile hike to the Black Balsam Knob parking lot from this location. At this point, the entire range was covered in fog, with very few breaks.

Here's a link to a panoramic shot from the grassy area near Sam's Knob: https://www.flickr.com/photos/pvarney3/13426118065/

Weathered tree near the base of Sam's Knob

I reached the parking area just as near-complete night set in. The fog totally obscured the sunset, SO I wasn't too distraught over not being at a good vantage point for sunset pictures.  I took the Art Loeb Spur Trail from the back of the parking area to the Art Loeb Trail; the trail is steep, rocky, and crowded with thick rhododendrons.  It's very clear when the Art Loeb Trail is reached - the ridge top is almost entirely devoid of trees.  Taking a left soon brought me to another side trail leading to the summit of Black Balsam Knob at 6214'.  Thankfully, there was little wind so setting up the tent solo was no issue. Also, the cold weather and closed Blue Ridge Parkway gave me the entire mountain to myself.

My tent on top of Black Balsam Knob early in the morning, looking west towards GSMNP

The fog cleared sometime in the night, and the full moon was so unbelievably bright that I kept waking up sure it was morning, only to discover that morning was many hours away. Around 5:30 AM I decided to just get out of the tent and try to get some pictures. This was an excellent decision, as the clouds were totally gone and the valleys were filled with thick banks of fog.  There isn't too much rock or bushes on the actual summit of Black Balsam Knob (there is in the area, but I at least couldn't find any near my tent) so I decided to use my tent to provide some interesting foreground elements to the night shot.  

Sunrise from Black Balsam Knob

The sun finally began to rise, and the past hour and a half or so I spent searching for an interesting foreground finally paid off.  The bank of fog in the valleys was slowly rising, obscuring everything to the east, looking towards the Black Mountains and Asheville, NC.  I really liked the trail as a direct foreground, with some type of evergreen tree breaking up the monotony of the mountain/cloud interface. I got the shot I wanted just in time, as the clouds rose further and enshrouded the mountain top. 

Breaking fog from Black Balsam Knob

I returned to my tent, somewhat disappointed that the fog had caused my to miss the actual rising of the sun.  I packed slowly, just waiting for a break in the fog to try to dry out the condensation on the inside and outside of my tent. Around 9:00 AM, the clod banks began to break apart - above is a shot looking east over North Carolina while the fog broke apart over the slopes of Black Balsam Knob.

Similar shot as previously, but during the day time

I gave the sun some time to dry my gear, and then continued my northward hike along the Art Loeb Trail.  The trail winds across the top of Black Balsam Knob, before sharply descending in a very, very water-worn trail down to the gap between Black Balsam Knob and Tennent Mountain.  The trail here was so eroded that the dirt rose several feet on each side, with extremely thick shrubby rhododendrons on every side. The fog on the mountain tops was gone, but still remained in the valleys.  Some interesting rock provided a nice foreground for a day-time shot of the mountains, with a little good color from various reddish-yellow shrubs.

Gap between Black Balsam Knob and Tennent Mountain

View from Tennent Mountain

The trail climbs steeply from the gap to the top of Tennent Mountain, which is much smaller than the summit of Black Balsam Knob, and has some interesting rock formations.  I decided that this would be a good location to return at night for some sunset shots.   I continued down the trail towards a stand of trees visible in Ivestor Gap, as one lucky wind-free night on Black Balsam Knob is enough to ensure gales the next night. The stand of trees made a great, protected spot from the soon-to-begin wind. I set up camp and explored a few miles north to Shining Rock Gap. I hiked to Shining Rock Gap on the wide Ivestor Trail, which is almost assuredly an old road of some sorts. The trail hugs the western side of Shining Rock Ledge, with occasional views to the west.  There are also some springs along this trail, some very near to Ivestor Gap.

Entrance into the Shining Rock Wilderness at Ivestor Gap

I turned around at Shining Rock Gap (which is not grassy, but tree-covered), and headed back to my campsite via the Art Loeb Trail.  The fog was periodically covering the mountains at this point, as I made my way over Flower Knob and into Flower Gap (which had several nice camping spots).  The trail then climbs sharply to the summit of Grassy Cove Top, which instead of being grassy is covered in incredibly thick rhododendrons of some variety.  The trail then descends back to Ivestor Gap via the heavily eroded, rocky, and muddy Art Loeb Trail.

I sat around the campsite and read some before making dinner, anticipating the coming sunset. My only human 'contact' of the trip happened at this time, as a group of college aged guys hiked past the grove of trees on the Art Loeb Trail - they didn't notice me, so I kept quiet. I headed up to Tennent Mountain to await the sunset, and the wind gradually increased, bringing some bitterly cold wind chills. The sunset was decent - nothing extremely spectacular, but any sunset in this area gives great photo opportunity. Below is three shots from the sunset, one looking towards the pink sky behind me, and one looking towards the sunset along the Art Loeb Trail. I'm a fan of the last shot, which really shows the reason why these mountains are called the 'Blue Ridge' mountains.  The night was cold and windy, and I hiked out before sunrise the next morning because of the constant wind and fog cover - no need waiting for the sunrise!

Sunset from Tennent Mountain

Sun setting over the Art Loeb Trail from Tennent Mountain

The appropriately-named Blue Ridge Mountains