Since I had not ever been out to Linville Falls or to Table Rock, we decided to make a day out of it and do both. When we arrived at the trailhead to Linville Falls there was only one car in a parking lot designed for about 100. It was a few short quick walks out to all the different viewpoints and I can only imagine how crowded it must be on a nice spring, summer or fall day.
I also wanted to check out this area to see the hemlocks that were being treated for the woolly adelgid. We saw a bunch of the healthy ones that had been treated by the Parkway (i.e. Mat and his co-worker and boss). You could also look across and down Linville Gorge to see all the dying hemlock trees that hadn't been treated.
Linville Falls was beautiful with a light skiff of snow...we actually thought we were going to be hiking in more snow, but there wasn't much.
We continued on to the Table Rock area...which entails a drive down a dirt road for about 9 miles. We were driving on it for a REALLY long time and came upon a gate. Since it was a nice day, we decided to walk up the road and see if the trailhead was within walking distance. After walking up this section of road that is so steep and so heavily used in the summer that it has been asphalted, we reached the trailhead. We came across a group of about 20 backpackers. Which Madera had a delightful time running through and greeting. After that we had the area to ourselves. It was a beautiful late day walk up to the top.
So beautiful! I love that last pic of you, Amie.
ReplyDeleteAmazing walk during January. I love the picture of the waterfall with the snow on the rocks.
ReplyDeleteYou guys look good too. We had a good time over Christmas. We were glad you were able to make it out.
Talk to you later.