Gingercake Mountain Hike

 I searched Gingercake for a connector over to the Brushy Mountain Trail but I ran into several dead ends or over-grown trails. I even ended up following trails out to roads on the side of the mountain opposite where I started. Any way I ended up at some of my favorite overlooks and was out in the woods for 5.5 hours. Even if I didn't find the elusive trail down to the river, I'd say it was a successful outing.

Starla and I met up with Andy, Autumn, Forest and Mary Ann for a little hike around Mt Mitchell

Andy and Autumn were in from Montana and wanted my opinion on where they could do some car camping with Forest and Mary Ann. They wanted a spot near a mountain creek to cool down in. He was thinking about Upper Creek or Gragg Prong but I suggested down FS 472 by the South Toe since it is high elevation which equals cool temps this time of the year and some great hiking close by. They got a sweet site right at the bottom of Bald Knob Ridge Trail. Starla and I headed out to meet and hang with them on Saturday morning. I brought my acoustic and picked a little bit while we hung out for a while and swapped stories. After about an hour or so of note bending / rhythm and blues and tales of high water escapades, we headed over to the MT Mitchell parking lot and hiked out to Mt Craig then Star and I headed up to the Mt Mitchell peak. The last I saw Andy, he and Autumn were heading back to Forest's campsite to chill in the creek for awhile before heading back to his moms. Good to see all and glad they took my suggestion and were "Happy Campers". 

Good times were had by all!

Just as we left the parking lot and embarked on the trail who do we spot doing the same thing but Dan "The Hiking Man" Narten! And he was on a date with a lovely lady who I had the pleasure to meet. Great minds think alike. It was as close to as perfect a day as I can imagine to be up on the Black Mountain Crest!

Sunday Soul-O Ride. Exceptional weather and trail conditions.

 The temperature through out the day was great for mid July. Trail conditions were dry and fast. I parked at Brown Mtn Beach, Started my ride at 9:30 and rode up Craig Creek, down Raidercamp, over to the South Harper Creek falls, down the rest of Raidercamp, had a dry foot Harper Creek crossing then onto Harper Creek Falls. Back out to Wilson Creek and up Lower Wilson Ridge. I rode up all the way to the clearing and dropped the seat post and dropped back down.

I did some trail maintenance on this section near South Harper Falls. Above is how I found it below is how I left it.

 I usually call the section of Lower Wilson Ridge the Little Spike but considering how far I rode and pushed up it today, it didnt seem very little. I turned around at the clearing:

 I was feeling really good about my riding today until I hit a drop off on Lower Wilson Ridge going too fast and lost control. Considering how fast I was going, I feel lucky to have only skinned my knees and bruised/skinned my forearm, bicep, and shoulder.

More Soul-O's: Sunday, July 5th early morning 30 mile Road Bike Ride and Thursday, July 9 after work 2 hour and 40 minute Mountain Bike Ride At Jonas Ridge

First pic is from my road bike ride on Sunday. I had my best time yet on the 30+ mile loop from home. I finished in under 2 hours and managed not to get rained on.

 Thursday I left Glen Alpine at 4:50 and the temperature was 95 degrees. I started my ride at 5:30 and it was 78 degrees near Jonas Ridge. Got to love the high elevation rides in the middle of the summer. I did Headquarters Mountain and added an out and back to some cliffs for some stellar views of Grandfather Mountain area. I got back to the van at 8:10. Great after work ride!