First Trip to Linville Gorge

**PharmGeek** · 04-23-2018, 17:57

2.5 days of hiking in the Linville Gorge for the first time last weekend. We (group of like 9, most had some some or all of the route we did) hiked the “ITAYG” (is that all you got) loop which consists of approximately 20-22 miles of either impressive ascents and descents, 2 river crossings, rugged terrain covering about 5,000 feet of net elevation gain.

I’m still relatively new to backpacking...there was a couple bits of trail that if they were steeper I would be just climbing...crazy (leadmine trail ascending up from the river for example).

It was challenging and constantly rewarding!

You all gave me various good advice here in the past over the last few years about hammock camping in general but also specifics on this particular trip which all helped tremendously!

Avenza worked great btw

River crossing at Spence ridge was just fine - we shuttled the packs where the bridge used to be using a line across and carabiners and just swam ourselves (note - at 200 cfps at Nebo, NC gage a swim from upstream is easy no problem albeit COLD haha).

What an amazing weekend - still am just geeking out about it!

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**Cabmanhang** · 04-23-2018, 18:01

Looks like a good time. Congrats on conquering the terrain.

**TrailSlug** · 04-23-2018, 18:03

Looks like a fun trip. Nice pics. At your age this loop shouldn't have been too bad of a hike. For us middle aged guys that may have hurt a bit.

**PharmGeek** · 04-23-2018, 18:14

Originally Posted by TrailSlug

Looks like a fun trip. Nice pics. At your age this loop shouldn't have been too bad of a hike. For us middle aged guys that may have hurt a bit.

Yeah - it wasn’t too bad for me actually - I mean at the end of the day is was tired!! But I had exercised almost daily for months and so I felt pretty confident.

It was super fun and I want to go back and see more!!

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**zukiguy** · 04-23-2018, 20:56

You stole my thunder.....you guys did the loop counter-clockwise, right? I think we met up with you around the Spence Ridge river crossing. We had planned to do 3 and a half days to really enjoy the scenery but got a weather report via the Sat-gadget my friend had. It was calling for soaking rain and some serious winds. Not a good time to be on the ridgeline. So we had to beat feet and finish up the loop a day sooner.

We were heading back to Wolf Pit trailhead coming out of Table Rock and asked several hikers/climbers about available water. We got lots of responses there was no water and we'd have to carry all we needed. Well, there was plenty at Water-Chim, and Gully Pipe was jetting a solid stream. Overall we crossed plenty of seeps and trickles that we could easily have filtered.

**Shug** · 04-23-2018, 21:40

Ahhhhhh.....you Gorged on the Gorge.
Whooooooo Buddy)))))
Shug

**johnspenn** · 04-24-2018, 06:57

Looks like a great trip, I really want to get up there!

**TallPaul** · 04-24-2018, 08:27

Awesome job. That second photo really shows the vertical-ness.

**PharmGeek** · 04-24-2018, 13:23

Originally Posted by TallPaul

Awesome job. That second photo really shows the vertical-ness.

Thanks! It was such a challenge to capture the immense depth on this trip.

By far that is my favorite photo because it kinda does that job well.

That 0.1 miles of “leadmine trail” is 280 feet of elevation gain. It was like staring at a freaking vertical wall. It was a highlight of the trip honestly for me! At that slope if it continued for 1 mike - it would be an elevation gain of 2800 feet!!

Man - if you tripped up on that bit - dooooooowwwwwnnnn you would go!!

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