We went to Linville Gorge Nov. 7-9 for a 3 day hiking/backpack trip. You always worry about Linville this time of year because the weather can be unpredictable at best. We hiked in the East side on Friday night to Shortoff mountain. We had some minor rain after we got in the tents but woke to cool temps and clear skies on Saturday. We hiked up to Table Rock and had lunch on the summit in bright Sunshine and a cool breeze. Lots of other folks were up there too. That's the trouble with the drive up areas, its a lot of visitors. But after lunch we descended into the Gorge and away from the constant day hikers. We crossed the bridge that was constructed across the Linville River a few years back. We stopped for a while and the entertainment for the day were 2 college age kids jumping into a swimming hole with icy water. Brrrrr. We hiked up the Linville Gorge Trail which parallels the River. As we neared where we had wanted to camp, we noticed a lot of campsites were taken. But we finally got to our site below the Pinch in Trail just before dark. We figured between 16-20 miles. Quite a day in the Gorge. Sunday was supposed to be an easy hike out with a river crossing. We ran into 2 fellows who we thought to be expert trailsmen in the Gorge. Apprently they were not true experts because they pretty well had us lost on a "new" trail. Once we figured out this new trail we got a little "misplaced" on what we thought was the Mountains to Sea Trail. We ended up on private land that borders the Southern end of the Gorge. (The theme of Deliverance is playing in the background). But after an almost vertical climb down a "trail" and a walk out on a road, we were very grateful that one of the guys had his truck nearby. He took two adults with him and picked up our cars. It was a great weekend. Just like they all are in the woods.
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