Charles Bunion With The Magnificent Seven

Saturday, July 9th, maybe we were too bleary-eyed at 6:30am to spot anything in each other that  might indicate a great hike was in store. After all, it was just John-the-man-loves-puddin'-Rowland, our intrepid leader (filling in for Michelle who had an injury), Bill-the-steady-eddy, Monty-always-on-the-spot, Doug-bandana-wearer-extraordinaire, Rudy-I'm-young-and-eager, Kathy-pick-me-up, and Reggie-never-stops who met to drive the 3+ hours to Newfound Gap. We arrived at the jammed full parking lot and fought our way through the crowds to jump on the trail about 10:15am. Just a few yards from the lot, we began to climb and the congested crowds and their sounds dropped away. We were left with our huffing and puffing as we ascended the rocky 1.7 miles to the first trail intersection.

We eased over a little dog-leg path to check out the view, but alas, the fog hovered.

 Here, we regrouped and then continued on toward the Icewater Spring Shelter, another 1.3 miles.

Leaving from the shelter, we followed the trail down to the actual pipe that emerges from the spring. Of course, John had to make sure the name still applied: Icewater. Yes, he announced, it did!

The path from here is rocky as it descends, then climbs a little toward the Charles Bunion. We spied turks cap lily as we continued, and then now along the spine of the ridge, we could see the fog was lifting in spits and spurts. We hoped for a bit of a view for our efforts!

Maybe, we had a little more spring in our step as we left the AT at the sign to Charles Bunion, and we had earned our hopeful views as we headed toward the rocky edifice.

We arrived to find the 'Bunion' swarmed with folks; waiting patiently for the promised views. We settled down for lunch around the bend and got a few sights of the mountains surrounding the jot of rock. Camera-ready, I felt like an old biddie ready to pounce on the youthful girl who might show a bit of ankle in her flirty dress.

Ultimately, we decided there would have to be another hike to Charles Bunion for the much hoped-for views! We said good-bye and headed out after Reggie and Kathy clambered up the rock and Doug took a picture. The trip back was a lot easier than the trip up as we only had the one little leg up to Icewater Spring that was a climb. We made it back to the cars and headed out at 4:00pm. John arranged for us to stop at Subway which we all enjoyed; however, the Chronicler has to once again insist that she only had 1 whole scoop of ice cream: it just looked like 2 :-).

 Here are a few items that struck my fancy on the way back down to the trailhead:



Lichen? on a big rock

Soft Moss on Hard Rock




Dodder

The Woods

Bill on the path

Sweet nothings hiding in the clover



Still striving for that blue sky



Finally...the view!

Ace Gap Trail Is Ace In The Hole

Early on Friday, the 21st, seven members of CHC headed for Townsend to hike Ace Gap. We turned on Tuckaleechee Road and after a bit of a search, we found ourselves at the park boundary and a small parking lot that serves both Ace Gap and Rich Mountain Trails. Wayne had already announced the trail wasn't known for wildflowers so when we immediately spotted trilliums and mayapples, we were a bit surprised. Again, we were struck by the vivid pink's of some of the trilliums.

The trail starts out near a sink and gently winds the slope of the ridge. We soon spotted wild geranium and loads of fire pink! Continuing on, we spotted a bristly locust, a flower Deb and Che had not seen before so we had to stop and consult the 'book'.

After an gradual descent, we found ourselves on a little path, surrounded by dwarf-crested iris on the forest floor with patches of ladyslippers thrown in for surprise. The trail made a left curve here and soon we were at Kelly Gap campsite.  As we climbed, we realized we were near a large house that sits within sight, and we could see where the trail had been rerouted. Then it was a long, gradual descent where we had our first sighting of the season of flame azalea.

Our knees appreciated the going down, but we good-naturedly teased Wayne about what that might mean on the way out. We spied ranges of mountains beyond the trees to the left, and wondered if it might be the community called 'Top Of The World' (special place to Deb). Finally, we leveled out at a very nice camp site with an actual picnic bench. From here, we had another spell of climbing before our descent to the intersection of Ace Gap and Beard Cane Trail.

The Gap is 5.6 miles from Rich Mountain Road. We made a decision to get at least one of the climbs out the way before lunch, so we turned around and started back for the last campsite with the nice bench. It seemed a lot farther than we remembered, but we got there and settled down for lunch. Kathy claimed the bench and the rest settled down (or was it the other way around?). For some reason, the sight of Reggie on her little stool seems funny! Hmnnn...

She found out that sitting between Wayne and Che can be a dangerous thing with food flying overhead!




















Wayne loved the flame azalea's when some of the group took off on a bit of a bushwhack up the ridge. We found squaw root and more fire pink. 11+ miles and Wayne score's another hit with the group!