Bald Knob

I had every intention of doing a big road ride this weekend. The Hilly Hellacious was going on and I figured I'd save the thirty bucks and avoid the crowds by doing my own century. I dusted off the road bike with quick little spins around town on Friday and Saturday and then headed up to Frying Pan with Terri and the dog on Saturday afternoon.

It is Autumn in Pisgah and Saturday couldn't have been more beautiful. I'd never been to Frying Pan before and had a good time poking around the area and soaking in the amazing views.









That little taste of Pisgah was enough to make me forget about the silly little road bike and go for a real ride instead. I met up with Cook, Cissy and Jonathon at the Hatchery and we set out to ride some stuff that we don't usually ride.

Everyone rides Davidson River for good reason - it is a kick ass piece of single track and the perfect way to warm up on a cool mountain morning. Shortly up the trail we ran into this dead fall that was requiring a dismount:



A little renegade trail work and five minutes later the trail was clear:



Our destination was the old tower site on Bruce Ridge so we decided to skip the Farlow climb and opted for the more subtle climb up 5003. You can't head all the way to 215 without hitting Summey so that's what we did. The climb up 140 always seems much harder than it should be but Summey was as sweet as it has ever been:





Out on 215 there was the smell of burnt metal and rubber and as we worked our way up the mountain I realized that it was the smell of the brakes from the dozens of motorcycles that were buzzing by us.

Up to Pinhook Gap and then over into the Nantahala National Forest and Bald Knob:



I know there used to be a tower up there but aren't exacty sure if it was on Bald Knob or Bruce Knob. I also know that there is or was some sort of trail going down the ridge that woul connect back up to the undeveloped roads off of 215 further down. So, it sounded like fun. We found the road without a problem and it was a nice climb in an area I don't usually frequent. As we made our way up I was wondering what we would find at the top and how overgrown it might be. When we hit this little meadow I knew it muct be the place:



With long range views of Rosman, Lake Toxaway and Panthertown it is easy to understand why the put a tower there. We did some poking around looking for the trail but weren't able to find it. We found a couple of options that couldhave been it but it is very hard to say and I decided we had better skip what could have been a very long and painful bushwhack. So, back down where we came from. When we got to the gap Cook and Cissy took off for Flat Laurel while Jonathon and myself headed for Butter.

We checked out another road on the way to Indian Creek which has me thinking that some loops do exist on the other side of the road. I'll have to go back with the dog and check it out.

Up Indian Creek for my first time ever and then over to Butter via the 471 alternate (find it on your map!). Climbing up Longbranch I was feeling spent but managed to make the entire climb. 38 miles and 10,000'+ vertical gain. Much better than a road ride!