Great Places
T
PISGAH NATIONAL FOREST, NORTH CAROLINA
Linville Gorge
This rugged gem in the Blue Ridge Mountains offers gut-busting hikes with breathtaking rewards. / BY MATT CROSSMAN
40 Southwest august 2018
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he roar of the Linville River woke me up. I unzipped my tent and peeked out. Straight ahead of me, angry water cascaded over rocks seen and unseen. On the far side of the river, the east side of the Linville Gorge stood nearly straight up, some 1,700 feet into the North Carolina sky. Behind me, the gorge’s west ridge rose like a thick green wall. I crawled out of the tent and looked up and out as if from the bottom of a U. Gray clouds promised to soak my two hiking buddies and me all day long, but for now, we remained dry. It was April 2016, and a spring breeze whistled through the hickory, oak, maple, locust, and poplar trees, cooling my skin and carrying with it a damp whiff that confirmed the coming rainstorm. My back barked its complaint, chastising me for sleeping on a thin mattress pad after bearing the weight of my backpack for hours on end the day before. I started a fire, put water on the Jetboil, and waited for it to simmer. I wanted the morning to last forever. I smelled ILLUSTRATION BY BRETT AFFRUNTI
7/5/18 6:13 PM
