Agile Trekker: Shortoff Mountain, Linville Gorge

Date	Distance	Time	Elevation Gain	Average Moving Time	Year to Date Miles
10/26/2022	4.5 miles	3 hours 31 minutes	1,149'	1.7	858.6

Parking:

Wolf Pit Road, Nebo

Maps:

FarOut app
Pisgah Map Co. Grandfather Ranger District
100 Favorite Trails of the Smokies and the Carolina Blue Ridge

Directions:

From the trailhead take the Shortoff Trail. Turn right at the intersection of the MST. Pass several views. Pass pond. After pond take a side trail to the left. Return the same way.

Glen and I love this hike. I decided to lead it for the Carolina Mountain Club. My goal was to hit peak leaf color. I thought I might be too late! I started out with a group of 8 - all great people who I've hiked with before. On the drive to the trailhead, we had a ton of fog. Yikes. This wasn't looking good. This hike is all about the views. It's not just a hike to do to cross of a list. We wanted everyone to enjoy it as much as we do. I was concerned about parking - we drove 3 cars to the trailhead. But yeah! Parking on a weekday was fine. Yes, there were a number of cars at the trailhead, but it wasn't packed. This is not a hike I recommend for a weekend due to the challenging parking situation. Last time I was here, I saw a car with a smashed headlight - presumably because someone backed into it.

On our hike up it was misting. I pointed out places where there were views - we could see nothing. We did have fabulous leaf color as a consolation. The maple leaf colors were popping! I LOVE fall foliage. We weren't too late. This was pretty much peak - at least for the maples.

The weather looked like it just wouldn't clear up. We stopped by the natural pond on the ridgeline. To our surprise - the pond was gone! So, besides pointing out views that weren't there, I showed them a pond that wasn't there, lol. The pond is shallow - but it is a pond. Sometimes it dries up. When we scouted the hike 2 1/2 weeks ago, there really was a pond, and there really were views. Shortly beyond the pond, we got to our halfway point for lunch. We turned off the trail and low and behold - the clouds were parting to give us some views! Magical! Everyone got a glimpse of the views - with some beautiful leaf color across the gorge. Yeah! I wanted to take out my map and compass and look up peaks - but we still were in too many clouds.

We hiked back down, and the clouds closed in again. We did stop at a viewpoint, and I could see Lake James. I pointed it out to everyone - and no one could see it. I kept pointing, and they kept not seeing it! Eventually they found it. It's a large lake, but it was higher up than people were looking - so it might have looked like a cloud.

I hope to do this hike next year again, at the same time. Hopefully we get fewer clouds then. I like the idea of extending the hike as well - maybe hiking to Chimney Gap and back.