Agile Trekker: Devil's Courthouse from NC 215

Date	Distance	Time	Elevation Gain	Average Moving Time	Year to Date Miles
3/31/2024	4.3 miles	3 hours 0 minutes	631'	1.7 mph	202.8 miles

Parking:

Garenflo Gap

Map:

Pisgah Map Co., Pisgah Ranger District

Directions:

From the parking area, turn left and walk on the BRP for a short distance to the MST. Cross the road and take the MST. At the intersection of the MST and the Devil's Courthouse Connector, turn right onto the Devil's Courthouse Connector. Follow this to Devil's Courthouse. Return the same way.

Carolina Mountain Club Challenges:

Pisgah 400 - Mountains to Sea Trail, Segment 2, Miles 42.3 - 44.3 - NC 215 Trailhead to Devils Courthouse Connector

A warm sunny day was a perfect day to hike at higher elevation. We went to hike a section of the MST that we haven't done, starting at NC 215. What a pretty section of trail this was, walking in the woods. We both really enjoyed the hike. We managed to take a wrong turn at one point, doing an unbridged stream crossing. There was a trail on the other side, but it petered out. We checked Gaia and bushwhacked back to the trail. Oops. We continued to the end and since we had time, we continued on to Devil's Courthouse. At this point we ran into more people on the trail. Devil's Courthouse has some beautiful views. We sat down and enjoyed them. On the way back, hiking on the MST, all of a sudden Krumm turned off the trail to go into the woods. We checked Gaia, and he had identified the exact spot we had popped out before when bushwhacking. Neither Glen nor I even recognized it. He's amazing. Our previous dog was an expert at doing this too. We used to do bushwhacks in the Catskills, navigating up a mountain using a map and compass. But our previous dog would be able to lead us back down the mountain off trail, following the scent of the path we had previously bushwhacked. We didn't know that Krumm could also do this, so we were really impressed. As a reward, when we went back and did the stream crossing in the proper place, we took a break and let him fetch sticks in the stream. This hike is definitely one worth doing again.