NC/TN Appalachian Trail - Section 14 - Mill Ridge Road to French Broad River, Hot Springs

Date	Distance	Time	Elevation Gain	Average Moving Time	Year to Date Miles
4/29/2021	9.3 miles	5 hours 32 minutes	1,812'	1.9 mph	112.9

Map: French Broad River, at NOC sign, Hot Springs
Parking: See "Asheville, 35 Spectacular Hikes in the Land of the Sky" by Jennifer Pharr Davis

Directions: From the parking lot, turn right and follow the French Broad River. The AT will climb steeply uphill with views of the river. Follow the AT northbound to Mill Ridge Road. Return the same way.

This was a last minute trip, so we hadn't organized what hikes we were doing. We looked at the Lover's Leap hike described in this book, and well, didn't do it as described. We just continued on the AT and did an out and back.

We parked in a large lot with a sign for the NOC. The parking lot is next to the river, and the river is swift, so we just let Krumm wade on leash near the parking area, where the water was calmer.  The hike up to the Lover's Leap view was a butt kicker. It was 80 degrees out as well, so we were hot. Looking out over the river you can see a solar farm.

We passed the Lover's Leap trail (which is the route taken in the book to form a loop), and continued on the AT along a ridge. We were stopped by a snake - I believe a black rat snake - trying to look vicious. It raised its head and lay there with its mouth open, threatening to strike. Even Krummholz stopped in his tracks. We backed up and gave it some room, and waited a couple of minutes until it slithered away off the trail. Glen also saw a second snake on our hike back.

We saw that we'd be passing a pond, so I was hoping to let Krumm swim there to cool off. But the pond looked gross - full of algae. We didn't let him in. Shortly after that we reached Mill Ridge Road, and turned around. We considered doing the Lover's Leap trail on the way back, but in the end decided to stick to the AT. I hiked down the steep bit very slowly - I prefer steep uphills much more than steep downhills!