Big East Fork to Shining Rock via Old Butt, Shining Rock Wilderness

Date	Distance	Time	Elevation Gain	Average Moving Time	Year to Date Miles
10/17/2021	9.5 miles	8 hours 6 minutes	2,826'	1.4	389.6

Map: National Geographic Pisgah Ranger District

 
Parking: Big East Fork Trailhead

Carolina Mountain Club Challenges: 

• Pisgah 400 Challenge (#332 Old Butt Knob, #363 Shining Creek)
• South Beyond 6000, Shining Rock 6,040'

Directions: Shining Creek Pat to Shining Rock Gap to Shining Rock. Return on the Chestnut Ridge Trail, passing over Dog Loser Knob and Old Butt Knob.

Glen is out of town again, so I joined the Carolina Mountain Club on a hike to Shining Rock. I've heard so many people love the Shining Rock Wilderness area, so I was glad to be able to join a trip there. I was looking forward to doing some leaf peeping. I was a little trepidatious about this hike. The elevation gain was listed as 3,200', but my GPS track ended up only showing 2,826'. Still, this is probably the most elevation gain I've done since breaking my ankle. I still have an AT hike that I need to do which has 3,500' gain. Maybe next year. I keep reminding myself, I'm getting stronger every month. It takes time.

It was 37 degrees at the trailhead when we started. The cool morning temperatures made the climbing much more pleasant. We actually did this hike in the reverse direction (clockwise) than planned (counterclockwise). We came across a sign saying the trail was impassible due to a landslide (hurricane damage). We decided to head out to the landslide first - otherwise we'd hit it at the end of the hike, which would be bad if we couldn't cross it. Our goal was to make it back BEFORE sunset. We came to the large area where the trail had been washed out. We were able to bushwhack above where the trail had been. It was kind of a mess, and a lot of work will be needed to re-route the trail. Going clockwise, we had a more gradual ascent than if we had gone the original direction. The trip leader gave us plenty of short rest breaks on the way up (thanks Henry!), so it was never exhausting. We met a couple of groups doing the loop in the reverse direction, so we were each able to give the other group intel on the trail conditions of where we had been.

 Once we reached Shining Rock Gap, the trail became more level. We hiked up to Shining Rock for a lunch break. This involved a tough rock scramble, where I managed to temporarily lose my shoe! Shining Rock is named for the white quartzite rock outcropping that we hiked to. It is rather striking. Glen would love to see it, so I'll need to hike here with him sometime. It was chilly at the top (well, not officially the top, but the outcrop we hiked to), so after taking photos, some of us took shelter where the rocks were blocking the wind. 

Then we had to do the rock scramble going down. Oh boy! I did not plan well. I held onto the top and just lowered the rest of my body down. But I couldn't find a good foothold, so I was just hanging there by my hands. It was around 1.5 more feet to the ground?  I ended up sliding down the rock pressing the palms of my hands into the rock trying to slow my fall. Can we talk finger burn? I made it down okay, and someone slid my backpack down to me. We then hiked over to an area which is actually the summit of Shining Rock - a much easier area to access.

After lunch we continued on the trail. We had a section of maybe 1.5 miles which was a steep downhill. A downhill that never seemed to end. We met a couple groups who had taken the route in reverse than us, and they complained about hiking up this section. Downhill was not a picnic either, but in a different way. It was hard on my knees, so I was glad at least I was hiking with poles, and didn't have Krummholz along. The section was very slippery with fall leaves and acorns acting as ball bearings. A few sections I just sat down to go down. It took laser focus on my footing to make sure I didn't fall. I was very slow going down, but I didn't fall! I did bang up my leg a bit on a stream crossing in the beginning of the trip, but that wasn't a big deal. Bushwhacking tends to involve blood, sweat, and tears - but no tears today, lol. Krummholz was happy to see me when I came home - he wished he could have gone hiking too!