Kitsuma Peak via Youngs Ridge, Old Fort

Date	Distance	Time	Elevation Gain	Average Moving Time	Year to Date Miles
2/19/2022	10.5 miles	5 hours 6 minutes	1,691'	2.4 mph	97.2

Parking: USFS Old Fort Picnic Area

Maps:

• Gaia Gps app
• 100 Favorite Trails of the Smokies and the Carolina Blue Ridge (for directions)

Directions:

• See 100 Favorite Trails map

Carolina Mountain Club Challenges:

• 100 Favorite Trails Challenge #80

Today we hiked with Lori, a woman we met on a CMC hike who likes to backpack. I've been hoping to collect a small group of friends who backpack, as Glen has no desire to.

From the left side of the picnic area, we headed up the Youngs Ridge Trail. The trail goes up onto a ridgeline, so there are winter views on both sides. The trail was a bit muddy and slippery in places - maybe because its popular with mountain bikers. I slipped and fell a couple of times. An unmarked trail splits off to right to head up to Kitsuma Peak. The top of the peak has winter views. I'm not sure how much you'd be able to see in the summer. From the summit, we did see a collection of large buildings and wondered what they were. We were soon to find out.

From Kitsuma Peak we descended down to a road. We walked along the road, and then weren't sure how to get to where we were supposed to go. I thought I remembered the 100 Favorite Trails map mentioning to go through a gate. Well, we found a locked gate. We were at the same collection of buildings we had seen from the summit. The area was surrounded by a tall chain link fence. We kept following the fence line to the entrance, figuring we must have to hike through this area- strange that the directions didn't mention that. Eventually we found a way in and saw a security guard station. We tried showing him our map (he didn't want to look) to ask him if we were in the right place to access the trails. He wasn't pleased with us, lol. No dogs are allowed here, the sign on my booth says that, see right there he says. Hmm. He said the trails on the property were private. Turns out we were at the Ridgefield Conference Center, a religious conference center surrounded by a chain link fence. 

We studied our apps some more (this hike is not on the Pisgah Map Co.'s Black Mountain Map). We decided to walk back where we came from and turned onto another road. Turns out our new path was the right way. We kept walking and then joined the Fonta Flora paved trail, which is used by bicyclists. I need to read about the Fonta Flora trail, as we've seen it in the Linville Gorge area as well. This area does have some unobstructed views, but of course isn't as nice as walking in the woods. This brought us out to a road, and then we just needed to turn right on that road to get back to our parking area.

This photo doesn't capture it well, but this tree has tufts of needles along its trunk. Very cool looking.

Obstructed view from Kitsuma Peak

The second half of this hike is on a paved bike trail