Agile Trekker: Sam Knob Loop, Pisgah

Date	Distance	Time	Elevation Gain	Average Moving Time	Year to Date Miles
12/10/2022	4.1 miles	3 hours 8 minutes	749'	1.5	936.6

Parking:

See 100 Favorite Trails map. This parking lot is notorious for being packed. Luckily it was not so on a winter weekend. We had no problems parking.

Maps:

Pisgah Map Co, Pisgah Ranger District
100 Favorite Trails of the Carolinas and the Blue Ridge (for directions)

Directions:

See 100 Favorite Trails map

Carolina Mountain Club Challenges:

100 Favorite Trails Challenge #51
Pisgah 400 Challenge, #617 Sam Knob Trail
Pisgah 400 Challenge, #617 Sam Knob Summit Trail
Pisgah 400 Challenge, #346, Flat Laurel Creek Trail (partial)

We've had a dreary rainy week. And it was dreary this morning, but off we went. We were all in need of a hike. The forecast was for fog. As soon as we got onto the parkway this morning, we had fog. And we drove 35 miles in the fog to our trailhead. Often not being able to see more than 100 feet in front of us. Let's just say it was a very slow drive. The tunnels on the parkway were the only fog free spots. I wondered why we chose a hike which is known for its views - on a foggy day. But amazingly, as soon as we turned off the parkway, we were out of the fog.

We've hiked most of this hike before, if not all of it. I can't remember. I know I've been in this area a few times before. We hiked up to Sam Knob. We took a number of side trails - I'm not sure if backpacking is allowed up there, but I heard it's a great place to see the Milky Way. Maybe I can persuade Glen to camp with me, since it's such a short backpack from the trailhead. The only issue is parking. We did see a few camping spots. Maybe not the flattest. I tagged them in Gaia. We did see 4 men backpacking, and later on a tent near Flat Laurel Creek. The hike up to Sam Knob is rocky and rooty, so I was slow, tripping and falling once.

After coming down from Sam Knob, we turned left on the Flat Laurel Creek Trail. This area has a lot of creekside tent spots. We had 3 water crossings. Oops. Glen managed to rock hop them, only getting his shoes a little wet. Me, being more cautious about falling, just waded through them. Brr. Probably related to all of the rain we had this week, the trail looked like a stream. Oops - I wish I had thought to bring my Crocs. This hike ended up having great views despite the foggy drive, so we were glad we went.

We figured we could do a short hike up to Fryingpan Tower on the way home. Well, surprisingly, again, as soon as we turned off the trailhead road onto the parkway, we were driving in fog again. For the next 22 miles. We decided to skip the lookout tower. No reason to go up it with all the fog. It wasn't until we got closer to Asheville that the fog cleared.