| Date |
Distance |
Time |
Elevation Gain |
Average Moving Time |
Year to Date Miles |
| 3/19/2023 |
2.4 miles |
1 hour 12 minutes |
560' |
2.3 mph |
139.8 |
Parking:
Map:
Directions:Carolina Mountain Club Challenges: - Lookout Tower Challenge - Panther Top
Our original plan was to do trail maintenance today, but it was bitter cold. So, we looked at options in the morning and chose Panther Top. It was a sunny day, so a good day for a lookout tower. It sounded more fun than creek crossings to get to a waterfall. This is a long drive from Asheville, but we just make a day of it.
This hike is near a gun firing range, so unless you hike it on a Thursday morning, you may hear gun shots. We did, but we knew to expect them, so weren't startled. This hike is a steady climb up a forest service road. We had the hike and the tower to ourselves. The summit is gorgeous. You can't go into the lookout tower cab, but you can climb partway up. You can still get great views even not climbing the short tower. The top has a large clear grassy area. Meadow bagging challenge potential :) This would make a nice place to have a picnic. We would have liked to have taken a long lunch up there, but it was cold and windy. We hurried down.
We experimented with 2 different brands of non-Tesla charging stations and managed to figure them both out. Yeah!
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Intersection of FS 85 and 85A. From what I read normally you can drive to this spot.
We encountered a closed gate before here on FS 85, so this added around 0.9 miles to the hike. |
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| 2nd gate at FS 85. The hike is purely up the gated FS road. |
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| Panther Top Tower. Great views even without climbing up it. |
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| Patches of daffodils at the summit. |
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| Helicopter landing pad. |
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| The cab was locked. |
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| Oh no you don't. |
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