18 Oct Day 2 – NC Bartram Trail
After breakfast of coffee and oatmeal with walnuts and dried blueberries I finally got my stuff packed. The other Mark B had been packed up ready to go a long time ahead of me. We soon discovered that we had not yet reached Jone’s Gap at all. We had assumed that we were camping about 0.2 miles past Jone’s Gap, but in fact we had camped about 0.2 miles short of Jone’s Gap.
The must see view was a 0.3 mile hike off the trail to the top of Whiterock Mountain. There was a large granite face down the opposite side of the mountain with wide views. This is a popular spot for a day hike from Jone’s Gap and back. I recommend it.
Panorama from Whiterock Mountain.
Top of Fishhawk Mountain. The view is not worth the steep climb. It is a tree obstructed view. Sign at turn off shows trail length of 528 feet. The Bartram Trail guide states 1440 feet. The trail guide is right about the length, but incorrectly describes the view. The trees must have grown since the guide was written.
Proof that I climbed to the top of Fishhawk mountain.
Our last high view on this section of the Bartram trail.
This old school bus is not far from Wolf Rock overlook and is well up the mountain. How it got here is anybody’s guess. It is right in the middle of the trail.
Largest and most unusual tree burl I have seem. Burls are formed when a tree’s growth hormone gets hijacked, usually by a bacterium. This burl is unusually symmetric.
– Hiked on Sunday, October 18, 2015
– Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone