Lost Cove, NC..... My Trip Report

“http://client.webshots.com/album/361780952fkXIGd

This is my first Trip Report since being a member of The Backpacker.com.
It first started out as an organized trip to Lost Cove, NC for a weekend hike. I signed up then things happened that I was not going to make it… then, things changed again and I decided at the last minute to go. I left home here in West Virginia at 3:30 Friday afternoon and drove 5 hours to Linville, NC. In my excited haste to scurry out, I left ALL maps and notes on the kitchen table!!! Oh well, this will really put my memory to the test this time, I told myself !!!
The trip to Linville was just another nice drive with scattered showers til I got just above Boone, NC where the fog was so thick that traffic was at 15-20 MPH with flashers on. I stopped in Boone to look up an old Navy buddy that wasn’t home so I got on the Blue Ridge Parkway for the remainder of the trip to Linville. Bad move. The fog was just horrible. Made it to Old Jonas Ridge Rd. and all the info that Ghost (Jim) had e-mailed me started coming to together. I stopped for a few minutes to gather my thoughts in the dense fog. THEN I remembered that I had packed the Google map that I printed off the net !!!!!! That was enough to get me to the Lost Cove TH. After driving around for over an hour in the drizzling rain and fog. I finally went back to town to an Italian Pizza place to ask directions. Nobody there knew anything about Lost Cove. Seeing my desperation, the old Itialian owner offered me a free supper and park in his parking lot over night. I passed on that then a young man overhearing the conversation knew exactly where I wanted to go and gave me very explicit directions. Like Dub and Ewker had done in the past, I had driven right past the road 4 times !!
It was now 10:30 at night and I managed to navigate the twisting and very rough road to Lost Cove Trail Head. I was the only one there which didn’t surprise me with the bad weather and all. I pumped up my air mattress and settled in for the night. The water drops falling from the trees sounded like someone dropping marbles on the vans roof all night. Not much sleep. And it was DARK !!! PITCH BLACK DARK !!! No moon, no street lights… just dark…. And total silence (other than the rain).
Awoke at 7:30 Saturday morning…… still no others……. Made some coffee, piddled around the area for an hour. No traffic what so ever. Down the road a bit was Harper Creek Falls TH with 3 cars parked there that I saw Friday night. They had NC plates so I just figured they were locals and not part of the TT group. At 9:00 the sun came out and looked like a gorgeous day was on the horizon. So I gathered up my pack and went hiking down Harper Creek Falls trail thinking maybe some TT’ers had gone down there instead. I took the full gear just in case it turned out to be that way. My Kelty Trekker 3900 exterior frame pack weighed 34 pounds and two trekking poles. Hiked in two miles over some nice trails near the creek then it started to get precarious from the recent storm damage (hence the WARNING sign at the trail head) so I turned around and headed back. I didn’t realize the 10% drop in grade going in !!!! I just got caught up in the solitude and beauty of it all. Not having any map what so ever, I was cautious not to venture off the main trail because NOBODY knew where I was. On the strenuous hike back, (UPHILL for a mile) the very narrow and extremely slippery trails really bothered me…. Some narrowed to just 12” wide and dropped straight down to the rocks below 10-30 feet in some places. I could just see me down there… broken bones, dislocated joints, scuffed up pretty bad and couldn’t get back up on my own… and NOBODY around for miles…. And NOBODY knew where I was !!! Yes, I had broken a Cardinal Rule of backcountry ventures…. (and yes, I had a sharp knife in my pocket) LOL…. In case I had to cut anything off to get out !! LOL..
I managed to get back to flat land unscathed and promised myself that I would never do that dumb trick again !!! Well, in taking in all the sights, I managed to miss one of the switchback trails and became a little “temporarily disoriented” (I hate to use the word “LOST”) LOL.
So I sat down to rest the feets and replenish the ole bod with some snacks and fluids and ponder my situation. I was right proud of the new Lowa boots I had finally broken in. They were soaked and very muddy on the outside and fairly dry on the inside. The cheap Wal-Mart gaiters did a good job keeping junk out of them with the exception of one small rock that was driving me nuts….. but not bad enough to take it out just yet… LOL..
Then, out of nowhere, out of the corner of my right eye, something moved !!!! was it a PANTHER?? MOUNTAIN LION ?? Baby black bear on one side of me mama BIG bear on the other ??? (bad place to be)…. Remember, I am still very much alone here….. and NOBODY knows where I am !!! And I had posted a note on TT that I had cancelled out.
Then it got closer…. It was a DOG !!! LOL… with a backpack on… but no people behind it… I got my pack on and said…. GO FIND DADDY !!!! Laughing all the time. This was an older black Lab, very slow and I just trodded along dutifully behind it. It was about a hundred yards up when I heard talking and laughing going on… I was SAVED !!! LOL…
There were 3 adults and a dozen kids that had taken in the Harper Creek Falls trail for the weekend. They had already been out there for two days.. Each kid had their own pack and all were about 8-10 years old…. One little girl about 8, Pito, seemed like the leader of the pack, showed me HER map and how to get back to the main trail. (she knew right away that I was “geographically challenged” ) … Whew !! rescued by a bunch of THIRD GRADERS really makes one take full stock of where you are in life. We visited for a few minutes, shared some munchies, took some pics and bid our farewells and I got back to the TH about noonish. Went back down to the Lost Cove TH and still nobody there. So I put on some dry clothes and day shoes and ate lunch. Thinking of two things……… either the weather scared folks off and the hike was cancelled… or… I was at the WRONG place. Not wanting to waste the rest of the day just waiting around on folks that just might not show, I headed on back home via the Blue Ridge Parkway. Now, THAT was a nice drive!!! Stopping on the overlooks to enjoy the magnificent scenery and the grandure of the mountains. I think it peaked out at 4400 ft where I was. Grandfather Mountain is just simply AWESOME to look at from a distance.
Arrived back home Saturday night with no problems and lots of fond memories. I must apologize for the bad photos….. I didn’t remember to check the lens and it must have had a smudge or water on it and the photos are blurry… and every single photo I took on the Parkway didn’t come out at all…. Very disappointed over that the most. Time to chunk this camera and look for a new Cannon Rebel I think !!!!!!!!!
That’s it, folks………. Sorry I missed the Lost Cove hike… Maybe next time I will be a bit more organized.

Trekker
last edited: 6/05/05 12:59:47 PM”

“Great report, even if the trip was....well, not as planned LOL.

Two quick comments...

Glad you didn't need the knife.
Thank goodness for the Gypsies.”

“Great TR even if the trip wasn't exactly as you planned it. Better luck next time.”

“LOL - Great adventure TJ.

Thanks for the reading!”

“Great TR Trekker John. Glad you got "rescused" hehehe
I am sure you been to the right place, I remember that darn one mile uphill...i hiked it 5 times last time... don't ask me anymore why...cause I can't remember...why someone would be that stupid.

too bad you couldn't find the TT Group
ooh...forgot to look at your pics...brb...
NICE pictures Trekker! :)”

“Trekker John!!! Thank you for not making me the only one who couldn't find the TT Group. Atleast you suck it out to Saturday, I threw in the towel and drove until 2am to return home.”

“now you know why they call it Lost Cove”

“Oh man! That really stinks. We WERE there! All 15 of us! There were cars at BOTH trail heads. So sorry you guys got lost. Chili wanted to post the actual trip report so I'll leave that up to him. Again, so sorry you guys couldn't find it!”

“He needed to be at Hunt Fish Falls TH!

I don't think he was at the right one! There were several of us in and out at both TH's Saturday.”

“Correction, 15 and a half of us were there. I fogot to count Kaitiedid (she's the half)”

“Teker and Creek that really sucks! I know how very disheartening that is because about 3 or 4 years ago the very same thing happened to me on a Lost Cove trip . The only difference is that I finally found the trailhead about the time everyone was coming out!”

“OH my gosh, dang sorry you guys had some trouble. My lack of fortune to have missed your company ... next time fur shur!

I'm home safe and sound, tomorrow we fly outa the good 'ole USA. Creek, hate to have missed you.

Bear, you home yet? It's late, I might make a stab at a TR too, gotta git on home to Itly first.”

“Naked....sorry I missed you too! For that matter, I can't believe I missed all of you! But after fighting fog, darkness, and the fact that I had no idea where I was....I just lost heart. But hey, if anything positive does come out of my misadventure, I now know my Jeep will take a beating and still keep on going.”

“I now know my Jeep will take a beating and still keep on going.”
creekjumper
9:25:46 AM
6/06/05

I now say the same thing about my err.... the company's Camry.

A couple of times I was thinking, just how the hell am I going to explain how this car is a the bottom of a ravine in BF, NC.

I do want to point out that the fog Friday night was so thick you could have almost cut it with a knife.”

“NC has a town called BF too? Alabama has about a thousand of them. Don't know how the post office keeps up with all of them.”

“Very True Chili......at the points where I was crossing the "one lane" bridges with about a 5" curb on each side all the while trying to see thru the fog and rain in a vain search for a sign (or devine intervention) stating Forest rd. 494....It occured to me that if I went off the edge of one of the bridges, no one would be the wiser. I think that is the point where I "lost it" and decided to head back home.”

“Hehehe, that rented Chevy car I had prolly thought I'd "lost it" too. There weren't a pothole, ditch, culvert, or washboard that my good'ole blue Chevy didn't clear with ease! Well, relative ease sometimes.”