Bluff Mountain, Ashe Co. NC Trip

“http://www.thebackpacker.com/trips/trip/1215.php

Three of us who are interested in Bluff Mountain in Ashe County NC (northwestern NC) are planning a hike for March 10 (Saturday). We are peakbaggers and prominence fanatics interested in reaching the top of the mountain as it is one of the 135 peaks in the SE>5000ft and also a peak with 1000+ft of prominence.

The mountain is under conservation easement with the Nature Conservancy, and access is only available through a guided hike by the property caretaker. The hike costs $50 per group regardless of size, so we need at least two more people to minimize the cost for each of us (making it $10/person). The hike will include the normal route, which ascends and then traverses the ridgeline with numerous cliffs that have spectacular views, and then a trip to the summit.

Though we only need 2 more people, as many as are interested are welcome, as once the group reaches 5, any additional people are the same fee of $10 per hiker.

Following the hike, we might hike to the summits of nearby Elk Knob (via a trail from the new Elk Knob NC State Natural Area) and to Snake Mountain. These hikes are optional for this trip and you can partake in just Bluff Mountain, one, both, or neither of the other peaks.

This is an opportunity to legally visit and hike Bluff Mountain at a very small fee. Scheduling a hike with the caretaker is difficult and finding a sufficient group to go to minimize the fee is difficult, so don't miss this opportunity.

Below is the writeup on Bluff Mountain from the Nature Conservancy website:

"A walk around Bluff Mountain offers scenic beauty, unusual landforms, and amazing botanical variety. Although relatively small in size, Bluff is one of the most ecologically significant natural areas in the Southeast. Hiking on Bluff, in just a few dozen steps you can walk from a Carolina hemlock forest to a dwarf red oak/white oak forest to a rare flat rock plant community. A broad, high plateau containing an unusual wetland, a southern Appalachian fen, adds to Bluff's unique character.

A fertile home for over 400 species of plants, including Indian paintbrush, Gray's lily, fringed gentian, spreading avens, and sundew, Bluff Mountain is known for its changing floral show from April through October that includes 25 endangered, rare, or threatened flowering plant species. The high-elevation hardwood forests of Bluff provide ideal nesting habitat for many neotropical migratory bird species such as black-throated green warbler, veery, rose-breasted grosbeak, scarlet tanager, and blue-headed vireo. During field trips in the spring, you may hear the distinctive drumming of ruffed grouse. Elusive bobcats den in the shelter of rocky outcrops, while ravens are often seen soaring over the cliffs."


Shoot me an email at pjbarr @ unc.edu with any questions.”

“bttt”

“The 'fen bog' at Bluff Mountain is really curious. I've been there twice on guided trips.”

“bttt”

“we're still seeking more people for this trip, so come one, come all.

also, let me clarify that the hikes to elk knob and snake mountain following bluff mountain are optional. we just need a decent sized group to make the hike on bluff.”

“bump”

“For any that have not been there, Bluff Mountain is something else.

There can be found a several acre flat 'swamp' at over 4,000' in elevation near the top of the mountain oddly with plants typical of both the Mid-Atlantic Coastal Plain and also plants more typically found in Newfoundland.

At the lower end of the swamp a small stream falls over the Bluff a long way down the mountain.

Bluff Mountain is one of the several peaks in the 'amphibolite hills', a range of 5,000' peaks that runs between Boone and West Jefferson, NC which would have been a much better route for the Appalachian Trail than the long low ridges just west of there in Tennessee had it not all been private land when the trail was laid out.

Various land trusts and the state of North Carolina are actively acquiring what property they can in those hills lately.
last edited: 2/25/07 7:24:36 AM”

“hillside, do you remember if the hike goes up from the south side or the north side of the mtn? i've scouted out and found the heavily posted gate on a jeep road that goes up the south side, but it looks like there may be a route from the north too.”

“Both times I walked up was along the road from the south and both times were in 1991, the second time I was assisting in a research project there.
last edited: 2/26/07 6:04:56 AM”

“bttt”

“bump”

“Repeat after me, "Gates are for everyone but me, gates are for..............."”