2010 Memorial Trip – Asheville NC
5/28/10 – Lake Eden – This was our first time running the Rock2Rock 10k. The race was headquartered at Camp Rockmont.
This was a nice place for a race headquarters. Rustic facilities, wooded setting, nice place to sit or walk by a lake, and the ability to jump in the lake after the race. The race boasted 2000ft of climbing in the first 3.5 miles. It took me 40 minutes to hit the high point of the course and 18 minutes to get back down. It was a very rugged, steep, technical course, and a lot of fun.
5/29/10 – Turkey Pen Gap – This is listed as one of the popular trailheads south of Asheville. It was a crazy rough drive in on the Forest Service road. We did a loop hike. We started on Vineyard Gap Trail and finished on Riverside Trail. Riverside wandered back and forth across the south fork of the mills river 6 or 7 times. This was a fun challenge and a nice way to cool off.
5/30/10 – Mount Pisgah – Due to some nasty weather a few days before the Blue Ridge Parkway was closed heading south. So we had to take the back way to get to the BRP. We parked where route 151 intersected with the BRP and hike up to Pisgah from here on the Shut-in Trail. This was a nice section that was all climbing. It ended up being a 6.2 mile hike with about 1800ft of elevation gain.
5/31/10 – Montreat – This was our 2nd Trip to Montreat. It is a place I think everyone has to see. We decided to hike the Greybeard Trail to Walker Knob. This was a 3.1 mile hike up with about 2250ft of climbing. Walker Knob has a better view than Greybeard so we skipped the out and back Greybeard summit trail. From here we headed back on the West Ridge Trail. This was a nice trail, overgrown (not much traffic) with lots of big rocks and places to look out at the view. We came down Big Piney Ridge trail and then back to the car for a 7.1 mile hike.