A Grand Loop - Linville Gorge ... Day 4 4K

Third backpacking trip of 2024 ... April 13 - 19, 2024
Included ... Mom, Sally, and myself
Day 4 ... April 16, 2024
Mom and I got up early to watch sunrise ... this was one of the best sunrises of the trip! It was a great beginning to a challenging day.
We headed off north along Jonas Ridge to it's intersection with Devil's Cliff trail where we went down to Devil's Point to see the view (we skipped Celestial Point this time since we'd stopped there last fall). Before Devil's Point - we left our packs by the junction of Red South - grabbed a bit of breakfast and headed down to the view. The view here is gorgeous - and the trail to this point was relatively easy (probably moderate with the climb if you're doing an out & back). I was busy triple checking the route - because my phone was near death (and both battery banks were drained). After soaking in the view and having a mental picture of the map ... we made our way back to our packs and went off into the unknown. The first trail was Red South - which was pretty easy. going other than near a stream where we lost it - when over some deadfall - then found the trail again. The next trail was the side path to Huckleberry Knob - which was another nice view where we took another break (the trail is kinda brushy - so I can only imagine how bad it gets in summer). We returned to the main path and made our way up to Reference Rock - where we got to see a jet fly down the gorge - we thought it was pretty cool! Afterwards, we ended up on Brushy Ridge - it was at this point we took a right (because honestly I was afraid Red North might be hard to follow or have a lot of issues) and took Joe Johnson trail up to Long Arm. The climb up Joe Johnson was bearable and thankfully the bugs weren't nearly as bad as they'd been most of the trip. We took a left onto Long Arm - going through some nice pasture and wide paths. As we turned right onto Gulf Contour - we heard thunder in the distance. So, we took the time to get our packs prepared for rain and rain gear within arms reach. We followed Gulf Contour - which for the "most" part wasn't too bad but there were several over/under trees that we had to contend with along with losing the trail a couple of times.
For the full story go to my Facebook page or the blog...
Things to note ... all of the side view points in the NE quadrant are worth seeing (Devils Point, Celestial Point, Reference Rock, and Huckleberry Knob). Expect going through the NE quadrant to be slower going - just be patient and enjoy the process. If you're doing the Grand Loop - I personally recommend a resupply - it was a great moral boost to get some extra treats (Gatorade/Monsters) - as by this point you're probably tired of water! This will probably also be your longest mileage trail day . as there were no obvious campsites between Celestial Point and Bynum Bluff (there was supposed to be one by the river before Bynum Bluff - but dead trees!!).

[@kaymiller8213]

I didn't know we're I was at nite in the woods and my horse took me home. Pich black. That's when I found out how good a horses eyesight is..didn't watch my time.

[@randypeterson4146]

Big congrats on knocking out the NE Quadrant 🙌🥾🥾...You did Great...Last fall when I went thru there the gulf contour trail was so grown up that I had to use Avenza to find it at dugger creek.....Also all those blow downs weren't there on pine gap last fall... Happy trails 🥾🥾

[@roselee_explores]

Thank you! :) It's funny you mention that finding the trail from Dugger was hard - because going back up we completely walked by it - so it's easy to miss! I'd probably have to use Avenza to find it too! Good to know about Pine Gap - figured they were fresh since the plants they were on were still green! Thank you for watching & Happy trails :)