Today, I had the great pleasure of hiking again with Tom Morton. Tom knows these mountains and hollows like the back of his hand. He’s a wonderful story-teller and an all around great human being. Once again, take advantage of hiking with the locals when you get the opportunity.
Distance: about 6 miles
Total Elevation climb: I didn’t record it
Trail Type: single track dirt and manways, but mostly off-trail
Temperature: 30s, cloudy
Time: I didn’t record it
Significant Features: Courthouse Rock and Quilliam’s Cave
It was a chilly morning as we drove up Newfound Gap Road to the trailhead. The wind whipped and I was wondering if I needed another layer. The climb soon put an end to that worry.
I finally made it to Courthouse Rock. Last year, my group aborted our trip there due to transportation issues. The rock itself is huge, probably 50-60 feet high. I walked around it and would have loved to spend a few minutes climbing it, but alas, time to move on.
We took off up an old manway. When it ended, we started scrambling over trees and blowdowns to get up to Quilliams’s Cave. The snow that dusted the area gave it such a great feeling. The ice formations on the cave were a real treat. The picture above is of ice on a gnarled stump just outside the cave. It’s not really a cave though. It’s more of a large outcropping, going back about 20 feet. We stopped and ate lunch there and then headed back.
Both destinations are must sees in the Smokies!
On the way down, I got a nice snapshot of Bullhead Mountain dusted with snow.
Pictures are HERE