A bit over two years ago my hiking partner and I went across the Pond Mountain Wilderness at Pond Mountain Peak from Watauga Lake to the Appalachian Trail (see “Bushwhacking Pond“). This day, several Saturday ago now, we were headed back to the wilderness to explore up a mountain creek that looked interesting to my partner. Now, I thought, ‘Bushwhacking up a mountain creek involves rhododendron/laurel thickets’, which gets a bit wearisome without a goal and set amount of time. But hey, I’m up for most anything, so in we plunged in, this time with an Initiate. After perhaps a half of an hour, I suggested that we add a goal and possibly a way out of the thicket. This holler is at the base of Pond Mtn. So, straight up slope we went. The thickets thinned and thickened but really didn’t subside all the way to the ridge. When you get on the side of the ridge in trees and particularly thicket, you cannot see the top. We did fairly well though, peaking the ridge less than an eighth of a mile from the peak and benchmark. None of us wanted to retrace that route back down, so we decided to follow the ridge along the heretofore low maintained trail back to the lake. Well, that was two years ago before Hurrican Helene. Except for short stints of reasonable trail, there were piles of down trees of every size to go around and through. When we finally got back to the road and the lake, we had done approximately six miles. Problem was, we estimated that we were two and a half miles by road from the car. So, I left my pack and ran/walked to the car. As I progressed up the holler, the road kept getting steeper. If you really like bushwhacking, I’ve got a “Bushwhacker’s Special” just for you. Click on it to see a few pictures.
Archive for the ‘Wildflowers’ Category
Bushwhacker’s Special
Posted in Exploring, General, Hike, Nature, Outdoors, Wildflowers, tagged Herbaceous varieties, Hike, Lichens, Nature, Outdoors, Pond Mountain Wilderness, Wildflowers on June 16, 2025| Leave a Comment »
Bushwhacking Pond
Posted in General, Hike, Nature, Outdoors, Photo, Wildflowers, tagged Bushwhacking, Nature, Outdoors, Ridge walk, Wildflowers, Woods on April 24, 2023| 1 Comment »
The day before “A Few Quick Miles“, I went on a hiking trip with a young friend from church with whom I had hiked “Through A Gorge” previously. I had actually wanted to do this hike for over thirty-five years. It is in an area now designated as Pond Mountain Wilderness Area. The draw for me was there were very few trails in the middle of this 6900-acre area. Going off trail can be challenging. I have numerous experiences with bushwhacking, some rewarding and some exhausting and very long. I have learned to avoid off trail in deep draws with creeks unless I have plenty of time, a specific goal, and a good exit strategy.* If you would like to see a few pictures of the trip, click on Pond Mountain.
*I should write a business plan based on bushwhacking.
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