Shining Rock Wilderness Shuttle Backpack Trip 5/1/14 Thru 5/4/14

Creekside in the hammock - night 2 — Creekside in the hammock – night 2

The Shining Rock Wilderness is an incredible place with a lot of awesome sights and hiking. I hiked there for four days in May of 2014 with some friends and I will say it’s definitely a do-over. This hike included incredible views of the countryside; Cold Mountain; Shining Rock; The Narrows; down the spine of a ridge; beautiful campsites and a lot more.

We parked one of our vehicles on the access road to Camp Daniel Boone SR1129, which runs alongside the Art Loeb Trailhead that takes you up the same Cold Mountain made famous by the movie. The trail immediately switches back and forth up the mountain which makes for a pretty good hike. We finally reached the saddle known as Deep Gap, where the trail splits and you can either go to Cold Mountain summit or to Shining Rock. Deep Gap was fairly flat and quite nice so we pitched camp for the night. It got fairly chilly being in that night with the wind being tunneled through the saddle and no fire but was a great night anyway.

The next day we hiked through The Narrows and up to Shining Rock itself where we were climbed up on the rock formation and enjoyed the view. Once you get to the base of the rock formation it requires a little scrambling and is in the middle of some pretty tight vegetation so it’s a good idea to drop your pack.

After we were done exploring Shining Rock we hiked on up to the top of a ridge and then headed East down Old Butt Knob trail that descended down through a maze of rhododendrons that weaved back and forth down a ridgeline that was nothing short of awesome. This trail followed the spine of the ridge downhill until we arrived in a valley just above the East Fork of the Pigeon River. We then headed South on Big East Fork trail and hiked on up the valley for about a half mile until we arrived at our night two campsite.

This campsite was located at the bottom of a very steep hill that put us right up next to East Fork of the Pigeon River. It wasn’t very flat here so I ended up setting up my ENO single nest hammock in a nice little spot right next to the Pigeon River. I was lulled to sleep by the sound of a small rapid just upstream from where I was sleeping. If I would have rolled out of my hammock in the middle of the night I would have been in the creek so I made sure not to do too much tossing and turning that night. I posted a picture of it below.

We awoke the next morning and hiked on Big East Fork Trail until it intersected with Greasy Cove Trail to Ivestor Gap Trail intersection where we took a break. We met a few hikers along this trail who advised us of a bear that was able to get their food bag down and made off with it. They said there were other hikers who had the same issue the night before.

After our short break we headed South on Ivestor Gap Trail that wound through some Rhododendrons tunnels that looked very well-groomed. Then we headed on through Grassy Cove Top and Ivestor Gap where there were some incredible campsites. We also came across some large steel cables from an old mining operation back in the day.

Our third night was spent in a small saddle on Birdstand Mountain that was flanked on both sides by very steep hills. It was a cozy and well-protected place to camp for the night.

On our final day we continued on Fork Mountain Trail over some tight trails that led us over and up some rocky outcroppings that were outstanding. Then the trail meanders downward through some pretty steep mountainous terrain where you definitely want to pay attention.

The final section is somewhat flat, crossing a few small creeks and then a drop to the West Fork of the Pigeon River that requires some care and wading to cross. Once we crossed this river we were at the end of our journey.

Considering all of the great features on this hike I would say I’ll be visiting Shining Rock again in the future.

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MY PRIMARY GEAR

BRAND / MODEL

MSR HUBBA – NEXT GENERATION IS MSR HUBBA NX TENT

MSR HUBBA 1 FOOTPRINT – NEXT GENERATION IS MSR HUBBA NX FOOTPRINT

Snugpak Chrysalis 2 Sleeping Bag, Chestnut Red

MOUNTAINSMITH LOOKOUT 45+ NOW Mountainsmith Lookout 50 Backpack (Evergreen)

THERMAREST NEOAIR TREKKER SLEEPING PAD

THERMAREST RIDGEREST SOLITE PAD

SNOWPEAK TITANIUM MINI SOLO COOK SET

SEA TO SUMMIT ULTRA SIL NANO TARP PONCHO

BACKPACKS AND CONTENTS	WEIGHT OUNCES
BACKPACK
MOUNTAINSMITH LOOKOUT 45 BACKPACK NOW MOUNTAINSMITH LOOKOUT 50 BACKPACK	66.00
TENT
MSR HUBBA 1 TENT NOW MSR HUBBA NX TENT W/FOOTPRINT & MSR MUDMAT IN OUTDOOR RESEARCH LIGHTWEIGHT 5 LITER DRY SACK	66.00
HAMMOCK
GRAND TRUNK TREE SLINGS WITHOUT TREE SAVERS	6.80
ENO PRONEST HAMMOCK	12.80
SLEEPING BAGS
SNUGPAK CHRYSALIS 2 IN OUTDOOR RESEARCH LIGHTWEIGHT 5 LITER DRY SACK	50.00
COLUMBIA LINER BAG	10.20
SLEEPING PADS
THERMAREST RIDGEREST SOLITE REGULAR CUT DOWN TO 20X60	12.00
THERMAREST NEOAIR TREKKER SLEEPING PAD LARGE	26.00
TREKKING POLES
EASTON TREKKING POLES	20.00
TARP
SEA TO SUMMIT ULTRA SIL PONCHO TARP	12.90
FOOD
WINE IN PLATYPUS PLATYPRESERVE WINE PRESERVATION SYSTEM	27.00
FOOD IN OUTDOOR RESEARCH LIGHTWEIGHT 5 LITER DRY SACK	72.00
BASICS
BODY GLIDE-BEN’S INSECT REPELLENT-SUNTAN LOTION IN CUBEN FIBER BAG	2.90
ROPE BAG	3.60
MINI COMPASS AND TEMP GAUGE	0.70
ZPACKS CUBEN FIBER ZIP POUCHES	2.00
SAWYER FILTER MINI(2OZ), ONE SAWYER 32OZ SQUEEZE POUCH (1.5OZ), SCOOP CUP(2OZ) & MESH BAG	5.50
SAFETY LANYARD WITH KNIFE/ADVENTURE MEDICAL RESCUE HOWLER/COAST G10 FLASHLIGHT	2.80
TOILETRY KIT – MEDICINE – TOOTHBRUSH – TOOTHPASTE ETC IN OUTDOOR RESEARCH SMALL DITTY BAG	10.40
FIRE KIT	2.80
POOP KIT – DEUCE OF SPADES, TOILET PAPER, HAND CLEANER IN NYLON SACK	4.30
CLOTHING
MARMOT DRICLIME WINDSHIRT JACKET	12.00
MARMOT ION WIND JACKET	5.50
MARMOT VARIANT JACKET	12.80
CLOTHING BASICS VARIES***	20.00
VIVOBAREFOOT ULTRA SHOES	6.00

OR ROCKY MOUNTAIN LOW GAITERS	4.80
NIKE RAIN PANTS	12.40
COOKING
MSR POCKET ROCKET STOVE-COOKSET-GAS	20.00
WATER BOTTLES – BLADDERS
CAMELBAK 2 LITER UNBOTTLE FULL 13OZ	80.63
LIGHTING
PRINCETON TEC REMIX HEADLAMP/BAG	3.50
TOOLS
LEATHERMAN TOOL	5.30
ADVENTURE MEDICAL RESCUE MIRROR / SILVA POLARIS 177 COMPASS IN CUBEN FIBER BAG	1.50
GARMIN GPS	6.80
EXTRAS
SUNGLASSES	1.40
MP3 PLAYER; EARPHONES; BATTERY	5.30
TOTAL SUM OF WEIGHT IN OUNCES	616.33
TOTAL SUM OF WEIGHT IN POUNDS	38.52