Cold Mountain, June 30, 2022, Shining Rock Wilderness, Pisgah National Forest, North Carolina

 

View from Cold Mountain Summit

Once we had made the decision to turn a July 4 weekend wedding in Asheville, North Carolina, into a full week vacation, I immediately got hold of some maps of Pisgah National Forest to investigate some hiking possibilities. Of course, the highest peak east of the Mississippi River - Mount Mitchell - immediately came to mind. I charted several approach options but all roads still led to the same undesirable place - a summit swamped with cars, buses, motorcycles and the hundreds of tourists that those vehicles would be bringing up the auto road with them. In the end, I just couldn't bring myself to do it. At the end of a long hike to a mountaintop, I want my one square inch of silence. So instead of achieving any bragging rights to the eastern United States' highest point, I instead decided on a hike to the top of a way more quiet peak - Cold Mountain. And for you literati, that's right, it is the same Cold Mountain of book (and movie) fame.

Cold Mountain From Blue Ridge Parkway

After snubbing my nose at Mount Mitchell, I actually had several alternate hikes in mind. I made the decision on Cold Mountain as K and I were driving along the Blue Ridge Parkway southwest of Asheville. There are many parking lot lookout points along this famous road, many with sweeping views of mountain ranges to the south. All of those were mobbed with cars, so we didn't bother to stop. Then we came to an empty, north west-facing lot with a sign "Cold Mountain Overlook" and pulled in to check it out. There, far across the hazy valley, rose a hulking mass of a mountain with no other peaks nearby. Cold Mountain. From a distance, it appeared isolated, quiet and a tad bit menacing, as if no other mountain wanted to be near it. I liked the look of it. So, I thought, Cold Mountain it is.

The Trail to Deep Gap

I chose the more difficult of the two approaches which starts on the Art Loeb Trail due south of Camp Daniel Boone, a Boy Scout camp. I arrived in the parking lot at 6 a.m. and needed a headlamp to get my bearings and find the trail, which rises steeply from the get go via switchbacks. Once high above the scout camp, the trail levels out and follows the contours of the ridges to gradually climb higher and higher. There weren't any rock hopping sections, boulder scrambles, hand-over-hand ledges or other more difficult Adirondack and White Mountain trail features. Just a sure-footed, steady ascent on a long, graded incline with a few steeper pitches through a really beautiful forest. 

Rhododendron Tunnels on Cold Mountain Trail

At the top of the ridge - a place called Deep Gap - the Art Loeb Trail turns south and the Cold Mountain trail heads north. I took my first break of the day at this point, where a fire ring and log seating suggest it to be a stopping point for backpackers heading south on the Art Loeb trail. My route to the summit climbed around the back of the summit cone and up to the top. Though 6,000 feet in elevation, the summit is fully tree-covered but there are still a few good lookout points. The first one that the trail reaches is the best, with an impressive, sweeping view to the south and the many famous peaks located along the Blue Ridge Parkway with colorful names like Shining Rock and Dog Loser Knob. I took a nice long break admiring the view and trying to figure out the exact location of the overlook where we had first glassed Cold Mountain a few days earlier. I then pressed on along the overgrown summit trail to the USGS marker indicating the true summit and another nice lookout point. On this particular summer day, it wasn't very cold on cold mountain. But I still wore the new wool hat that K knitted for me as a gift for my birthday - one stripe for each decade, lol.

Panorama View to the South from Cold Mountain Summit

I had Cold Mountain all to myself for five and a half hours of a six-hour-long hike. The only people who I encountered all morning were part of hiking parties just setting out as I was completing the final half hour of my hike. Just as I hit the final switchbacks leading back to the parking area, rifles and shotgun blasts from the Boy Scout gun range began to pepper the peace and quiet of the wilderness. As my hike came to a close, I recalled an excellent trail, not terribly difficult, with beautiful scenery and tons of wildlife. But when the shooting starts, it's time to get the hell off of Cold Mountain.

Peak: Cold Mountain
Elevation: 6,030 feet (Total Gain: 2,800 feet)
Distance: 10.6 miles roundtrip
Route: Out and Back: Art Loeb Trail from Camp Daniel Boone to Cold Mountain summit trail
Conditions: Partly cloudy, 75 degrees F