(click on the links in the text for more photos)
(click on the links in the text for more photos)
Pictures and text by Will Skelton
Lost Cove Valley down below the city of Linville and Grandfather Mountain in North Carolina proved to be a good choice for an early August backpack. When planning the trip I neglected to check the elevation since it was so close to the heights of Grandfather Mountain. Later, when I realized that we would be camping down below at around 2,000 feet, I worried that, heat-wise, August wasn't the best of months for a trip that low. However, down in the gorge the water was perfect for swimming and the temperatures were not bad; indeed at night I even got a small, emphasis on small, campfire going.
Participants included Diane Madison, John Finger, Barbara Allen, John Roberts, Ray Payne, Cathy
Creswell, Holly Hayworth, Taylor Pickard (Kingsport), Betty Petty (Chattanooga), and Elaine Huff (Chattanooga). Highlights included
swimming in the most perfect
natural pool I've ever seen (maybe outside
one or two in the Southwestern canyon country), a 6 to10 foot deep rock Jacuzzi located above Gragg Prong Falls; Hunt Fish Falls, a series of
falls that, when we were there, were the playground for several retrievers who loved the pools; and Little Lost Cove Falls, a huge sheet of
water coming down a wide granite wall. Plus a campsite beside Lost Cove Creek, a green
wonderland, and a great evening of sounds from the creek
and cicadas.
