January 1, 2020: Andy Layne Trail to Appalachian Trail to Tinker Cliffs and back. 7.6 miles
With temperatures due to stay in the low-to-mid 40s at lower elevations, and winds expected to be in the 20s with gusts to the 40s, we packed lots of layers for this good walk to a great viewpoint. And as we made the climb, two sets of hikers voluntarily admonished: It’s pretty doggone windy up there. Still, as climbed, often in sun, things felt reasonably comfortable, to the extent that I found myself mentally talking myself out of suggesting an eastern spot for lunch instead of the west-facing formation, which is always breezy.
And even when we made the turn toward the south onto the rocks, things felt OK. But 200 yards later, as we changed under layers and added more outer ones, there was a distinct difference to the air. As in, cold. We fought it to the point—it seemed like a passing bit of wind at first—of getting some of the lunch items unpacked, before we looked at each other and talked about the big rock back aways that is in the sun and looks down to the east. I talked The Day Hiker, who disdains ‘schwacking like few other things, to cut across the no-understory top of the ridge line to the rock. But we took perhaps only 50 steps—just off the ridge and into the sunny winter woods—before she suggested we go ahead and spread out right there.
“I don’ know,” I said. “Must be just a lull, because how could it be so cold right over there and so warm here?”
But so it remained for the duration of lunch . . downright calm and comfortable. Made us wonder if the wind along the ridge line was related to the deep drop to the Catawba Valley fo some 1,700 feet, rather than to the usual westerlies rolling in from West Virginia. Clearly the most contrast in weather over a distance of 50 feet that we have ever witnessed.
January 4, 2020: At Carvins Cove, a loop of Horsepen, First deck, Royalty, Brushy Mountain and Trough trails. 4.2 miles.
The many and varied trail of the Carvins Cove Preserve lend themselves to a walk of most any length, and on this day we chose to stay fairly short, with a loop that took us up the mountainside the the preserve’s central trail along the Ridgeline. Our plan was to pick a knob looking westward toward McAfee Knob for lunch, but soon after we began the distance along Brushy Mountain, some of the day’s 30 percent began to fall upon us. And soon, after we got the umbrellas out and the pack covers in place, turned into a genuine shower.
“Shall we look for four trees to tie up the rain tarp?” I suggested to The Greatest Day Hiker Of Them All, who surprised me by suggesting, given that we were halfway through the hike, that we just continue back to the car and eat at home, out of the rain.
We walked on toward the Trough Trail that would take us back down the mountain, and as we approached it, the shower pretty much quit. We walked on a short distance again looking for a nice knob, but The Day Hiker was over that idea, and said we oughta just plunk down on the trail and eat.
Fortunately she had packed the camp chairs that she carries only on certain hikes and so, as a cyclist passed, we spread out at a wide spot on the forest-road trail for lunch. I was ready for another cyclist to come by so I could call out an imaginary time, to cover my semi-embarrassment fo our sitting right there just off the trail. Such a thing did not occur, we enjoyed a nice lunch and walked on back down the mountain.
