Enjoy an amazing hike down Section 2 of the Art Loeb trail to Butter Gap. Featuring stunning views (weather dependent), waterfalls and rhododendron and mountain laurel tunnels.
Me and my hiking partner for the day, Mariah, decided to tackle this section of the Art Loeb trail while we were participating in the First Annual Hike-A-Thon for a local charity, Helping Hands of Haywood. We met up early and headed up to the Blue Ridge Parkway towards Black Balsam Knob, where we were met with thick fog and rain. We picked up the trail across from the Black Balsam trail, which does double duty as both the Art Loeb and MST. The first mile is a beautiful and gentle walk through a dense alpine fir forest. As you head down you will get a couple of beautiful views of the valley below. Today was not that day, and we had no long range views due to the heavy fog and rain.
At Silvermine bald, the trail splits and you continue down some decently steep switchbacks until you cross the Blue Ridge Parkway. The trails continues down until you reach the first small climb at Sassafras Knob. After descending from the knob, you will reach the Deep Gap shelter, the first of two shelters on the trail. We stopped here to get out of the rain and dry off a bit, talked to a few other folks who were there, and took a snack break.
The next challenge is one of the bigger climbs on the entire trail, Pilot Mountain. This is a tough climb heading down, but even more of a challenge if you hike the trail south to north. The climb seemed to go on forever, and with the fog, it was hard to see where the top was. Eventually we conquered Pilot Mountain, but instead of the normal stunning views, we were treated to more rain and fog.
Continuing on, you’ll cross 3-4 forest service roads in a pretty short span, and then a short climb up and over Rich Mountain. At this point you will again cross Cathey’s Creek Rd and continue on the Art Loeb trail. This section is fairly easy and ascends and descends gently until you reach the last real uphill section at Chestnut Mountain. We reached the multi trail junction of Cedar Rock, Art Loeb and Butter Gap. We decided to hit the shelter to regroup and get dry before heading back out in the rain to start the hike down the Butter Gap trail.
This last 4 mile section is an easy and beautiful hike that follows along Grogan Creek which has a fairly impressive waterfall, Grogan Creek Falls. You’ll spot numerous great campsites, walk through tunnels of laurels and rhododendrons and be able to spot lots of wildflowers. This section is sometimes wet and muddy, so make sure you take it slow, especially approaching the falls. Eventually the trail will end at its intersection with the Cat Gap Loop trail, which you will follow down (not across the log bridge) for one mile to reach the parking area at the Pisgah Center for Wildlife Education. On the way, you will pass both Upper and Lower Cedar Rock Falls, both worth checking out.
The moment we reached the end of the roughly 15 mile hike, the rain stopped for the first time all day! We shuttled back up to the other car, discussed our awesome achievement and decided we are going to do more hikes together soon and had a celebratory beer. I was really glad to get to show off one of my favorite trails to a friend, and was really proud that it was her longest (and reportedly wettest, so far…) hike and more than that, we came together and got it done to raise some money for an amazing cause. Despite the heavy rain and lack of views, we both had a blast enjoying each others company and talking about adventures past and future. Here’s to the next one!