Feb 23 A Few Obscure 6000' Peaks

MST on flank of Potato Knob 6420'

In our quest to top all the 6000' peaks in the NC/TN area, Will and I found four that we could hike in a day. Located in and near Mt Mitchell State Park are at least a dozen 6000' peaks. The four we chose to do were all south of Mt Mitchell itself. Beginning on the MST where it crosses NC 128, we hiked MST south. The route I'd downloaded from the Carolina Mountain Club had us hiking on the trail a short distance and then we needed to head up Potato Knob. I missed the manway up Potato Knob and we kept hiking MST south. At some point we realized we'd gone too far and turned back. However, we were impatient and decided not to go all the way back around the mountain but instead, just bushwhack up. It looked intimating with a large vertical exposed rock face we'd have to get over or around. The scramble was thick with thornless blackberries, reeds and further up rhododendron. Mt hiking poles were a real nuisance. We had to crawl and fight the rhodo until we got into thick spruce fir forest. Very shortly we located the manway and headed to the top. The scramble took alot of my energy and I never fully recovered throughout the rest of the day.

Towers on Clingman's Peak in background

After attaining the top, or what we thought was the top of Potato Knob, our next destination was Clingman's Peak. Clingman's Peak is not to be mistaken for Clingman's Dome in the Smokies.  When Elisha Mitchell made his exploratory trips into the Blacks in 1835 and 1844, there resulted some confusion as to which peak was the  highest and which peaks did Mitchell actually ascend. He may have climbed Clingman's, Gibbes or Mitchell on those cloudy days in 1835 and 1844. His colleague, and future adversary, Thomas Clingman made an 1855 exploration, climbing today's Mitchell and measured it's height at 6941'. Barometric elevation calculations have proved to be off but it was the best they had then. At this time, the name,  Clingman's Peak was attached to present day Mt Mitchell and the name Mt Mitchell was attached to present day Clingman's Peak. Elisha Mitchell decided he was going to defend his discoveries and in 1857 headed back. It was on this exploration, Mitchell fell to his death over a waterfall between Mt Mitchell and Mt Craig. Is that clear?

Who lives here on Clingman's Peak?

On our way to Clingman's Peak, we had to go by this very recently built home. I don't know if this is a private residence or something else. We looked in the windows and saw furniture like a residence but also a table positioned near the front door, which could have be welcoming area. Not far uphill, behind the house, we ran into the chain link fence surrounding the communication towers.

It is hard to actually stand on the top of Clingman's Peak 6583'

We could easily have slipped under the fence but then you'd have about 60-80 yards of toppled trees to get over. These looked as if they had been cut in the past couple months.

Is this bullshit?

We walked around the fenced area to the right and ran into steep rocks which we could not climb. So, we turned around and went the other way and eventually came to the road and gate.

Bunkhouse on Gibbes

Just a few feet from the gate, we located a side road headed up Gibbes. We saw several rusting towers which are now dwarfed by the monstrous ones in the gated area. Also, on Gibbes we saw "The Hootch". It was unlocked so we took a look. There were very crude bunk beds and some crude kitchen facilities. It was well stocked with Costco sized Ramen Noodle packages and a stack of tuna tins. The drawer labeled "BEER DRAWER" was empty.

Gibbes 6571'

It was just a short stroll from "The Hootch" to the top of Gibbes. From here we needed to descend to Steepes Gap and the Mt Mitchell Ranger Station. We could have followed a gravel road which provided access to the communication towers but we decided to bushwhack our way down. We were right on the boundary of the State Park and there was a faint path along the boundary. We lost the path a number of times but always seemed to be led back to it. We popped out of the wood right at the ranger station.

From here it is a short climb up to the top of Mt Hallback. We had already decided at this point we'd climb Hallback then turn back instead of continuing onto the Mitchell. There was a bushwhack off the Old Mitchell Trail to the top but we did find a sign at the top.

It is listed variously as 6300'  6320'  and 6391'

After enjoying lunch in an open spot on the side of Hallback, we headed back to the MST. At the ranger station we encountered a ranger on his way out. I asked if there was a path to the MST nearby, since it was only a few hundred yards through the woods at this point. "NO" you have to go up this trail 1.3 miles to access it and technically you can't go off trail he told us. I'd not heard that before. We waited until he was out of sight and headed off trail. It was steep downhill with lots of rocks and a really thick utility line access to cross but within 30 minutes we were on the MST, having saved ourselves about 3 miles of hiking on horse trails. The walk back from here was uneventful. We ended up doing 6.2 miles in 5 hours.