Linville Gorge

This past weekend I found some time to take a hike!  Labor Day weekend was my last weekend off until Thanksgiving, so relaxing and finding some time to get out of town was great.  I headed to Linville Gorge, near Asheville, NC with two friends to hike and swim. Located in Pisgah National Forest, the gorge encloses the Linville River for 12 miles.  There's a 1400 ft. drop from the top of the gorge down to the river, so hiking out at the end was a great workout!

This guy freaked me out when he greeted us near the top of the trail.

We had some nooks and crannies to work through.

Someone lost a shoe on the trail.

Made it down to the Linville River!

I did not make this arch. Or bring the tire down.  The arch is awesome. The tire is not.

Arch framing our private swimming hole. And by private I just mean nobody else was there.

Janel adding to the epic rock tower.

We took turns jumping off a giant rock. Robert.

Janel's turn. Shoulda been a cheerleader.

My turn!

This is the only footbridge that crosses over the Linville River in the Gorge.  Naturally, we clamored over rocks in the river to reach the bridge.

Bridge!

Made it back to the top! Great hike!

I always like feeling a "good sore" the next day.  After our climb back up, switchbacks for nearly 40 minutes, we were sweating big time, and my legs were slightly like jello the following morning.  All part of the preparation for some insane Africa hiking.