High Top and Birdstand Mountain - Shining Rock Wilderness, NC

Описание: An exploratory hike and bushwhack beginning at Camp Daniel Boone, which allows access to the Little East Fork and Art Loeb Trails in the Shining Rock Wilderness of Pisgah National Forest. This time I wanted to check out the less-trafficked peaks on the Fork Mountain Trail - High Top and Birdstand Mountain. Initially I made a long S through the lower campsites crossing Big Branch three times. From there the forest roads continue climbing up and up. The higher elevations of the camp property are mostly bare, with some under-construction buildings and a confusing network of forest roads. Although never steep until the end, you will climb over 2,000 feet in 4 miles on these roads.

The final steep road ends at the ridgeline, meeting a rough manway. Turning right the manway climbs High Top and is very overgrown to the point of being a bushwhack in most sections. I wasn't sure what to expect, but below the summit of High Top are two distinct sections of large exposed rock faces with outstanding views south to west. These are very unique views of the Great Balsam Mountains surrounding the West Fork Pigeon River watershed. The summit of High Top (5,263 ft) was formerly home to a lookout tower but now has no views. Returning to the saddle I followed an old trail south along Fork Mountain that soon connected with the Fork Mountain Trail. Once I reached the official trail I was pleasantly surprised with its condition, it is better than what I've read from various sources.

For the most part the trail was level through hardwood forests with some ups and downs. When I got close to Birdstand Mountain the trail climbed around the east side through a nice mossy boulder field. At the saddle below the summit I dropped my pack and bushwhacked up the south slope, which was easy until the steep final climb. The summit (5,280 ft) was also forested, but an exposed face on the east side had views of Shining Rock and Boulderfield Falls. As I continued on the Fork Mountain Trail south, I spied a massive rock face on the south side of Birdstand, and I had to go back to explore. This was much tougher to reach than I thought. The rock was steep and had lots of soil and wet areas, so I tried to go up and around which took me on my stomach through some dense little shrubs. Fortunately the views were worth it, the southern views were even better than from High Top because of clear sight lines of Black Balsam Knob and Sam Knob. Running short on time, I took an abandoned forest road from the saddle to connect with the Little East Fork Trail. This sucked. There were blowdowns and saplings everywhere to negotiate. Otherwise, great views from some hidden spots that few hike in the Shining Rock Wilderness.

Hike was 11.1 miles with 3,504 feet elevation gain in 7 hours.

Hike location
https://goo.gl/maps/26JcAyZZdH62