Southern Black Mountains peakbagging - Pisgah National Forest, NC

Описание: After this hike I'm almost finished bagging every 6,000+ foot peak in the Black Mountains. I started at the Mountains-to-Sea Trail crossing on NC 128 and headed west below the cliffs of Potato Knob passing by multiple viewpoints. The highlight is an area nicknamed the Potato Knob fields, with big views of Pinnacle, Graybeard Mountain, Burnett Reservoir, Great Craggy Mountains, Blackstock Knob, and the cliffs of Potato Knob. At a notch between Patton Knob I left the trail following a boundary path to forested vPotato Knob (6,400+ ft). Next I followed a faint boundary path north through a gnarly section of tall briars and downed trees, then a beautiful patch of southern Appalachian spruce-fir forest. The trail ends in a meadow with an old stone cabin. I don't know if bushwhacking and crawling through the fence around Clingmans Peak (6,520+ ft) was trespassing or just a safety hazard, but I did it anyways. Despite the array of radio towers the peak had great views of the Cane River Valley. I also tagged Mt. Gibbes (6,520+ ft) then walked down to Stepps Gap on a forest road with open views. At Stepps Gap I followed the Old Mitchell Trail into the state park then bushwhacked to the top of Mt. Hallback (6,391 ft) before turning around and walking NC 128 to my car.

Hike was 6.8 miles in 3 hours and 40 minutes.

Hike location
https://goo.gl/maps/7tUCi84HMsiaho656