Graybeard & The Seven Sisters of Swannanoa

"We've literally been hiking all day.."

Our post-hike dinner spot, "The Trail-head" had this very cool backdrop of the seven sisters range, You see art of these 7 peaks virtually everywhere in Black Mountain. And of course the NC flag, God Bless the South!

Background:

As Hurricane Matthew began to affect parts of central North Carolina & the Charlotte region where I currently reside, I checked the weather for the hills and found that a mere 20% chance of rain and even some breaks in the clouds were in the forecast. I was cut from my usual Saturday work shift at the USNWC and took the opportunity to invite friends to escape the wet weather and hike some mountains. 

Well... it didn't end up being the driest hike, BUT, we all ended up having a great time on the locally beloved "Seven Sisters" mountain range that towers over surrounding Montreat and the town of Black Mountain for an all-day hike of about 10 miles.

The local legend and lore of the range and how the peaks got their name is that there are seven "sisters" (of Swannanoa); Solomon Morris/Tomohawk, Little Piney, Big Piney, the 4th (unnamed) sister, Forked Ridge Knob, Little Slaty and Big Slaty. Their father is Mr. Graybeard, the northernmost and highest peak of the ridge after all 7 sisters.

I thought this was neat, though I never got anymore backstory to the names. There is a museum in town that has a lot of local history in nearby Black Mountain, perhaps there is more history of the area there.

Trails to Graybeard and the Seven Sisters are accessible via the town of Montreat, North Carolina. Montreat is a small mountain town with a Christian liberal arts college (Montreat College) nestled in the valley of Flat Creek. The college is surrounded by very, very wealthy residents of the community with beautiful mountain homes and there is a very nice hotel in town. We didn't have time/daylight to explore the town but I have before and have fond memories as a child from when I lived in the mountains and playing in the creek at the local park up here.

Hike Report:

Distance: ~10 miles

Time: 7 hours

Difficulty: Moderate-Strenuous 

Though the trails of Montreat are surrounded by the Pisgah National Forest, the mountains are actutally on private property, owned by the Montreat community. The cool part is, they let anyone come and hike their beautiful trails as long as they are on foot. They call their forest the "Boggs Wilderness" and at the trailhead of Graybeard their are a few very cool plaques in dedication/memorial to the forest and it's benefactors. The Christian influence can be found throughout here, as it generally can be in the south. & God Bless.

Pictures never do justice to the elevation pitch of a trail, but this section in particular was extremely steep

So we parked at the trailhead for the Stomping Knob, our first peak of the day. This trail definately set the tone very early as we ended up climbing over 1200 feet in a mere 1.1 miles. This is extremely steep and I know that half of the people in our group were at least second-guessing their decision to go on a hike with me. The beginning is always the hardest part when hiking mountains, and we all got along alright after this initial bit climbing and calf-burning!

About halfway up the first trail, we noticed that their were old dumping barrels from a moonshine distillery. If you know western North Carolina, you know it rich past (and present) in moon-shining. Especially in this area in the mountains, I know this to be true being born in nearby Marion. 

So, we all finally got up mostly in one piece. From here, the trail mellows out significantly. After the first peak, we merged onto the "West Ridge Trail," the trail that traverses the rest of the 7 peaks of the sisters. The trail from here still climbs periodically, but evens out at it saddles between peaks up & down.

"Why are we stopping???" -Clif

Fall colors were beginning to show more intensely as we climbed higher and higher along the ridge. 

Along the hike, Thalia spotted a red Salamander, out today and helped by the damp weather. Poisonous to the touch

So after 4/5 miles of our hike, we ended up at the summit of the "father" of the seven sisters of Swannanoa, Mr. Graybeard, and it was most definitely the best view of all. The picture immidiately below is of the day of the hike, and the next two from another hike I did with Clif, on a much more clear day. Still, very cool to see two different perspectives of the mountains to the north and east. 

A view due east, featuring heartbreak ridge, Kitsuma, and the southern Pisgah Grandfather district

Mt. Mitchell, the Pisgah Grandfather district from Graybeard

View from Walker Knob of the Pisgah national forest along the I-40 corridor and the Swannanoa valley 

So the hike ended with not too much daylight to spare, in fact we were hiking through the town of Montreat after the sun had gone down. 8 hours later, you somehow forget the fact that you have been walking all day and it feels pretty normal. And then you sit down and it all hits you. We ended up grabbing a bite to eat with beers in nearby Black Mountain at the "Trailhead" Restaurant. A great way to end a great day.