2nd birthday in a row spent here on the East Coast hiking the Appalachians. Loving this tradition. Loved the story of Thomas "Big Tom" Wilson and how he found the body of Elisha Mitchell. Great views from this peak if you venture off the main trail a little.
Climbed this with my dog "Bear" on a 4-mile jaunt from Mount Mitchell. Hope to come back and hike the whole Black Mountain crest when I have a weekend. Sunny and cool.
Climbed from the Deep Gap Trailhead near Mt. Mitchell. The trail was muddy with plenty of slick rocks due to all the recent rain. We had partially clear skies to Mt. Craig and then the low lying clouds took over so we decided to shorten our day and stopped shortly after Balsam Cone.
I traversed this peak in the 70s and 80s, when it was just a nice bump on the trail. But my dad used to tell stories of being lost on "the Black Brothers," of which Big Tom was one, in the 1930s. Back then this was about as wild and untracked a mountain you could find.
Black Mountain Trifecta!!! Date Climbed: May 23, 2009
I hiked to Big Tom after already visiting Mount Mitchell and Mount Craig. However, the thick fog and sideways-blowing rainstorm made portions of the route too questionable to safely continue... and nightfall was quickly approaching. This was my seventh peak summited that day.
We enjoyed this one with several of its nieghbors. Since my husband's name is Tom, this mountain had special meaning for us. Beautiful outing, lovely day, fantastic weather. I love the Black Mountaion Crest.