Hey everyone! I am currently in the Military in afghanistan and it has been a long while since my last trip up into the mountains! I will be out of the Army as of April 2012 and am settling down with my wife in NC! I am NOT familiar with any areas on which I can do some serious climbing/mountaineering! Does anyone know of any areas in the general vicinity of NC? I will be living in Mooresville and I can't live with out my trips....... I kind of lied.... I know of the Smokies, but I know nothing about them. Are they any decent? Do they offer any chance of a challenge or adventure? Any information would be greatly appreciated! I can't wait to get back into the groove!

Be safe in Afghanistan and good luck finding adventure in NC, but please keep the ALL CAPS thing toned down.

Mooresville doesn't seem too far from various spots along the Blue Ridge Parkway. That would include Linnville Gorge and Mt. Mitchell as well as many other hiking opportunities; don't know about any mountaineering though. Stone Mountain (NC) and Looking Glass Rock shouldn't be too far from Mooresville either. From looking at Google Earth, Mooresville is about 70 miles as the crow flies from Grandfather Mountain, so there definitely should be some possibilities.

"I am NOT familiar with any areas on which I can do some serious climbing/mountaineering! "

seems like nothing but serious climbing at a place like Stone Mountain. Also looks like a few other great places for multi-pitch climbing in the state. Mountaineering? Think you're on the wrong side of the continent...

rpc wrote:"I am NOT familiar with any areas on which I can do some serious climbing/mountaineering! "

seems like nothing but serious climbing at a place like Stone Mountain. Also looks like a few other great places for multi-pitch climbing in the state. Mountaineering? Think you're on the wrong side of the continent...

I basically have to agree with that. There sure aren't any glaciers in that area; hell, there weren't any in the last ice age either. There's unquestionably some great mountain hiking though, and some very good rock climbing no doubt.

No glaciers, no treeline. Some good rock. 6000' peaks that get some good winter weather from time to time. Imaginitive people can do pretty intense things in the NC mountains, especially in winter. Scroll down this for one example: http://matthewkirk.blogspot.com/2010/02/ring-round-shed.html
It was done less than 2 hours' drive from Moresville.

Also good rock climbing at Table Rock, between Linville and Morganton as well as Pilot Mtn just to the east of Stone Mtn.

Dupont and Uwharrie Forests offer various mtn bike trails should you want to seek out other adventures. Transylvania County offers a high concentration of primo waterfalls. Nothing like dealing with a typical Carolina summer day than careening down one of those slide cascades.

And, of course, living in Mooresville you'll always have NASCAR.

I just pulled out Issue 25 of Alpinist Magazine, which has an article about rock climbing at Laurel Knob in North Carolina. Laurel Knob has routes that are at least 5.10b.

There are some good long hikes in the Smokies as well, including Mount Guyot, which entails a hike of about 16 miles, an elevation gain of more than 4,000 feet, and a difficult bushwhack at the end.

The rock in the Smokies is NOT suitable for climbing. Don't even try it. Rotten stuff.

Stone Mountain, Rumbling Bald, Whiteside Mountain, Linville Gorge, Looking Glass Rock, John Rock, Panthertown Valley, etc.;...plenty of places for serious rock climbing.

I do not rock climb but echo above sentiments. There is plenty of climbingin NC; enough to keep you busy a few decades. Winter in the Whites Mt of NH are the closest thing to mountaineering in the east and Grandfather & Mt Mitchell are the closest things to the Whites. I can recall 3 specific cases of hiker deaths from hypothermia in the SE over the last 10 or so years; here is one:
http://www.associatedcontent.com/articl ... _death.htm

Thanks for your service, be safe,and welcome to Carolian the Elder.

Buz Groshong wrote:Mooresville doesn't seem too far from various spots along the Blue Ridge Parkway. That would include Linnville Gorge and Mt. Mitchell as well as many other hiking opportunities; don't know about any mountaineering though. Stone Mountain (NC) and Looking Glass Rock shouldn't be too far from Mooresville either. From looking at Google Earth, Mooresville is about 70 miles as the crow flies from Grandfather Mountain, so there definitely should be some possibilities.

Thank you very much for looking it up for me! I heard of Grandfather mountain before. I will check them places out as soon as I get home!

rpc wrote:"I am NOT familiar with any areas on which I can do some serious climbing/mountaineering! "

seems like nothing but serious climbing at a place like Stone Mountain. Also looks like a few other great places for multi-pitch climbing in the state. Mountaineering? Think you're on the wrong side of the continent...

I appologies, I tend to use the term Mountaineering freely with out thinking twice. I was meaning it in the terms of trekking. My definition of Mountaineering though is that of someone whom goes bivouacking for a week or more. But anyway's. I will have to check out Stone Mountain, I haven't looked it up yet, but I am hoping it is promising. Thanks for your response!

Buz Groshong wrote:

rpc wrote:"I am NOT familiar with any areas on which I can do some serious climbing/mountaineering! "

seems like nothing but serious climbing at a place like Stone Mountain. Also looks like a few other great places for multi-pitch climbing in the state. Mountaineering? Think you're on the wrong side of the continent...

I basically have to agree with that. There sure aren't any glaciers in that area; hell, there weren't any in the last ice age either. There's unquestionably some great mountain hiking though, and some very good rock climbing no doubt.

I'm tracking that! Like I told the other SPer, I tend to use the term freely meaning that of mountaining hiking/trekking. If you know of any good spots, please let me know! I appreciate it.

CheesySciFi wrote:I just pulled out Issue 25 of Alpinist Magazine, which has an article about rock climbing at Laurel Knob in North Carolina. Laurel Knob has routes that are at least 5.10b.

There are some good long hikes in the Smokies as well, including Mount Guyot, which entails a hike of about 16 miles, an elevation gain of more than 4,000 feet, and a difficult bushwhack at the end.

That is awesome! Thanks. The longer the hike, the better. I am planning a 2 day hiking trip in the mountains when I go on R&R from deployment. I will keep Mount Guyot in mind and nothing beats a good bushwhack at the end of a hike. I done a few on caving trips! Thanks again!