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Saturday, July 24th Jeff arrived from Gainesville the night before, so we departed Columbia early. After a brief stop at Lake Lure, we arrived at the Gorge in torrential rain and wind. We opted to continue around to the western rim to see the Ranger Station and enjoy the scenery at Linville Falls and Wiseman's View. The Falls are a short 1/4 mile hike from the road, replete with tourists. Wiseman's offers a nice perspective of Hawksbill, Table Rock and the impressive North Carolina Wall (which never quite comes into view while hiking on the eastern side). The rain stopped and while things were drying out, we stopped into Spear's restaurant in the village of Linville Falls for a late lunch of BBQ and beer. When we arrived at the parking lot at Table Rock, the rain started again and we quickly setup camp along the trail. We donned rain gear and took a hike around Table Rock, stopping to check out the North Ridge and Devil's Cellar, climbing areas less frequented than the popular East Face routes. The rain stopped again and we warmed up with some toproping at the Chimneys. We witnessed an incredible sunset that lasted for 15 minutes after the sun went down. The entire sky was blaze orange, reflected off the underside of a carpet of clouds. |