Davidson River Sampler

March 5, 2002 on 3:22 pm | In Mountain |

On the beautiful, chilly morning of Sunday February the tenth, we headed out to the Fish Hatchery off of Rt. 276 from 475: Gerald Evens, Jon Sarver, Matt Johnson, Eric Krause, Jody Pogue, and myself, Jacob Sessoms.

After dressing for the slightly brisk weather, we left the parking lot at the Fish Hatchery on FS475. We made a left turn from the parking lot then a right onto 475B. Serving as a great warm-up, we climbed this four-mile gravel road. We followed the road under the climbing face of Looking Glass Rock to Gumstand Gap. Then we forked left onto another gravel road, FS225 for a little more elevation gain.

Stopping at the second gate to rest and take a group shot, we shed a layer and prepared for the real fun. We dropped .7 miles on Caney Bottom Extension and connected to the Caney Bottom Trail. This was absolutely great singletrack downhill; muddy, rooty, rutty and fun. The trail then leveled out for a few fast, buff, rolling miles. This section of trail was full of super technical log crossings, giving Jon and Matt, especially, a chance to show off their true technical skills. We dropped down into Cove Creek Campground, took a right back onto 475 and headed west towards the Daniel Ridge Loop

After the Daniel Ridge Trail we were presented with an option. (Daniel Ridge can be ridden either direction, but counter-clockwise is recommended.) Since it had been a while since Jody or Eric had ridden this singletrack, we were at loss for the best direction in which to climb the ridge. We chose to climb clockwise, starting on the left side. This turned out to be not the most ideal way but great nonetheless. We climbed for three grueling, technical miles followed by an additional mile of mild, rooty, leafy upwardly rolling trail. The climb was a grunt, but proved to be a great ego boost for some; it being the steepest most technical climb I have cleared thus far in my experience. As the trail began to descend, it dropped rapidly at first. The first half of the decent was not so fun, having been recently graded with nasty water bars and the whole crew on hardtails. However, the second part of the descent redeemed itself with an awesome fast ride back down to the river.

At this point, Jon, Jody and myself split off, we took the killer, fast Davidson River Trail back down to the parking lot and hurried home, stopping to feed Jody and Jon and crush Jody’s shock at the Taco Bell drive-through.

Eric, Matt and Gerald climbed again on 475, two miles up to Long Branch, just past Cemetery Ridge. After taking a left on Long Branch, they went right on Butter Gap after a couple miles. Descending down through Picklesimer Fields, they later reported some over-built water bars and big air all the way back to the Fish Hatchery.

These pieces of trail are the best descending available in Mills River and perhaps rival any in all of Western Carolina, a great mix of low-down, Rodo tunnel, rolling, fun as hell trail. All in all, we rode 19 miles in about three hours, got a great workout and had a perfect commune with nature on an unbeatable early February day. - Jacob Sessoms (chef/owner of Table Restaurant in Asheville.)

Here are some photos from our old website.