Rocky Boiman: Pisgah, NC Hiking Trip

Completed an awesome hiking trip over the weekend in Pisgah, NC.  I have been to Red River Gorge a hundred times and this time wanted some different terrain so we went to a great mountain region in Pisgah, about a 7 hour drive down there from Cincinnati.  We went in Thursday late afternoon on the Art Loeb Trail...over the next 2.5 days we covered about 30 miles reaching a max height of 6,200 ft on the Black Balsam Knob Mountain. Came out Sunday.  It was a grueling slog of a hike at times through the drastic rises and falls but the views and the serenity made it all worth it.  Was first time I camped three nights in a row...little (a lot) sore but loved it.

One of the great parts of the trip is I got to take my dog and best friend Elvis.  He is eight years old and I don't know how many 30 mile hikes he has in him but he was an absolute champ...through the climbs, the heat, and the hiking he lead the charge out front.  Very proud of him.

Went with some great guys...my buddy John Walters is a big time outdoors guy who makes hikes like this 3-4 times a year and really knows what he is doing.  Met John Homer for the first time but an awesome guy as well and very knowledgeable about the plants/foliage of the area.  Also cool that he celebrated his 50th birthday with a bunch of sweaty, smelly guys on the hike LOL.

I highly recommend this region to any hikers out there!