The weatherman thinks we will have a high around 80° today but the
humidity is supposed to drop a little. So
we’re going to give it a try, I’m thinking the BRT from Erbie Campground downriver
to Adair Cemetery shouldn’t have much elevation change and it is a maintained
trail. Therefore, this is probably a good
choice for a warm weather hike. We park
at the far east end of Erbie Campground above the canoe access.
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river vista
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The trailhead is at the southeast corner of the parking lot, this is
where we begin. This is the Erbie Campground Spur Trail, that takes us below the road east to the Buffalo River
Trail. We notice how ‘lush’ everything
is getting, thick greenery all around.
Up some natural stone steps, we soon come to the end of the spur at the
intersection with the BRT.
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plenty of signage along BRT
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Straight
ahead (east) then a sharp turn north and close to the edge of a bluff
overlooking the Buffalo River, we pass above a nice pouroff waterfall on our
left. Then a great vista of the river below with some big turtles. This entire section of the trail is getting choked out with encroaching vegetation but isn’t too hard to follow.
The BRT now swings away from the river to the right and uphill some, we come to an intersection with the ORT. |
late spring wildflowers
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North on an old road for the next quarter mile or more the trail opens up
some. There are loads of wildflowers
everywhere along the old road which alternates between solid bedrock and mud holes. After crossing another trail intersection
with a spur on the Old River Trail, leaving the road here our route swings around to the
right and once again we catch some glimpses through the trees of the river down
below. South of the trail we notice
scattered remnants of an old homesite up the hill in the woods, not seeing anything
substantial we continue on.
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bedrock side drainage
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Curving toward the south the trail heads away from the river and soon
another trail intersection, this one a
short spur down to the river. We turn right here staying on the BRT which heads
uphill, soon there’s a nice vista of the
river then we enter a small side drainage and a nice wet weather waterfall
close to 20 feet tall and 10 wide just below the trail. Beyond this small drainage is yet another great
vista of the Buffalo. |
at Redhorse Hole
|
The next half mile or so takes us in and out of some little side
drainages as we gradually get farther from the river, then another intersection
with the ORT as we enter a bigger side drainage. Gradually heading downhill, we cross the creek
on solid bedrock, then a little steeper we climb out of the drainage up the
other side and arrive at Adair Cemetery.
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below trail
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Other than everything has really greened-up nicely, the Adair Cemetery
area doesn’t look any different than it did almost three months ago, see: (41 Cedar Glade to Adair Cemetery). Once again this is our turn around point. Before heading back, we have lunch and re-hydrate at the same campsite we used back in
March. This pretty area in the shade of the giant
oaks is even nicer now in its summer blanket of green. |
turtle bay
|
On the way back to Erbie Campground, about a mile from Adair is the spur
trail (right) down to the river, downhill on the short spur we go maybe 200 yards to a
gravel-bar on the river with a campsite at the downstream end of Redhorse
Hole, which is a nice swimming hole right under a beautiful bluff. The air temperature is warm enough for some swimming, but the water is still very cold, so we think not. After taking a few pictures we head back up
the spur to the BRT.
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Buffalo River
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Another mile
or so brings us back to Erbie Campground, the end of today’s hike. It did get pretty warm today, I’m sure glad
we carried the hydration pack, this was a wonderful hike along the
beautiful Buffalo with wildflowers in their prime. In and out the hike was just under 5 miles
with 440 feet of elevation gain.
Erbie Campground: Statistics Chart 51 Easy enough to get to from Highway 7 just turn west onto Erbie Campground Rd. (NC 2500) which is about 2.4 miles south of the Hwy.7 Buffalo River bridge, or 1.6 miles north of the hairpin curve at Little Switzerland Cabins, then go approximately 5.4 miles to Erbie Campground entrance turn right (east) to the canoe launch area and large parking lot with the BRT spur trailhead in the southeast corner.
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