Ascent of Richland Balsam on 2015-07-31| Other People: | Solo Ascent
| | Date: | Friday, July 31, 2015 | | Ascent Type: | Successful Summit Attained | | Peak: | Richland Balsam | | Location: | USA-North Carolina | | Elevation: | 6410 ft / 1953 m |
Ascent Trip ReportBeautiful weather today and Diana said "Go take the dog for a hike", so I decided to bag a couple more 6K peaks. Drove south on the BRP to the Richland Balsam overlook. Hiked to the summit of Richland Balsam using the "tourist trail." Hiked back down and then walked down the Parkway to the overlook just south of Reinhart Mountain. There is no trail to Reinhart, so we walked into the woods just past the picnic table and bushwhacked along the ridgeline to the summit. Not too difficult, despite some very healthy briar patches. Summit has no monument that I could find, but did locate a couple of iron rods driven into the ground by surveyors. This summit is a county line so I suppose that's who put the rods there. Was worried that this didn't make an honest 5 miles, so bushwhacked north again along the ridge to Rinehart Gap, then walked the Parkway to Spot Knob Gap. I was thinking that it would be possible to walk all the way to the access for Mount Hardy and bag that one too, but it was just too far, the dog and I were tired, so we turned back and returned to the truck which was still at Richland Balsam. Estimated total hike 10 miles. |
| Summary Total Data | | Route Conditions: | Maintained Trail | | Weather: | Clear, light breeze, 69 F. |
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