Pisgah National Forest is renowned for its natural beauty. Part of the Appalachian Mountains of Western North Carolina, the hardwood forests are full of rivers, waterfalls, mountain peaks and miles and miles of trails. It’s one of the most beautiful places in the southeast.
While I’ve hiked in Pisgah many times, my first venture into the forest on a mountain bike was one of the scariest things I’ve done on a bike. It was several years ago. My bike skills were just shy of beginner and I somehow talked my roadie husband into heading up a fire road to bomb down a single track in Pisgah. It was not fun! I spent the entire descent with one foot unclipped and ready to hike a bike over boulders, wet slippery narrow bridges, huge wet roots, rock drops, root drops and water tables. I swore if I made it back to the car intact I’d never ride there again. I did in fact make it back unscathed physically but I had nightmares about it for a week.
Fast forward those few years, a new Specialized Stumpjumper, miles and miles of practice and guidance from great friends, I was asked to join some friends again in The Pisgah. I met my buddies Bob and Dan and we set off and started the climb up. After a short hike and bike along Club Gap Trail we started the descent on Avery. My heart was thumping because I did not know what to expect and at the same time I knew what to expect, but I was excited for the challenge. Wet slippery roots and rocks have always been my weakness, and Pisgah is a wet place. I’ve never been able to fully trust my bike to get me through it. I knew rain was coming in later that day and each minute that went by made me more and more nervous about descending in extra wet conditions. I started thinking maybe I’d made a bad choice deciding to ride that day. The descents were so much fun though and each one made me eager for more. Clawhammer was one heck of a climb up to Middle Black. I’d heard some crazy things about the root exposure and erosion on this trail. When we arrived at the junction we met Shrimper with Single-track Trails. He was taking down the chain and opening up the “new” Middle Black a day early. While newly made trails are soft and often hard to ride, I was thankful for that challenge instead of the badly eroded old trail. High Anxiety, the new trail, was definitely full of anxiety as it’s a narrow single track on a bench cut all the way down the mountain. It gets fast really quick! Hang on, keep your eyes ahead and just let your bike do what it does best and I assure you that you ‘will’ exit the trail with a big fat smile on your face! It was actually fun to hang out and watch others bust out of the trail as well. I think we sat there too long because we heard a boom of thunder. We started down Lower Black and the downpour caught us. Here I was heading down more gnar in a deluge of rain on a trail full of rocks and roots. Lower Black is so flowy though that even in a downpour I still found myself laughing out loud in exaltation of actually conquering my fear of Pisgah! I didn’t even care about the rain. I was soaked, muddy, tired and happy. I am very grateful for my bike friends that encourage me, cheer for me, and mentor me to be a better rider. My only advice for anyone riding Pisgah for the first time is “don’t fight the mountain”.