Rumbling Bald: Climbing a Mountain from the Inside

Here's an old blast from the past. Part of a hike I took with Andy Kunkle and Jack Thyen back in 2007.

Andy, Jack, and I had hiked that morning to the top of a summit called Eagle Rock on Rumbling Bald Mountain in what is now Hickory Nut Gorge State Park. The State had just acquired the land but had not done anything to the property at that time. But it was accessible for hiking. (I'm not sure if the land is still sitting as is, or if any trails or other amenities have been added since then.)

After the hike to the top, Andy left to head back home, but Jack and I continued on to another trail leading to a cave that goes inside Rumbling Bald Mountain. The unique feature of this cave is that there is a route inside that you can use to climb to another cave entrance much higher on the cliff face, a spot known as "The Attic Window".

This remains the only time I have hiked inside a mountain.

This is the base of the cliff where the entrance to the cave is located. If Jack had not been there recently there is no way I could have located the place. Fortunately, he remembered the way in.

Up there somewhere is the opening called "The Attic Window".

Jack standing above near the cave entrance. If you look to the right you can see a blue blaze on a tree that was a marking for the unofficial trail to the cave.

Jack patiently waiting for me to climb up to the ledge.

Getting closer...

In the 1800s Rumbling Bald Mountain was the epicenter of a pretty severe earthquake. Great plumes of granitic dust that rose above the mountain for days made people think that it was turning into a volcano. In fact, it was just the pulverized rock tumbling down from the mountain.

Andy Kunkle was still with us until we got to the cave entrance, then he had to head back to Charlotte to keep an appointment. You can see another blue blaze just to Andy's right.

Jack at the cave entrance.

Inside the cave! Some of the chambers were pretty large. Keep in mind that the place was basically pitch dark. We had headlamps, but the spaces were illuminated by our camera flashes when I took these inside photos.

Jack leading the way. We had to climb up and up. The climbing was easy.

Some light leaking in past some broken slabs.

Heading up toward some tight squeezes on the route.

There are other "trails" in the mountain. One of them leads to a stream inside the mountain, but we elected not to follow it. I was nervous enough just navigating to the Attic Window.

The following views were taken after I got to the Attic Window. You can't go out since it drops off a good distance straight down.

It was chilly that day and in fact had snowed on us earlier when we had climbed to the top of the mountain.

That's Lake Lure off in the distance.

Then it was time to start downclimbing back to the entrance.

Steep climb down! Careful!

A few places were really tight. Fortunately I only have mild claustrophobia.

I thought we'd have seen a lot of bats, but we only saw this one.

I "think" this is the way out!

Outside once more and looking back up in the general direction of The Attic Window.

Almost Forgot...

I almost couldn't recall where I took this photo. And then I remembered that it was a place called Eagle Rocks on Rumbling Bald Mountain part of which is now owned by the state of North Carolina and is being incorporated into the new-ish Chimney Rock State Park. Once I recalled where I'd taken it, I was able to call up these other photographs from my external hard drive.

This was at the uppermost terminus of our hike, the formation they call Eagle Rocks.

I hiked that day with my usual hiking partner, Jack Thyen. Yes, his hat is a funny one, but he claims its the warmest cap he has and it was a particularly cold day. In fact, at one point the sky dropped a bit of a snow flurry on us.

This was also my first hike with Andy Kunkle. That's Andy following Jack to the top. I'll be hiking next week with Andy on a three-day backpack on the Appalachian Trail in Virginia.

And here we were on the summit, rewarded with a fantastic view on a nice chilly winter day.

A dead, weathered snag that was standing just below the summit rocks.

Inside the Mountain

I don't really like caving. I've been inside a few caves, but it's just not for me. And I certainly don't want to ever put myself into some of the more claustrophobic situations that seem to thrill a lot of the folk who get their jollies crawling deep beneath the earth.

Jack Thyen, at the cave entrance.

However, sometimes I'll do some very moderate caving. Once was after hitting a major rock climbing summit on Rumbling Bald Mountain. Rumbling Bald is a huge, cliff-faced mass that rises above Lake Lure (not far from Asheville). It was named for a series of earthquakes that hit the peak in the late 1800s. The tremors were so powerful that "smoke" was seen rising from the mountain and it was assumed that the peak had become volcanic and was about to blow. In fact, it was just granitic dust clouds blowing into the air from vast slabs of stone snapping off and shifting within its honeycombed interior.

Inside one of the large interior rooms. Keep in mind that it was pitch dark in there. My camera flash creates the illusion of illumination. We were, of course, wearing headlamps.

One of my hiking pals, Jack Thyen, suggested that we visit a cave in the side of the peak after we'd climbed down from the summit. This was about as adventuresome as I'm ever likely to get when it comes to caving. We crawled through a small entrance into the cave (there's a well-marked trail to the location) and found ourselves in an almost cathedral-like room. From there, we made our way around the cave, finally climbing up to a spot called "the Attic Window", a perforation in the cliff face that allows you to look down on the forest through which you'd climbed to find the cave entrance. If you get a kick out of climbing a mountain from within the mountain, it's a unique experience.

One of the views from the Attic Window.

Finally, though, the idea of being inside Rumbling Bald Mountain began to get to me. What if it starts rumbling again? I kept thinking. Maybe it's overdue for a great huge round of rumbling. Maybe all of these uncountable tons of granite will want to shift toward the earth again! Maybe we'll get squished like bugs!

Jack, in a lower chamber, on our way out of that damned place.

It was quite good to get out of there, I have to say.

This little guy was on the ceiling of one of the first rooms we came to. He seemed quite oblivious of us.