| NATIONAL PARKS QUICKLINKS |
Also on Backpacker.com
Backpacker Magazine – September 2011
Rip & Go: Two Gorges Loop - Gorges State Park, NC
Trace the watery divide between the Carolinas.
-
Tags:
- Destinations |
- RipGo |
- North Carolina |
Take it With You
Download a printable PDF of this entire weekend.
GPS-Enabled Trip Report
See this trip on a map, download it to your phone, GPS, or computer, and more.
Download a printable PDF of this entire weekend.
GPS-Enabled Trip Report
See this trip on a map, download it to your phone, GPS, or computer, and more.
On The Menu
Breakfast 1
On the road
Lunches 1 & 2
Avocado, pepperoni, Cheddar, and ranch tortillas
Dinner 1
Found Fungi Farfalle
Dessert 1
Blue Ridge Bananas
Breakfast 2
Instant cheese grits
Snacks
Chocolate-covered raisins
Found Fungi Farfalle
Five-star forage without the fuss
½ pound morels (substitute portabella mushrooms off-season)
3 tablespoons margarine
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 small onion, chopped
1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese
8 ounces bowtie pasta
Cook pasta to al dente and set aside. Meanwhile, sauté onion, garlic, and morels until slightly browned. Mix with drained pasta, cover with shredded cheese, and heat until cheese is melted.
Serves two.
Blue Ridge Bananas
Sweet and salty for real
1 tablespoon margarine
2 bananas (firm)
1 bar dark chocolate
1 teaspoon sea salt
aluminum foil
Peel and slice bananas (a great recovery food), place in foil with margarine, and sprinkle with salt and pieces of chocolate. Wrap foil loosely, sealing the edges.
Place foil packet over fire for three minutes. No fire? Pan fry, covered.
Serves two.
The Grocery List (AISLE # IN NEAREST STORE BELOW)
[ ] avocado (produce)
[ ] portabella mushrooms (produce)
[ ] bananas (produce)
[ ] onion (produce)
[ ] sliced pepperoni (meat)
[ ] margarine (dairy)
[ ] shredded Cheddar cheese (dairy)
[ ] dark chocolate (2)
[ ] chocolate-covered raisins (2)
[ ] ranch dressing cups (2)
[ ] instant grits (3)
[ ] bowtie pasta (5)
[ ] flour tortillas (5)
Pack Butter, garlic, aluminum foil, sea salt
PIT STOP Follow the fried mac ’n cheese wedges with a wood-fired bruschetta pizza and wash it down with a Sapphire High Red Ale at Sapphire Mountain Brewing Company. Still hungry? Chocolate Pizza. 50 Slicers Ave., Sapphire, NC; (828) 743-0220; sapphiremountainbrewingcompany.com
Subscribe to Backpacker magazine
Sign up for our free weekly e-newsletter
Reader Rating:
-
Editors' Choice 2013
412 trail-tested products
Boost Your Apps
Add powerful tools and exclusive maps to your BACKPACKER apps through our partnership with Trimble Outdoors.
Carry the Best Maps
With BACKPACKER PRO Maps, get life-list destinations and local trips on adventure-ready waterproof myTopo paper.
FREE Rocky Mountain Trip Planner
Sign up for a free Rocky Mountain National Park trip planning kit from our sister site MyRockyMountainPark.com.
Get 2 FREE Trial Issues and 3 FREE GIFTS
Survival Skills 101 • Eat BetterThe Best Trails in America
YES! Please send me my FREE trial issues of Backpacker
and my 3 FREE downloadable booklets.
Free trial offer valid for US subscribers only.
Canadian subscriptions |
International subscriptions
and my 3 FREE downloadable booklets.
READERS COMMENTS
The park map gives out-and-back distances for trails. Canebrake is five miles one way, but the map says 10.
The park map gives out-and-back distances for trails. Canebrake is five miles one way, but the map says 10.
We just finished this loop and would call strenuous, but we aren't in top condition. You are correct about the mileage being off. The first day works out to 11.5 miles (the miles from the suspension bridge to the auger hole trail is 6 miles not 3.9)and the second day is 8 miles. We shared the campsite with a couple that were following the backpacker route (Hi Mike and Randi) and they ran into the same issue with the mileage. It was a great loop overall, and we would do it again.
We just finished this loop and would call strenuous, but we aren't in top condition. You are correct about the mileage being off. The first day works out to 11.5 miles (the miles from the suspension bridge to the auger hole trail is 6 miles not 3.9)and the second day is 8 miles. We shared the campsite with a couple that were following the backpacker route (Hi Mike and Randi) and they ran into the same issue with the mileage. It was a great loop overall, and we would do it again.
Sitting at the brewing company having just completed this loop and for us it was strenuous, although to be fair we aren't in top condition. You are correct about the mileage being off both ways, it is 11.5 miles the first day(it tells you 3.9 to the turn off and its 6 miles) and 8 miles the second day. The first day mileage can make you question if you missed the turn off for the auger hole trail if you are like us and know your distance per hour. We shared the campsite with a couple (hi Mike and Randi) that were also following these directions and they had run into the same issue. Over all a good loop, just leave yourself enough time for day one.
Does anyone know how accurate the distance and difficulty rating actually is? The link to the free map shows the first trail being 10 miles and the second 14.5 miles; considerably longer than the 16.8 listed. Also, the trip data ranks the difficulty at 6/10 while the state park map lists both main trails as "strenuous."
ADD A COMMENT