Have you ever went skinny dipping with 18 GO members? Keep reading for the details!

Most sustaining members attending the GO Gathering decided to join Jon and me on this 5.4 mile easy loop around Kilburn Pond at Pisgah State Park. Dave, the owner of MountainSide, also decided to join us. We worked out the carpooling arrangements at the campground, drove to the trailhead about 15 minutes away and started our hike around 11:15 AM.

It was overcast, hot and humid, with temperatures most likely in the 80’s. Off we went following Kilburn Road and then came upon a sign saying ‘Kilburn Loop’ with directional arrows at each end. Having never hiked this before we thought this was the start of the loop so off we went!

The trail left the comfort of the road and we found ourselves hiking on an abandoned logging road. There were lots of blowdowns but there was a herd path to follow. I recall Mike, the other owner of MountainSide telling me had done it before and found the trail rather primitive so I thought, well this is how it’s supposed to be.

Dave was ahead and at one point yelled out he was having trouble finding the trail. We then went backwards looking for the last blaze and discovered, well…hmmm…there were none. The trail might be primitive but not THAT primitive!

Jon and I yelled out to everyone that we should return back to Kilburn Road at the last trail sign and get our bearings. Meanwhile Rob, Brett and Jacob who told us they would catch up with us, passed us since they continued on the Kilburn Road. Since that end of the loop was a disaster, we agreed to do the loop in a counter-clockwise direction and find out where we lost the trail on the other end.

Within five minutes of starting, we ran into a trail sign that clearly stated that the loop began! The other trail sign we were referencing to is in a bad location. Since we were following a herd path when we made our mistake, we were not the only ones in the past to have done this. Now our adventure really begins. We now continued following a nice, wide road versus the herd path we had before.

Since it was hot and humid, we found ourselves walking what felt like a tropical forest! Orange salamanders were meandering about due to the humidity, a variety of mushrooms were to be seen and we were occasionally walking below towering hemlocks making it feel like we were in an old growth forest. After about a mile from the trailhead, we intersected to the Pisgah Mountain Trail, which lead to the summit of Mt. Pisgah.

The trail was muddy due to all the heavy downpours we had recently. At 3.2 miles we reached the most southerly point and reclaiming the elevation previously lost. Kilburn Brook was roaring so we decided to check it out.

Kilburn Pond would only be about 1.5 miles from here but it sure felt longer than that. As we approached Kilburn Pond the skies opened up and we were in a massive downpour. Our original plan was to take a swim once we reached the Pond so why let a downpour stop us! We are wet anyways!

It was here that a concerned Rob backtracked looking for us since had done the entire loop and we were nowhere to be found. Brett and Jacob hopped into their cars back to the campground. He was relieved that everyone was fine. Thanks for checking up on us Rob!

We found a herd path that led us to a rocky ledge. Off went our wet clothes and we all jumped into the pond!

We had the entire pond to ourselves. After all, there was a heavy downpour! It was so comfortable being in the water and out of our wet clothes. The rain was coming down so hard it was bouncing off the water and into our faces. MAGICAL!

The rain started to let up and a group of young men and women came upon us skinny dipping scoping out the ledge. They were very cool with the whole thing. We put on our wet clothes and hastily did the short .6 mile hike back to our vehicles.

In a weird sort of way, this adventure made the GO Gathering an unqualified success! The hike and swim was fabulous. We haven't had so much fun in the water since we were twelve!. It was perfect and will be a highlight of everyone’s ‘summer of 2018’!   

~ Mike and Jon

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