Inside The Devil's Cellar

Last January I had the notion of going on a hardcore backpacking/rock climbing/survival trip to the Linville Gorge Wilderness Area in North Carolina. I wanted to pick a time in the semester when the escape and visceral experiences of the wild would make the most impact on my conscious and subconscious alike...so over spring break of 2007, I packed up some climbing gear, warm clothes, and brought 2 adventurous high school guys along for what turned into a trip of perseverance.

Our original goal was to find a place called "The Devil's Cellar" to go climbing in at Linville. Due to the fact that Devil's cellar is not as popular of a place to go to, the topographical maps as well as internet resources don't have that much info about it...and we never found it. The trip was great in its own way that spring though and it inspired us enough to want to go back....and so we did.

This past weekend, 7 high schoolers who had a profound impact on the formation of the Spring Valley Outdoor Adventure Club (as well as myself, Kelley, our dogs, and one of the guy's mother) packed into a bus and headed up into the Gorge. We arrived around 10pm at the Table Rock Parking Lot and piled out of the bus, eager for what the weekend had in store.

We quickly met "Bob", one of the contributers to the www.linvillegorge.net website that catalogues much of the park's trails and geographical features. Our meeting must have been providence, becuase he gave us the exact trail head that we needed to take in order to find the Devil's Cellar.

We ended up camping at a spot near the parking lot the first night and waking up early saturday to set up some top rope climbs at a place to the south called "The Chimney's". It's a fairly popular spot and we ran into several other climbers and hikers. We enjoyed some fairly casual climbs and then packed up for our quest for the "Devil's Cellar"

Some obsure photos and blogs online describe Devil's Cellar as a being a cravass between the north face of Table Rock Mountain in Linville and a pretty impressive butress that must have fallen from the main mountain ages ago. The result is a 30-40 foot wide miniature slot canyon that plays host to some great rappelling, top-roping, and trad-climbing. From the top of the butress that is accessible from the trail, there is 180 degree exposure to the north of linville gorge which allows you to see Mt. Mitchell and beyond to the west, Granfather Mt. to the east, and the entire north end of Linville gorge. It was sure to be magical to say the least...if we could only find it.

We hiked the summit trail to Table Rock and took the 2nd fork to the left like "Bob" advised. Everyone stayed back here except for Kai aka "Sky Ember" and myself. We were determined, since he went on the spring trip with me...he felt the anticipation just as I did.

A hard hike through thick rododendrons and thorns put us at the base of an enormous cravass...gray rock towering on each side of us like guardians to some promised land. We had found The Devil's Cellar...

What ensued was a full 24 hours of camping, rappelling, top-roping, and even a trad climb by our own Scott aka "Walkabout" Bolte. I can truly say that an effort to put our enamored state of emotion into words is futile. Suffice it to say that it was the best outdoor experience I've had...ever.