From the floor of the swannanoa valley to the peak of mount mitchell

Wendell Begley
Guest contributor
The Valley Echo
September 5, 2024

At an elevation of 6,250 feet, I composed this photograph on the “South Face” of Potato Knob in 2017. The view looks south, southwest toward Montreat and Black Mountain, which are both hidden by Greybeard Mountain. The crest of the immediate ridgeline features approximately 4 miles of the 1903 Mitchell Trail from Montreat. Hugging the top of the Swannanoa Rim, traces of the old Montreat Pathway passed (L-R) through Cathedral Gardens, Beech Gap, the ruins of the Oden Walker Patrol Cabin, Bald Knob, Toe River Gap, Fate’s Stand, Blue Ridge Pinnacle, Rocky Knob and Greybeard.

This August marked 121 years ago (1903) when workers in Montreat built a second hiking/bridle trail from the Swannanoa Valley to Mount Mitchell. The Montreat route tied in with the original 1830s bridle path to Mount Mitchell in Panther Gap (Gap between Potato Knob and Clingmans Peak) on the crest of the Black Mountain Range. The 1830s route was the first foot path to Mount Mitchell and was constructed from Jesse Stepp’s North Fork residence at the confluence of the Big Right and Left Hand Forks of the North Fork of the Swannanoa River. Today, the ruins of Jesse Stepp’s homeplace are located approximately 1.25 miles beyond the north end of the Burnett Reservoir deep inside the Asheville Watershed boundary.

The trail on the Montreat side of the mountain was built as a result of the City of Asheville’s initial purchase of the Big Right Hand Fork (4,740 acres) on the North Fork side of the mountain in 1903. Since the 1903 land acquisition supported Asheville’s primary source of drinking water, the 1830s Mitchell Trail to Mount Mitchell was promptly closed to the public. Between 1903 and 1928 Asheville acquired 13,396 acres in the upper North Fork Valley. Today, the Asheville Watershed is the nation’s fourth largest municipal watershed.

My 2007 photograph, above, features the historic Mitchell Peak Trail with the deep cuts of the two merged trails (1830s and 1903) from the Swannanoa Valley to Mount Mitchell. At an elevation of 6,370 feet, this photographed location (below our cabin) is situated just north of where the two historic trails came together in Panther Gap on the Crest of the Black Mountain Range.

The 2013 photo, above, features my “Ol’ Buddy, Mike Raines and his son Will. We have come to call this special rock (below our Mitchell Peak Cabins) the “North Carolina Rock.” When Mike and Allen Styles were building the stone walls at our nearby Cabin in 2013, they unearthed this incredible massive Rock that Replicates the Famous Outline of the State of North Carolina. Interestingly, and as fate would have it, the symbolic stone was dug-up within five feet of the Old 1838 Mitchell Peak Trail at an elevation of 6,500 feet. Interestingly, the elevation of the “North Carolina Rock” is only 184 feet under the height of neighboring Mount Mitchell.

In 2003, I took the above photograph of friends, Robert Goodson (left) and Arthur “Joe” Hemphill, Jr. (1931-2009). These Ole’ Boys are standing on Joe’s Rock (named after North Fork’s Legendary Bear Hunter Joe McAfee). Joe’s Rock is located just below the summit of Potato Knob on Crest of the Black Mountain Range (Swannanoa Rim). Both Robert and Arthur Joe’s families tie back to Black Mountain’s first settlers. One of Robert’s great uncles was North Fork’s Jesse Stepp (1810-1873) and much of the land forming the Eastern and Southern Boundary of the Swannanoa Rim was land granted to Arthur Joe’s ancestors. Interestingly, on the 100th anniversary and at an elevation of 6,400 feet these fellas are standing within a rock’s throw of the 1903 Mitchell Trail that took excursioners from Montreat, across Potato Knob to Mount Mitchell.

Above, I included a rare picture of Black Mountain’s grandest hotel. It was built in 1883 and solely owned by J. M. Stepp, a descendent of the Town’s earliest pioneers. The Hotel property adjoined the railroad right-a-way on the north side of the tracks at the south end of Dougherty Street near today’s Old Depot. In its day, the Hotel with its seventy rooms was touted as having the finest accommodations in Western North Carolina. Advisements as far away as Raleigh, publicized elegant rooms, electric bells, attentive servants. Terms were $2 per day, $10 to $12 per week and $80 to $85 per month. Most importantly, the Hotel acclaimed its location on the Western North Carolina Railroad near the Black Mountain Station yielded the shortest distance to Mount Mitchell. The Hotel advocated Mount Mitchell as “The Highest Peak East of the Rocky Mountains.” Sadly, in 1903 the same year the new trail was built from Montreat to Mount Mitchell, the Mount Mitchell Hotel burned to the ground.

Lastly, as a “Comeback Epilogue” to the Series, We owe much to the Swannanoa Valley Museum and its Membership. Much to the credit of the Museum, Our Town is reliving its once “Iconic” Relationship to Eastern North America’s Highest Peak (Mount Mitchell) and Highest Mountain Range (The Black Mountain Range). Hence, “The Swannanoa Rim, Eastern North America’s Highest and Most Historic Mountain Range.”

Black Mountain's Past

From the floor of the swannanoa valley to the peak of mount mitchell