I'm 70 years old now. I've been visiting the Linville Gorge since I was 14 years old. I've hiked and camped down intio the gorge next to to the Linville River twice. I went swimming in the river on a 90 degree day and the water was still ice cold. The Linville Gorge is my most favorite place on earth.

AWESOME video gorgeous views

Incredible. That was beautiful. Thanks for the adventure.

Fantastic! Love the journey!!

Nice to see you out there again best of luck. ✌️👊

Beautiful area! Thanks for taking us along! Deb

Awesome video Braids! Thank you for sharing! 🥾🥾⛺️

Great video! Thank you. J

Beautiful views!

That looked really fun.

Very cool videos thanks for sharing.

Love your channel ❤

I love all your videos, keep it up :)

Braids, glad youre still finding time to get out on the different trails. That is a beautiful area.

Such a pretty hike. Good to see you, your smile, and your energy again. Hike on Braids!

That place looks amazing I will have to check it out!

Just wow. Hope you enjoyed the cheeseburger and fries 🍟🍔!!

Love this

Awesome video. I love how you were able to hike it. My favorite views in NC! Every now and then the military flies jets through the Gorge for training. I was on top of Table Rock one time when it happened. It was so cool because you look down on the jets. Some guy has a video of it on KZfaq. Smart choice with taking the water. The only water from the pipe to Table Rock is a dirty lake / puddle. I did Wolf Pit rd to Table Rock and back on a hot August day. I ran out of water on the way back and it turned into the hardest day hike I've ever done.

That was gorgeous!! I have missed your hiking trips. Thank you for sharing.

I just love watching your videos!

This was a great video. I loved how you showed on a paper your route. And what a rugged trail! Breath taking views! Keep on hiking while you are young and have good knees. I would hate to leave too! Thanks for sharing.

I love the Linville area! Beautiful views!

I’m so glad you finally got a good backpacking trip!! I love the Linville Gorge Wilderness. That area is crazy & spectacular!

Awesome video. So nice to relive it again

Beautiful hike, nice to see you again!! Thanks for taking us along!!

When I got the notification for your AT documentary you mentioned in it that viewership is down. I don’t know why I never got a notification for this video. Perhaps other subscribers are missing notifications as well. Thanks for taking me along on this journey. I look forward to more content on your channel and I will check from time to time just to make sure I’m not missing notifications.

Awesome video Gretchen! Just like all of your videos are!!! 🥰👍⛰🍁🏕🏔⛰⛺️

One of my favorites for backpacking. Part of my soul abides there. I just completed my AT thru hike and concur this is still some of the most beautiful terrain on the East Coast. Great job! God bless!!

A beautiful hike! So glad to see you back in the trails. I've missed you.

AWESOME VIDEO!!! 🙂 Thanks so much for sharing. I always look forward to your videos. Can't wait until the next one.

Great video. Keep em coming

Welcome to my home. This is a trail I trained for before heading to the AT. Glad you enjoyed your time here!

I loved hiking there. It was the BEST time

Cool 💪. I've been to the gorge for a few hours, had to cut my trip short, for work, can't wait to go back.

Just went there this summer for the first time for just a couple short hikes but I was blown away at how beautiful it is! I definitely want to go back!

I am so glad you will get your poles back shows how great this community is. Missed the videos. As always great.

Incredible video! I love your videos and you’ve been such an inspiration to me. I actually just got back from my first 3 day solo backpacking trip. Your tips and encouragement truly made the difference! Thank you too for including the apps and resources you used for trip planning. That is a key part that many KZfaqrs leave out. It is so important for things just like on this trip the water was uncrossable. Keep doing your thing, friend! Enjoy it so much! And yes this hike just catapulted to the top of my list.

Glad to see you made it there Linville Gorge. I have hiked and photographed that area for years and still have only scratched the surface.

Great video, Braids! We go to Asheville every chance we get. Always talk about backpacking in Linville Gorge just haven't made it there yet. TODO for sure. Thanks for sharing your trip!

Linville Gorge is on my bucket list. Cool to see you hike it "backwards". Most videos I've seen, they go the opposite direction. Great video.

You were in my backyard, I live in Morganton close to Lake James that you were looking down on and the lights you were seeing at night camping at the Chimneys. Pretty much everywhere you drive here you can see Table Rock and the gorge area and love hiking and camping in the gorge. I have pics of the bridge before it was washed away in 2013 and regardless of the water level crossing there is tough, basically a swim so turning around was probably a good idea. Next time you have the opportunity to return I suggest the west side of the gorge, accessible from the Old Hwy 105/Kistler Memorial Highway, much more accessibility from there to get in and out.

Great backpacking trip. The fall colors were awesome. 🍁🍂 👣😎👍

Now you talkin'. This is my playground, I go there as much as I am able to. I wish I would've known before hand your route and plan to cross at Spence. I've done it and it's rough. Definitely not for everyone. There is an alternate route I've taken people on that goes down Cambric trail instead of Spence. The crossing at Cambric is only waist deep in high water, and typically knee/thigh deep. After crossing the river, you'd head north on the LGT to Conley Cove trail. Ascend the west rim and connect with the Rock jock trail. Take RJ south to 105, short 1/4ish mile road walk to Pinch In. Descend pinch in to the river, connect with the LGT and take it south and connect to the MST. Crossing the river on the MST is a cake walk, it is never over knee deep. It is a shallow and wide crossing. After crossing, stay on the MST back up the east rim and connect to wolf pit and hike back down to the parking area. The route mentioned is about 22 miles. As far as tough trail goes, the MST/Spence are some of the easier trails in the Gorge. I tend to agree with people when they say that 1mile in the gorge is equivalent to 2miles of regular trail. I've told people on the AT how tough the hiking is at the Gorge, but they seem to roll their eyes 😂 Consider coming back in late Feb early March and hike down to Daffodil Flats. It is ridiculously beautiful when they are in bloom. There is no easy way to get there, but worth every step. Google Daffodil Flats Linville Gorge to see photos

How did I miss this??

I live near Hartford Tennessee which is very close to the smokies and Cosby and I love to play disc golf you must live fairly close maybe we can get together and play one day and then take a hike

Some truly GORGEous views! (I won't apologize for that one- I'm a dad, after all...)

My bucket destination . What map did you use ? I have the Avenza app but that looked like a great paper map.

Are you trying a new mic with your setup?

What was the weather like in October? I'm planning on going this October but I' m curious about how cold it will get at night.

Thank you for sharing!! It's beautiful up there. What kind of sleeping mat do you use?

What time of year did you hike this?

The Maple King sometimes shows up down there... Were you lucky enough to see him?

Oh, I love the Linville Gorge! Hope to get back there one day. Glad you are getting your trekking poles back.