Robert on Rumble at the Bald.

Rumbling Bald is located outside the town of Chimney Rock, North Carolina and consists of granite trad lines and an expansive boulder field.  I initially hadn’t planned to add this location to my trip agenda, but was pleasantly surprised when it ranked as one of my favorite bouldering destinations. The town of Chimney Rock is quaint and boasts a beautiful view of granite walls (not open to climbing, but it sounds like might be in the future) and a small waterfall.  Rumbling Bald is within 5 minutes of the town’s edges.

Best Time To Visit

• The best time to visit Rumbling Bald, like many places in the South East, is in the in the fall, winter and spring when temperatures are in the 50’s and 60’s (Fahrenheit).

Guidebook

• A guidebook for Rumbling Bald was released within this last year and might be the best bouldering guidebook I have ever used.  The book includes over 900 boulder problems and is very thorough with topos and numerous photos, making boulder problem finding quite easy.  You can buy the book online from CarterBooks or directly from the author Chris Dorrity.  Other than that, you can pick it up in outdoor stores based in North Carolina (for instance FootSloggers in Boone).

Camping

• Coffee Crumbs – If car camping, you are allowed to camp for free at Coffee Crumbs, a coffee shop on the main street across from Duncan BBQ.  They allow up to 7 cars, but when I was there I was the only person staying in the lot for my whole two week visit.  The coffee owner is named Angel but often the whole family can be seen in the shop, including the daily presence of 2-year-old, Adler.  If in the area (and especially if camping at this spot) please frequent this establishment.  Their food is good, their coffee delicious (especially the snickerdoodle and caramel lattes), plus they have free wifi.
• There are campgrounds (Creekside Mountain Camping and Hitching Post Campground) around but the cost is usually $15 – 20.  However, free camping can be found along Highway 9.  Whatever you do, DO NOT CAMP at Rumbling Bald as it is strongly prohibited and can potentially impact access.

Food / Drink

• Restaurants: There really aren’t any good restaurants in Chimney Rock.  The best available is probably El Sureno, the Mexican restaurant located at the bottom of Boys Camp Road.  The food is ok and the service horrible.  I must admit that I really did enjoy their Sangria, but I have quite a simple palette. =)
• Beverage: Beverage can be bought at the Ingles on Highway 9.  Or there is a tiki bar behind The Geneve, which is just the typical bar.
• Other Coffee Shop: Another great coffee shop is Willow Creek.  It is a store with a coffee shop upstairs.  The coffee isn’t as good as Coffee Crumb, but two guys named Frank and Don run the store and are hilarious (especially Frank) and kind hearted folks.  When my friend Darvell joined me in my travels, they let us camp out on the back porch of their store since we couldn’t car camp at Coffee Crumbs.  It was one of the best camping spots I have had on this trip. =)

Personal Hygiene

• Showers and a laundromat can NOT be found in Chimney Rock.  The closest town with these amenities is Hendersonville, located about 30 minutes away.

Rest Day Activities

• Visit Asheville – On rest days, definitely check out Asheville!  What a fab city, that I definitely rank in my top 5 favorite cities.  This liberal city houses artists, great musicians and numerous fabulous restaurants.  I suggest Wasabi for sushi, The Sunny Point for breakfast, and the Noodle house (I can’t remember the name) on Broadway.  A local band I saw was The Firecracker Jazzband. They were superb!

Other

• Movie Rental – The closest movie rental place is Ingles on Highway 9, but they do carry only recent releases.
• Climbers Coalition – The local Coalition for this area is the Carolina Climbers Coalition, who were instrumental in keeping Rumbling Bald open to climbers rather than being developed.  Please join and consider donating if visiting the area.

If any of you readers have additional beta, please feel free to comment or email me.

I luckily caught Rumbling Bald in prime season, being able to climb everyday except on my purposeful rest days and the 3 days it rained.

Andrew on the powerful Kung Fu.  This is the only “pant dependent” climb I have ever been on.  The beta includes using a knee to balance to a crimp, but without jeans or pants with some type of friction it seriously seems impossible.

One of my favorite problems was the uber classic Rotator Cuff.

This highball was such a aesthetic line.  Though not difficult, I was still scared at the top and I was unable to top it off.  Pictured is Nate.

One of the most ridiculous, yet fun problems I have yet to climb.  The problem is named Wrestling the Alligator and includes beta of double heel hooks, double toe hooks and moving in a complete circle before manteling.  Pictured is Colin.

The necessary campus move on Dime Crack.  Thankfully, since the problem is a little tall, the climb gets easier as you go.

Dan on a new highball line on the Devil boulder.

Issa on a “fun” (aka impossible) problem.  I have been fortunate that every spot I have visited I have met some really great people who have become good friends.  This was the case with the Charlotte crew, in particular Issa, Joe and David.

I met Fire Fly, pictured above, in Asheville.  We attended the most rocking concert put on by the Firecracker Jazzband and then he joined the crew at the boulders the next day.  Good times!

And of course the obligatory photo of CB. I believe she was hanging out in the Fire Fly’s jacket in this pic.

The view of Linville Gorge from Table Rock.

Boone, North Carolina might be one of my all time favorite bouldering destinations with its gneiss boulder problems scattered amongst amazingly beautiful trees.  I unfortunately was unable to get into Hound Ears, but perhaps that is for the best as it may have resulted in me never leaving the city. =)

Best Time to Visit

• The best time to visit Boone is in the fall and spring when temperatures are in the 50′s and 60′s (Fahrenheit).  If it happens to rain while visiting, certain areas (like Blowing Rock) dry lots more quickly than others (like Grandmother).

Guidebook

• There isn’t a guidebook making the best resource for information being Boone Boulders.  I usually would post up beta here on the CragBaby site, but the Boone locals take great pride in the lack of available information and so I will definitely respect them on this matter.

Camping

• Campsites: There are a couple campsites in the area, but they seem quite pricey at $15 – $20 per night.  I heard that the Julian Price campsite on the Blue Ridge Parkway is very nice, but I did not stay there.
• Free Camping: There are a handful of pull offs along 221 where one can find free camping.  Or there is a great spot on Roseborough Road about 5 minutes past the Lost Cove area.

Food / Drink

• Restaurants: I didn’t eat out while in Boone but did hear that Melanies, located downtown is a good place for grub. (I actually tried to go to Melanie’s but it was closed the day I attempted.)  Also, the restaurant next to the Boone Footslogger (I can’t remember the name) is known to have great burritos.
• Beverage: Beer and wine are sold in all stores.  I did stop by the Sixpence pub in Blowing Rock and really enjoyed my night there.  Delicious brews with very friendly locals.

Personal Hygiene

• Showers: A couple minutes off Blowing Rock road in Boone is a swimming facility with nice showers, cost being $3.  It is a little tricky to find, but the Visitor Information right on Blowing Rock road can give you directions and a map.
• Laundromat: I used a couple different laundromats, but preferred Village Laundry adjacent to the mall.

Other

• Locals: Boone was (so far) the friendliest place I have visited on my road trip.  I seemed to always have a crew to boulder with plus I had numerous non-climbers stop and talk to me, giving me their phone number in case “I happened to need anything” while in town.  Amazing!  The level of hospitality made me feel like I was back in Ireland. =)
• Irrelevant Grades: I noticed that Boone climbers seemed to never talk about the grades of climbs.  Seriously.  They would point out a problem, give the name and everyone would try it.  I sometimes would inquire the grade of a problem after working it, but there was something real fun about just enjoying the climb without a number attached.

Sites of Interest

• Blue Ridge Parkway: The Blue Ridge Parkway is one of the most beautiful stretches of road I have ever driven, being rivaled only by the drive into Denali Park, Alaska.  It is seriously stunning, especially when the fall foliage is still visible.
• Linville Gorge:  Wow! Linville Gorge is stunningly beautiful!  Though a bit of a trek from Boone, it is worth every minute spent driving there.
• Downtown Boone and Blowing Rock: Both these cities have quaint downtowns that can entertain while taking a break from climbing.

The scenery around Boone is stunning!  It is filled with these wonders of nature called “trees”, something that I don’t often see being raised in the desert of Utah. =)  I was there during the fall foliage and was daily amazed at the beauty of the area.  This pic was taken on top of Table Rock and looks down on the Linville Gorge.

The climbing was extremely fun.  I have bouldered a bit back home, but I really feel in love with bouldering once in Boone.  Pictured is Erich sending M1 on the 221 Circuit.

One of the best aspects of Boone was the friendliness of the locals.  It seemed that people were always looking out for me, plus I was lucky enough to meet a great climbing crew.  Tilly was the first person Pierre and I met and he was such a great contact, joining us on numerous climbing days and providing us with climbing beta.  Here is Tilly climbing at the Main area at Grandmother boulders.

Daniel working a superb problem at The Grandmother Boulders.

I met two sailor boys (he he …I have to write that as I have NEVER known a sailor boy) and we hung out for the weekend they were in town.  The climbing was fun, the campfire HUGE and the bickering between the two amazingly hilarious! Pictured is Chris climbing at the Mushroom boulder at Blowing Rock.

I met JB in the parking lot of Table Rock where we ended up playing cards that evening and then enjoying the hike to the summit in the morn.  He joined the crew of us out bouldering the next day.  Here he is pictured bouldering at one of the local secret spots.

Tilly topping out a heady v2 roof on the 221 Circuit.

Pierre on the Roof of Death at Blowing Rock.  The problem is aptly named as the top out has a potential fall landing on a huge boulder.

The back room of Panera soon became the “traveler hangout” as the wifi was great and the hours reasonable.  Mark (on the left) and I hung out on a regular basis during the evening hours and he gave me continual great beta of things to see on my climbing rest days.

North Carolina is in the heart of the Bible belt, which means that I often found myself in Christian themed stores.  This Christian theme coffee shop wasn’t really up to par with the coffee, but they were incredibly friendly with good wi-fi and late hours.  Plus, they allowed me to print for free. Not too bad if one can deal with the scriptures written all over the wall and the music in the background. =)

On one of my rest days I went to the laundry mat and just happened to meet this house pet, Secal the goat.  The goat was cute, but kept trying to “play” with CB, which consisted of Secal trying to head butt CB.  Umm, yeah.  CB wasn’t too psyched on that idea.d

And… of course… a traditional last blog post picture of CB.  Here she is snuggled in the car one night.  Ah, the best traveling mate ever.

Ahhh, CB is so cute I better put up two photos. Here she is in her layers of clothing at top of Table Rock.  Yes, she IS wearing a bright pink sweater which is easy to spot as she runs through the woods. =)

Boone will always have a special place in my heart as it was in this destination that my road trip started to turn around.  Not only were all my worries at home started to dissipate, but I learned to really love to boulder while in Boone.