Cold Mountain, North Carolina | Movie Setting Spot | Strenuous Hike to 6,000' Peak in Thunderstorms

We tackled the very strenuous hike to Cold Mountain but were met with unanticipated thunderstorms in the Shining Rock Wilderness, an area that experienced significant landslides just one year ago.
“Whenever I’m back in those mountains, I feel like that’s home, no matter how long I’ve been away.” - Charles Frazier
The areas surrounding Cold Mountain, North Carolina were made famous as the story locations for the Charles Frazier novel that in turn became the 2003 Academy Award winning film of the same name. It is indeed a real place, with breath-taking views sufficient to inspire a legendary story-telling novel. The infamous peak lies within the Shining Rock Wilderness, some 30 miles southwest of Asheville. This quite strenuous hike starts at the mountain base near Camp Daniel Boone and ascends 2,850 feet en route to the 6,030 foot summit. Sitting majestically between the mountain towns of Waynesville and Brevard, Cold Mountain is not a hike for the light of heart. The elevation gain and distance is enough to keep the hike challenging - but as we found out, adverse weather conditions are no stranger to this rugged and epic mountain.
CONTENTS
00:00 Intro Teaser
00:57 Overview
02:24 Trailhead
03:36 Landslide Site
04:45 Ridgeline
06:30 Summit
07:38 Rain Starts
08:14 Hard Rain
09:24 Realization
10:00 Stream Cross #1
11:45 Stream Cross #2
13:30 Heading Home
Indeed - just one year prior to our hike, tropical storm Fred brought about flooding and landslides unprecedented in modern history.

[@luckyotter623]

The movie Cold Mountain was actually filmed in the Carpathian mountains in Romania. The reason was because it was less expensive to film there, and also less development, which better portrays the time during the Civil War. Of course, the movie did make the real Cold Mountain famous. Thanks for sharing your hike!

[@criscale3667]

You are absolutely right. The mountain in North Carolina is the "story location". I changed the description to say "Movie Setting Spot" to hopefully make that a little clearer. It is interesting, however, that the Carpathian mountains were chosen for filming. I appreciate you taking the time to comment. And thanks so much for watching!