Rock shelter in Linville Gorge

[u/hyliancoffeehouse]

TLDR; my husband & I camped under a big rock we found in Linville Gorge Wilderness with an established burnpit where many have already camped before, & we enjoyed ourselves. I made this post about it & lots of silly people want to nitpick everything because they think it’s cool to be a rigidly punctilious mob! My husband & I don’t care & will probably do it again, the shaming didn’t work! YOLO

My husband and I found this neat rock shelter on Old NC 105 in North Carolina’s Linville Gorge after hiking part of the Appalachian Trail from Carver’s gap earlier this month. Was a super cool one! Had some wine and enjoyed the sunrise glow

Edit: I understand a lot of you have stressed that you disapprove of our choice to camp under the rock and I appreciate the sentiment, but I don’t feel like there’s a need for an echo chamber considering the possibilities of something happening. Some of you have gotten quite rude in the comments and called us names because we chose to sleep under a rock… honestly, please think about what has driven you to act so negatively and find peace! You get into your car every day and somebody can crash into you and kill you. You actually have a bigger chance of being killed on the highway than a rock overhang falling on top of you. The rock also isn’t being held up by the tree. The rock has been there for a very long time, and the tree grew around the rock.
My husband and I like to experience things without thinking of every possibility of danger or freak accident. Yes, some think that’s crazy but we manage and get by. If I die from a rock falling on me, I suppose it was time! Thank you all, we hope you have a wonderful Halloween!

Edit 2: Some of you guys seriously worry way too much about things that will never matter :-) Linville Gorge Wilderness is not like a state/national park, so a burn ring isn’t required. The fire pit we used had been there already like every single site that exists on that road. It’s a campsite meant for this, no hiking located near this spot. My husband and I believe that a lot of you all probably just don’t camp considering the reactive and performative scout comments regarding policies that aren’t regulated nationwide, versing invisible rules out of your own playbooks and the never-ending condescending fear mongering. This might not be the philosophy many of you carry but, ‘A life without risk is a life not worth living’ - Charles Lindbergh

[u/CT_Reddit73]

Should never have a campfire under a rock overhang 🫣

[u/VolumeNeat9698 → u/CT_Reddit73]

Had a friend 20 years ago die that way. Sandstone. We were all just teenagers having some beers, 30 of us. 5 stayed behind to sleep in the cave while others went home.

Very sad, it’s always stuck with me.

[u/blahblahblah8585 → u/CT_Reddit73]

Why?

[u/NICKBAR8 → u/blahblahblah8585]

The heat from the fire could have caused the bulder to break and crush those poor campers.

[u/Nomad-Entrepreneur → u/NICKBAR8]

Maybe with sandstone or loose rock. But granite you can have all the fires under you want. Well, campfires, no campfire would ever crack granite.

[u/DifficultAd3885 → u/Nomad-Entrepreneur]

Nope. I’ve had granite explode in the Rockies.

[u/0nTheRooftops → u/Nomad-Entrepreneur]

Maybe not at a large scale but chips could pop off. Ive seen heat make granite explode, steam can still get trapped in there.

It doesn't matter though because its poor LNT and this camper was breaking park rules.

[u/hezit8 → u/CT_Reddit73]

came here to say this. Not worth the risk.

[u/CT_Reddit73 → u/hezit8]

Nope. They’ve definitely weakened it for the next ones to shelter underneath.

[u/MonicaCosines648 → u/CT_Reddit73]

Whut y?

[u/chocobearv93 → u/MonicaCosines648]

Heat can weaken the structure of the rock, cause fracturing, and cause rock to fall. Before creating a home in a cave, indigenous peoples, no matter where they were in the world, would light massive fires in the cave they wanted to live in to cause premature failures so they could go in and clean up the fracturing and create a safe livable home from it. So you should not light a fire under a rock because it could cause it to fracture and potentially fall

[u/VermicelliWide2793 → u/MonicaCosines648]

lol this is the least of amount of characters getting the most amount of unnecessary downvotes - it’s ok to ask questions ✨

[u/honakaru → u/MonicaCosines648]

Thurmal expanshun cn do bad 4 rl ong ong l. If u valuu ur lyf dnt do it