The Pisgah Project: The Pisgah Project

In the Spring of 2018, I was riding from Lake Toxaway through Balsam Grove on my way into Pisgah National Forest. I passed a densely wooded property with a 'for sale' sign, about three miles down from Gloucester Gap. I wasn't shopping for land, but I made a mental note and looked it up on Zillow the following week. I don't recall the asking price, though it wasn't expensive. Nonetheless, I didn't have the money.

That mental note became a fanciful dream of sorts. The thought of a glamping spot on the west side of PNF...a home-base for misadventures in the woods. No real plans on how to build it out, having otherwise never stepped foot on the property; no plans on how to buy it. Every couple of months, I'd check Zillow. Every couple of months, it was still for sale.

Fast forward to the summer of 2020. COVID shifted courses online and summer enrollment was a bit higher than usual (and the College was paying a bit more generous than they are now). The Pisgah property had been discounted and was nearly within our modest budget. I took a more serious look into the property, its history, the surrounding properties, county recordings and tax records, etc. It had been parceled out in the late 80's in a venture to build a small neighborhood. Only a few lots had ever been inhabited; some lots were purchased to buffer surrounding properties; and, many remained undeveloped, including this one.

"Not a junk piece of property you can't build on."

The claim in the real estate listing challenged logic. Nobody had chosen to build on this land in the 30 years since this neighborhood was parceled out. Why? A trip back up to Pisgah to inspect the property confirmed reality. As I scrambled up, down and across the property, I failed to locate any reasonably flat section of land. Too steep for a septic drain-field; too steep to get a rig in to drill a well; too steep to carve out anything flat enough for a residence, at least without risking half of the hill sliding down on top of you. This was a junk piece of property you can't build on. And I told the realtor exactly that.

The seller accepted our (low-ball) offer and we bought a little slice of the woods. Thoughts of glamping now faced the challenge of where to even pitch a tent. This little slice of the woods was a hillside. We bought a hillside. A steep, overgrown, unforgiving hillside. Glamp? We can't even camp!

A bit of work was required to turn this...

...into this.

In the Spring of 2021, we made some headway towards at least being able to camp on the property. We chose to focus our efforts at the top of the lot where it was secluded from the main road below, and surrounded by other wooded lots. After a bit of digging to 'reasonably level' out a small section, I built two platforms (8'x8' and 8'x10') for tents.