DuPont Hike on Labor Day

I took Amaroq for an early morning walk, then we packed up, checked out, and headed to the Hooker Falls access at DuPont State Forest. A light rain was falling, which kept the parking lot pleasantly open, though I never ended up needing my raincoat. Hooker Falls Trail is very stroller-friendly, but Harper hiked the entire way to Hooker Falls.

It wasn’t too crowded, and we got some good pictures. On the way back we turned onto Holly Road, which felt more like singletrack than a true road but was still manageable with the stroller.

Along the way we spotted some mushrooms and wildflowers.

The painted suillus was really cool.

The trail brought us out at the Lake Imaging access, where we continued onto Lake Imaging Road (an actual gravel road this time).

After a short stretch we passed the little lake and paused for a few scenic views—it’s a small, quiet body of water.

We went a bit farther past the lake before turning around; the road started getting steeper and washed out, so we decided not to push it. From there we made the drive home.

Looking Glass Creek Waterfalls

Sunday morning started with another walk for Amaroq and me, this time hunting for white squirrels.

Afterward the whole crew headed to Morning Social in Brevard for breakfast. Their outdoor patio is dog-friendly, and Amaroq promptly made friends with another husky. We rolled into the forest and hit Looking Glass Falls first.

Harper loved the stairs and scrambling around on the big rocks at the base. From there we continued to Moore Cove Falls. She handled the trail well and had a blast playing behind the falls. While she and Amaroq rested, I scrambled up the short but very steep path to Upper Moore Cove Falls.

The path is super steep but not very long but worth the effort if you’re comfortable with the exposure. 

The steep path ends at the upper section of the falls.

Continuing on, Sliding Rock was packed, so we skipped it and started chasing the unnamed waterfalls along Looking Glass Creek. Just before FR 475B we found Looking Glass Creek Waterfall 1, a short, steep path off the guardrail led down to the creek.

The light wasn’t great so we didn’t linger. The pull-off for the second falls was full of Sliding Rock traffic, so we continued about a mile past Sliding Rock to the Looking Glass Creek Waterfall 3.

From the parking, a short path led to a split.

It had distinct upper section to the right and lower section to the left and was an easy scramble to both.

By then it was lunchtime, so we left the forest for Hawg Wild. A short but intense hailstorm hit while we were safely in the car. Once it passed we headed back in and scored a parking spot at Looking Glass Creek Waterfall 2.

A path past the boulders split with right leading to the upper section.

Left dropped steeply and required a quick creek wade to reach a really nice middle section.

Getting all the way to the lower section meant a tough climb down wet rocks.

Since the lighting was better, we made a quick stop back at the first waterfall.

Then we continued past the hatchery to the Cove Creek Falls trailhead. A short path in the opposite direction dropped us to the Davidson River at Whaleback Falls.

There were a handful of people were still swimming late in the day.

We wrapped things up with dinner at Ecusta Brewing before heading back to the hotel to pack.

Cashiers Waterfalls

Saturday morning started with a walk downtown with Amaroq to look for white squirrels. Then the whole family headed to Cashiers. Silver Run Falls was already packed, so we continued a short way to the Coyote Falls trailhead. Harper handled the trail really well, we only needed to carry her on the steeper section near the end.

Coyote Falls was lovely, though the water was low and the lighting wasn’t great.

I’ll have to come back under better conditions.

Near the base we spotted some gem-studded puffball mushrooms growing in the moss.

On the way out, Silver Run was still full, so we drove on to Cashiers Sliding Rock and managed to grab a parking spot. It was crowded, but we still had a good time splashing around.

I slid down a couple of times while Harper stayed in the shallower water. Amaroq waded in up to about mid-leg but showed no interest in going deeper.

Another dog actually slid the falls with its owner, something I’m pretty sure Amaroq would have strongly objected to if I’d tried it with him. 

Heading back toward Brevard, we stopped for dinner at Forks of the River Taproom.

It happened to be Pirate Day, and they had llamas out for Harper to pet, which was a big hit. We made one more quick stop at the small roadside Williamson Creek Falls.

Its on private property but viewable from the road.

We got a couple pictures before returning to the Sunset Motel. That evening we took Harper on a short downtown stroll for ice cream and one last look at the white squirrels before calling it a night.

Black Balsam Hike

For Labor Day weekend we headed to the mountains. We left Friday morning and arrived at the Black Balsam Trailhead past Graveyard Fields around 9:30, still finding plenty of parking. The Art Loeb Trail was beautiful.

The first short stretch wound through forest where we spotted some interesting mushrooms.

Then the trail opened onto the bald with amazing expansive views

Goldenrod were blooming all along the trail.

There was a lot of snakeroot blooming as well and a few gentians.

Honey bees were busy pollinating the flowers.

The trail was open and the views were fantastic the entire way up.

Harper hiked most of the way and handled the rocky sections and steps really well.

We carried her the final stretch to the summit.

The views from the top were phenomenal, though it was fairly crowded.

She hiked most of the way back down as well. 

From there we drove south on NC-215, turned onto Tanassee Gap Road, then after about 1.5 miles took the gravel Pressley Fields Road. We stopped at a pull-off just past the second “area under surveillance” sign.  Access was steep and difficult enough that we left Harper and Amaroq napping in the car and took turns. I scrambled down to Tucker Creek and walked upstream about 0.1 miles through water that never got deeper than mid-calf to the lovely Tucker Creek Falls.

Even with low flow it looked great, and it seems to be pretty unknown.

Amanda took her turn next.

While waiting I spotted a pretty Diana fritillary butterfly in the road and a hickory tussock moth caterpillar on a plant.

We continued back to NC-215 and stopped at Mill Shoals, which was crowded.

Harper wasn’t interested in playing in the water, so we skipped Bird Rock Falls. Just past there we turned onto Macedonia Church Road and after about half a mile found a short path to Lemon Falls on Lamance Creek.

It's small but scenic, and we had nice lighting nice light.

The water level was low so I could cross the creek at the base.

We finished the day in Brevard with dinner and drinks at Oskar Blues. Harper played and didn’t eat much, so we boxed her meal and checked into the Sunset Motel.