Hiking the Weetock "Trail"

Yesterday, we hiked the Weetock Trail at Croatan National Forest; however, calling it a trail might be a stretch. We parked along NC-58 and hiked down an old road for a ways then ventured into the woods along where the path used to be. There were a few blazes, but not much that looked like a trail. After a ways, we came to a field and strayed a bit to check out the giant pile of saw dust, remnants of an old mill.

Then across the field and into the densest part of our route. There were many briars and no semblance of a trail whatsoever. But we plunged through with the help of a GPS map and crossed a stream to what looked a bit more like a trail, albeit one that had not been used or maintained in some time. Near a small stream, we saw a cotton mouth!

He was not happy with our presence, but he wasn't within striking distance. Further on, we got to a forest road, but couldn't find the trail, so we we followed the road for a bit, then ducked into the woods and finished up following the blazes to Haywood Landing.

Neusiok Trail Hike

Yesterday, we hiked the northern portion of the Neusiok Trail in Croatan National Forest, from Pine Cliff to NC-101.

We started at the Pine Cliff Recreation Area and hiked along the beach for a mile or so, before heading into the forest.

Due to Hurricane Irene this summer, there were many trees down, but we didn't have much trouble climbing over or going around the downed trees.

After a few more miles, we stopped at Copperhead Landing shelter for lunch.

After this point, the trail was pretty easy to follow and there were few trees down along the trail. We continued on to NC-306, crossed the road, and finished the last two or so miles to NC-101. We had left a few shuttle cars here and shuttled back to Pine Cliff. On the way home, we took the Minnesott Beach Ferry across the sound and headed to New Bern for dinner before heading back to Raleigh. It was a great trip and I look forward to heading back next week.

Rod's Raven Rock Hike 2011

Today, I went with Rod and the group to Raven Rock State Park. We first hiked the Campbell Look Creek Trail along Campbell Creek to the Cape Fear River. We continued on and took the Lanier Falls Trail down to the falls and then back and finished up the loop. Back at the parking lot, we took the Raven Rock Loop Trail to Northington Ferry Trail and hiked to the end for another view of the river, then back and took the Fish Traps Trail down and back (fourth river view). Then, we got back on the Raven Rock Loop and continued down to the rock for lunch along the river. We went back up the stairs and took the Little Creek Loop Trail around and took the stopped at the Canoe Camp for another view of the river, then on to the Group Camp Trail for our seventh and last view of the river. Then back along the Little Creek Loop Trail to the Raven Rock Loop Trail and back to the car. Almost 14 miles!

Medoc Mountain Day Hike

Today, we headed to Medoc Mountain State Park to complete hike #40 from the 100 Classic Hikes. We started at the main parking lot and hiked the Stream Loop Trail to the second intersection with Discovery Loop Trail and took this to the bridge over Little Fishing Creek.

We then hiked Dam Site Loop Trail clockwise to Summit Loop Trail and hiked to the top of Medoc Mountain. There is no scenic overlook here, as there are trees growing on top as well as beauty berry bushes.

We finished up Summit Loop Trail and crossed the bridge and finished up Discovery Loop Trail. Along the Little Fishing Creek bank, we saw a raccoon who did not seem too concerned about the approaching humans.

Next, we turned right on Stream Loop Trail to end up at the open space back at the parking lot. We ate lunch at the picnic area and then took the Bluff Loop Trail around and back to the parking lot.

Since we had completed nearly all the trails in the park, we decided to finish them up, so drove to the visitor center parking lot and hiked the Bear Swamp Trail up and back and went around the short Air Awareness Trail.