Kings Mountain Trail

By the time we woke up Sunday morning, the rain had stopped.  It was overcast, but we didn't get any more rain.  After breakfast, we packed up camp and once finished, set off on the Kings Mountain Trail, a National Recreation Trail.  This trail makes a big loop, passing through Kings Mountain State Park and Kings Mountain National Military Park.  At the end of the road through the primitive group campsites, we turned left to hike the loop in the counterclockwise direction.  In less than half a mile, the Ridgeline Trail that connects to Crowders Mountain State Park in NC split to the right.  We saw a luna moth on the ground just off the trail.

Right after this, we crossed into the national park.  In about two miles, we passed a spur that led to the military park where the Military through the Ages had been going on.  We didn't hear any gunshots though.  There were some really pretty Nuttall's sensitive briers blooming along the trail.

Further on, the trail crossed Park Road and led through an area which had recently had a prescribed burn - the ground was scorched and a faint smell of wood smoke lingered in the air.  In about 4 miles from the start, a spur trail leading to the summit of Brown Mountain split off.  We had such a long hike ahead of us, we decided to pass on this.  Continuing on the trail passed Garner Branch backcountry campsite and soon returned to Kings Mountain State Park.  The path was more overgrown through this section.  When we reached another backcountry campsite, we stopped for lunch, but didn't rest for too long as we still had another 8 miles or so to go.  We saw a good size black snake along the trail at one point.

With the high water, a couple of the tributaries were swollen and difficult to cross.  After the most difficult crossing, we saw a little box turtle scurry off the trail to the safety of the dense vegetation.

There were a few more tributary crossings and then we crossed Long Branch, but it was not too hard getting across.

Near here, a little spider was perched on a flower, watching us pass on the trail.

Up from here, the trail reached Apple Road at the intersection with the bridle trail.  We were tired at this point and just walked the road back to camp to finish up our hike.  There was some horsenettle flowering along the road.

Back at camp, Carol had gotten some cold beer and it was quite delicious after a long hike.

On the way out of the park, we made a quick stop at the Living History Farm.

There were a number of historic old farm buildings here.

The cotton gin was quite impressive.

A chicken coop had two chickens and a noisy rooster, but we didn't have any change to get them some food.

At the far end were the horses and a donkey.  They were very friendly and came over to the fence to say hi.

The donkey seemed particularly itchy and started rolling in the grass.

After some pictures, we headed back.  Despite the forecast, we managed to beat the rain all day, though it did rain some on the drive home.  We ate at El Patron in Salisbury and then finished the drive back to Chapel Hill.

Flooded Lilies

Saturday, I met up with Justine for some hiking and camping in South Carolina over the Memorial Day Weekend.  We left Chapel Hill a little after 8 and took I-85 to Charlotte and then south on I-77.  In South Carolina, we took US-21 south to Landsford Canal State Park.  The Rocky Shoals Spider Lilies should have been in peak bloom this weekend.  However, heavy rains in the NC mountains had caused flooding on Catawba River and the water level was really high.

Arriving at about 11, we had lunch and then started our hike.

At the guard lock, we went left at the split for Nature Trail, which follows the river closely.  Although many of the spider lilies were underwater, a number of spiderwort were blooming along the trail, safely above the water.

At one point, we spotted a large worm that I initially thought was a snake.  A ranger helped later identify it as a shovel-headed garden worm.

It had rained earlier but was mostly dry for our hike.

In a short ways, we came to the Spider Lily Overlook.  Although the water level was way up, a number of lilies were above water.

It wasn't really what we were hoping for, but at least we got to see some of the lilies.

Other flowers were blooming on dry land.

Near the overlook, we saw more spiderwort and other flowers blooming.

Continuing on Canal Trail, we passed one of several culverts used to divert water from tributaries to the river.

Further on was the ruins of the mill complex where the trail ran between stone retaining walls to protect the mill.

At the far end, we came to the Upper Locks.  The stonework was really beautiful and this was a fun area to climb around.

A stone bridge led over the locks at the far end.  It was really interesting seeing how much the locks went up.

After some pictures, we began making our way back.

After passing the mill complex again, there was another culvert here.

At the split, we headed back on Canal Trail.  At the end, we stopped to see the guard lock.

The trails rejoined back at the river.

We stopped at the ranger station to inquire about the worm and then concluded our hike.

From here, we headed to our home for the weekend at Kings Mountain State Park.  There was quite a storm on the drive over, but it had cleared up by the time we arrived.  A group of scouts had taken our spot so we called the park office and moved to primitive group site 6.  The scouts mentioned a reenactment at Kings Mountain National Military Park, so we made the short drive over there.  The reenactments were over, but the Military through the Ages exhibits were still up so we could walk around and talk to the people.

Military setups from different wars were on display.

We saw some of the rifles and small arms used in World War II.

They also had parachutes from the war, including one packed in 1943.  One "soldier" let me get a picture holding an M1 Garand rifle, but I had to put on my best "war face".

These early semi-automatic rifles gave American troops an advantage over the enemy using bolt-action rifles.  Food rations, a precursor to today's MREs, showed each meal, breakfast, dinner, and summer, came with four cigarettes, but only supper came with toilet paper.

A doctor from the 18th century displayed many of the herbal remedies and crude medical devices and herbal medicines used at the time.

He had a working blade machine used for blood-letting, a cure-all remedy from the era.  Another exhibit had a portable belt-fed machine gun that was transported and operated by five men.

After exploring the exhibits, we stopped by the visitor center and then made our way back to camp.  It was dry throughout the evening and we were able to make a campfire.  Looking at the forecast, it was likely to rain heavily Sunday evening and throughout the day Monday, so we decided to head back Sunday night.  After dinner and hanging out around the campfire, we retired to our tents.  Almost immediately after getting in, it started to rain heavily - great timing.  The rain died down over the evening and stopped by morning.

Morrow Mountain Peaks

Saturday, Sandy had the day off so we took Alex to Morrow Mountain State Park for a couple hikes.  It rained quite a bit on the way down, but died down when we crossed the bridge into Stanly County.  We first parked at the visitor center to get a stamp for Alex's passport.

From here, we followed the Morrow Mountain Trail south towards the park's namesake.  It wasn't particularly hot, but very humid and steamy.  In about 2 miles, the trail got real steep as we headed up Morrow Mountain and approached the road.  This trail then ended and we went right on Mountain Loop Trail.  Soon we made it to the overlook at the summit.

We stopped for a bit as there was a nice breeze up here.  Then we continued on the loop trail around the summit of the mountain.  Some open spots along the trail made for great views of the surrounding countryside.

After finishing the loop, we followed Morrow Mountain Trail back down the mountain and returned to the parking area.  Continuing through the park, we stopped at the boathouse parking for another hike.  At the far end of the parking lot, we picked up Fall Mountain Trail.  The trail starts out along following the shoreline of Yadkin River just upstream of the confluence with Uwharrie River.

Views of the river were very pretty and some mountain laurel were blooming.  After following the river for a while, it crosses a tributary and begins following it upstream and away from the river.  There were some spiderwort blooming along the trail here.

The trail got steeper and eventually a series of switchbacks led up to the summit of Fall Mountain.  Unlike Morrow, it was completely forested and there were no views with the foliage out.  Alex was getting hot so we took a break up here and then headed back down the mountain.

Leaving the park, we wanted to make one more stop on the way home so headed to Badin Lake Recreation Area in Uwharrie National Forest, just across the river.  We followed FR-576 for about 7 miles to where it crossed a small tributary.  Parking just after crossing, we followed a path down to a campsite and then to a nice overlook of Yadkin River between the dams.

The tributary we had crossed makes a small waterfall in two sections here and we scrambled down to a spot at the top of the lower main section.

It was good to come here after the recent rains as this tributary is very small.  The upper section is a rocky 10 foot drop.

The lower section is maybe 20 feet but I'm not sure how to view is well except by boat.

I climbed as far down as I could to get a view from the side but couldn't get any further down.

After some pictures, we headed back and made the drive home.  We stopped at Cook Out for dinner and Alex got a hot dog.