Hiking in Hurricane Florence

Hurricane Florence had minimal impact in the Triangle area.  And although local parks, state parks, national parks and even national forests were closed, Triangle Land Conservancy did not close their nature preserves.  It was still raining on Sunday, but only lightly, so we took Alex to Horton Grove Nature Preserve, north of Durham.  It rained for most of the hike, but never too hard and the trees absorbed most of it, so we managed to stay mostly dry.  Along Jordan Trail, we spotted a box turtle along the trail.

He didn't seem to mind the rain.  And we made a stop at the farm pond along Sowell Trail.  The water level was up, but it didn't look like any risk of imminent flooding.

In fact, all the trails around the preserve were in good shape and none of the bridges had washed out.  Alex was getting frustrated being stuck inside, so it was nice to get him out for a hike.

Overall, we hiked about 6 miles around the preserve and had a great time despite the dreary weather.

Woods Mountain on Labor Day

Monday morning, I woke up and broke camp and left the Curtis Creek area.  Going east on US-70 to Marion, I took US-225 north to the Woodlawn Work Center where there is a trailhead for the Mountains-to-Sea Trail.  Hiking MST westbound, the trail climbed gradually so was hoping it would stay this way.  After about a mile, however, it started to go down for about another mile to cross Toms Creek.

There were a lot of wildflowers blooming along here.  The devil's bite were particularly nice.

In a short ways, the trail then crossed South Fork Toms Creek at a concrete ford.  Not wanting to get my feet wet, I rock hopped a little downstream.  After this point, the trail started heading up very steeply.  With the heat and humidity, it was a brutal climb up.  It leveled off in places, but was all uphill to Woods Mountain.  A very overgrown spur trail led to the summit but there were no views from here.

A lookout tower had once stood here, but now all that's left are the concrete supports.  So I started hiking back down.  Before leaving the area, I wanted to get one more waterfall, so made the short drive to Toms Creek Falls.  Its only half a mile up Falls Branch Trail (#214) to the scenic waterfall.

I climbed around on the rocks to get some photos and then made the short hike back.

It was about a 3 hour drive home from here.

Green Knob and Hickory Branch

Sunday I woke up and had breakfast at camp and didn't have to drive from Curtis Creek.  My first hike was up the very steep Snooks Nose Trail (#211).  I had been up to Snooks Nose before, but this time I wanted to hike all the way up to Green Knob.  The trail is brutally steep, so wanted to knock out the climb first thing in the morning.  But it was still hot and humid before 8 and so the climb up was painful.  In about an hour, I made it to Snooks Nose and stopped for a break.

Snooks Nose looks east so didn't have much in the way of views with the bright sunlight.  The next 2 miles to the parkway were uphill but not nearly so steep.  After a total of about 4 miles, I made it to the end of the trail at Green Knob Overlook on the Blue Ridge Parkway.

The overlook had great views looking down towards Curtis Creek.

Lots of false sunflower were blooming at the overlook.

Across the road, I picked up Green Knob Trail (#182) and went another half mile up to the summit.  There's a lookout tower here, but it's locked up so couldn't get in.

I did climb the stairs for a view of the Black Mountains hidden behind clouds.

After a snack, I started making my way back.  The views were better from Snooks Nose and I took a photo stop before the super steep downhill began.

Near the end, I got off the trail to find Slick Falls.  It's a tall waterfall, but the banks are so steep and overgrown with rhododendron, I couldn't get a much of a picture.

Back at camp, I had lunch and then started hiking Hickory Branch Trail (#213).  I stopped for some nice cascades along the creek.

After passing the Hickory Branch Falls, the trail crossed Hickory Branch twice and then a tributary.  Just past the last crossing was another waterfall.  Upper Hickory Branch Falls was a nice tiered waterfall, but there were several dead trees lying over it.

After this point, the trail got really steep and headed away from Hickory Branch and ending at Lead Mine Gap Trail (#212).  Going right, the trail became really overgrown and difficult to follow.  So I went the other way for about a mile before turning back.

I was pretty hungry by the time I got back to camp and headed to Las Salsas in Marion for dinner.

Old Fort Hikes

Saturday, I headed out to the mountains for Labor Day Weekend.  Sandy had to work at the last minute, so I went out solo and tried not to get too many waterfalls without her.  I had a reservation for camping at Curtis Creek and didn't want to add too much extra driving so went to Old Fort for my first hike.  Parking at the picnic area, I backtracked to Old US-70 and headed to the eastern trailhead for Point Lookout Trail (#203).  Point Lookout Trail is a paved trail following the old route of US-70 and had nice views of the foothills and Royal Gorge.

In about 2 miles, I reached Point Lookout with a nice long range view towards Old Fort through the gorge.  This was once a popular stopping point along US-70 when it followed this route.

Finishing the trail at the other end, I followed the road towards I-40 and then to the trailhead for Kitsuma Peak trail (#205).  This trail runs right along the interstate then steeply climbs up its namesake via switchbacks.  The summit of Kitsuma Peak is forested but some cliffs on the north side provide nice views towards Asheville and the Black Mountains.

I took a little break here as it had been a steep climb up and enjoyed the views.

After a short rest, I followed Youngs Ridge Trail (#206) back to the Old Fort Picnic Area.

My next stop was the Catawba Falls trailhead.  Being a Saturday on a holiday weekend, the parking area was packed but I found a spot.  I got my stuff together and set off on the trail.  Since the last time I visited, a bridge was built over Catawba River near the start right where the ruins from the hydroelectric station are.

No more rock hopping the river.  It was really crowded at Catawba Falls so I headed steeply up to the upper falls, which is my favorite one.

A few people were swimming here.  One guy climbed part way up the falls and did a headstand - no wonder so many people die at this one.  After some pictures I headed back down.  It was still crowded at Catawba Falls and poor lighting for a picture.

Heading back, I climbed down for one more waterfall, Lower Catawba Falls.

It looked like part of the dam had washed away, but this one was really scenic in higher water.  Then I made the short hike back to the car.

After stopping in Old Fort for dinner, I headed to Curtis Creek to set up camp.  When I arrived, McDowell County Sheriff's Deputies were blocking my site.  Another camper was drinking (no alcohol permitted in Curtis Creek) and being rowdy so I guess they were issuing a citation.  After they left, I was able to set up.  Once the deputies left, the guy cracked another beer and turned up the music on his truck.  And soon enough, US Forest Service Rangers came by again and gave another citation.  Didn't kick them out though.  There was still an hour or so of daylight and I didn't really want to hang around camp with all the drama, so made the short hike to Hickory Branch Falls.

It was very scenic in the evening light.  As the sun began to set, I hiked back to camp and went to sleep.  Fortunately, the rowdy family quieted down after dark.