It had rained quite a bit overnight, but stopped by day break. Alex was thirsty from not drinking water after dinner the night before. I woke up to him licking condensation from the tent and let him out to get his water bowl. We packed up camp and then headed down the mountain. Our first stop was Lake James State Park. It was a lot hotter down here than up in the Black Mountains. We parked at the visitor center and first thing was getting Alex's passport stamped.
Then we hiked along Paddy Creek Trail following the lake shore. There were a couple spots to go out for a nice view.
At the end, we crossed the road and hiked the Holly Discovery Trail. A spur led down to a nice spot on Paddy Creek.
Finishing up the short loop, we got back on Paddy Creek Trail and took another spur down to the lake.
On the way back, we made a detour on Homestead Trail and then finished up our hike.
It was pretty hot by now and the air conditioning felt good. Leaving the park, we made a quick stop at the Linville Gorge Overlook.
Shortoff Mountain was visible at the south end of the gorge. From here, we headed east on I-40 towards home, but wanted to get another park. In the Triad, we went to Mayo River State Park near Mayodan to get Alex's passport stamped.
Then we hiked the short loop from Mayo Mountain access area.
It's a double-loop with the inner about a half-mile and the outer about 2 miles.
It was quite hot at this point, so kind of a relief for a short hike.
After finishing up, we made the rest of the drive home.
Then we hiked the short loop from Mayo Mountain access area.
It's a double-loop with the inner about a half-mile and the outer about 2 miles.
It was quite hot at this point, so kind of a relief for a short hike.
After finishing up, we made the rest of the drive home.
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