Hillsborough Hikes on Labor Day

For Labor Day, we wanted to take Alex for a hike since we had left him for a week.  So we took him to Occoneechee Mountain State Natural Area to get his passport stamped.

We started off hiking the Occoneechee Mountain Loop Trail clockwise around the mountain.  The trail passes some rock outcrops and then heads down to the Eno River.

Past the river, the trail leads to the old quarry.  We took a short break here to enjoy the view.

Then we made the steep climb up to the overlook.  There were some Virginia meadow-beauty blooming in the powerline right-of-way.

At the summit, we had real nice views of the river and town below.

After some pictures and a break, we took Chestnut Oak Trail back to the car.  Next, we headed to Gold Park in Hillsborough and went for a hike along the Riverwalk, part of the Mountains-to-Sea Trail.  The trail runs from the park to downtown and then through River Park.  A wooden fence of some sort was here.

We continued on a ways, but it was getting hot for Alex so we didn't go much further.  I spotted some spicebush berries along the river as we started making our way back.

For lunch, we got Cook-Out so Alex could get a hot dog.