Mountain Laurel at Medoc Mountain

Saturday, we took Alex for a hike at Medoc Mountain State Park, one of the few state parks that has not closed.  We parked at the picnic area around 830 and started hiking Stream Loop to Discovery Loop Trail.  As we approached Little Fishing Creek, we spotted some mountain laurel in bloom.

It was really beautiful.  The water level in the creek was way up from recent rains.

Crossing the creek on the footbridge, we got on Dam Site Loop Trail.  Some green-and-gold were flowering along the trail.

We passed by the old dam sites along the trail.

Where the trail started climbing up Medoc Mountain, there was a ton of mountain laurel blooming.  It made a little tunnel along the trail.

I don't think I've seen such good mountain laurel outside of the actual mountains.  At Summit Loop Trail, we headed up to the top and took a short break here.  Then we continued on, eventually dropping back down to Little Fishing Creek.  More beautiful mountain laurel were blooming along here.

Back at the bridge, we crossed and took Discovery and Stream Loops back towards the picnic area.  Little Fishing Creek was really flowing and a few parts of the trail were flooded, but it was easy to get around.

Back near the picnic area, we took Bluff Loop Trail to finish out our hike.  It was a scenic hike along the swollen creek.  We saw some violet wood-sorrel flowering along the trail.

At the far end of the loop, the trail descends from the bluff down to the creek.

It then climbs back up the bluff and loops back to the parking area.  There were some mushrooms growing along the trail.

We finished up our hike and made our way home.