Moores Creek Battlefield

Sunday morning, we woke up and broke camp.  Before leaving Carolina Beach State Park, we went for one more hike.  We parked at the Flytrap Trailhead and headed out to the marina, then Snows Cut Trail.

At the end, we followed the greenway and took Campground Trail back to the start.

We started making our way home, making a stop at Moores Creek National Battlefield in Pender County.  This was hike 30 from #MST40hike, Alex's 13th from the challenge.

We started off on Tarheel trail passing an old tar kiln.

The trail and North Carolina's nickname come from the importance of naval stores to the state's economy in the 19th century.

At the end, we went left on History Trail and passed the Women's Monument.

Next was the Moore Monument.

The Loyalists Monument was dedicated to the Scottish Loyalists who were defeated in the battle.

Last was the Grady Monument.

There was an old cannon past here.

From here, we headed down to the very swampy Moore's Creek.

A reconstructed bridge allowed us to cross where the loyalists crossed and walked into a trap more than 200 years ago.

We looped back around and got on a boardwalk to cross back over the creek.

The boardwalk was pretty extensive and provided nice views of the swamp.

After the boardwalk, we came back out to the open and hiked back across the battlefield.

Finishing up our hike, we spotted some more Venus flytraps; one more carnivorous plant sighting for the weekend.

Then we took off.

Our next stop was in downtown Burgaw.  Osgood Canal Greenway and Urban Trail made a 2.5-mile loop around town and was hike 31 for #MST40hike.

We parked on Fremont and headed south along Dickerson Street.  Past the school, the trail became a greenway and turned to head northeast.

It was a scenic little trail along the canal and through the historic downtown.

Between US-117 and NC-53 was the blueberry welcome sign.

Shortly, we passed the Burgaw Cemetery.

As we finished up the loop, we passed the historic Burgaw Train Depot.

The Civil War era depot is now available for rent for special occasions.

We finished up our hike and then headed home.

Carnivorous Plants

Saturday we woke up to a chilly morning and planned to find some carnivorous plants.  Before leaving Carolina Beach State Park, we made a quick stop at the Fly Trap Trail.  Sure enough, part way through the loop, we spotted some of the trail's namesake.

Near the end, there were some pitcher plants in a pocosin swamp.

Then we took off, stopping for breakfast on the way to Brunswick County.

We stopped at the parking area for Green Swamp Preserve.  There was a small pond right next to the parking area.

The trail led through a scenic longleaf pine savanna.

The longleaf pine is dependent on periodic controlled burns to germinate the seeds and clear out the competition.

The trail through the preserve was blazed with red diamonds and was about 1.3 miles.

We saw some flowering pixiemoss along the trail.

There was a narrow boardwalk through a swamp area.

Soon, we came to a big patch of Venus flytraps.

It was a little early in the season and they were still very small.  We saw some pitcher plants as well.

A pinewood daisy was starting to pop up.

It started to get really swampy.  And we had to watch our step as there were a lot of little sundews popping up.

We turned around before the end because it was very swampy and we didn't want to trample the tiny carnivorous plants.

From here, we headed back towards Carolina Beach, got lunch and went to Fort Fisher State Recreation Area.  It was pretty windy so we first hiked down the Basin Trail.  The live oaks provided great protection from the wind.

Near the aquarium, a snowy egret was fishing in the pond.

The wind wasn't too bad along the trail.

There was some yaupon holly with bright orange berries along the trail.

The trail ended at the Basin Overlook peering into Zeke's Island Coastal Reserve.

Then we hiked back and took Alex for a short walk on the beach.

It was really windy so we didn't go too far.

Heading back to camp, it was much less windy away from the beach, so we went for one more hike.  We took Campground Trail to Sugarloaf Trail and headed to the limesink ponds to look for more carnivorous plants.  There were several sundews at Grass Pond.

Then we walked along the shore of Lily Pond.  There were a lot of lily pads but we didn't find insectivores.

Continuing on, the last pond was Cypress Pond.

We found a couple of real nice patches of sundews again here.

We followed the trail to Sugarloaf Dune and took a break here to enjoy the view.  There was a lot Spanish moss draped over the trees.

After a break, we finish the trail and headed back to camp.

We drove into camp for dinner and then stopped at Good Hops for drinks afterwards.  Back at camp, we made a big fire to stay warm.