Triad MST Hikes

Friday, we took Alex for a camping weekend at Pilot Mountain.  We left Friday morning and first stopped at Cascades Preserve northwest of Greensboro.  This would be Alex's 15th hike for #mst40hike.

After parking, the trail picked up across the street and headed into the woods.  At about a half mile, a footbridge crossed a little tributary and split to form a loop.  Turning left, there was a little overlook.

There was too much foliage to see much from here.  We did spot some phlox growing along the trail.

The trail then passed into the next drainage.  The intermittent stream had a number of cascades for which the preserve is named.

The water level was low and lighting was poor, but it was a scenic little spot.  I'd like to return in better conditions.

Just past here, a rope crossing led to Kayauwee Trail, a short spur.

We also followed the MST out to Haw River Road and back before finishing up our hike here.

Next, we headed to Tory's Den at Hanging Rock State Park so Alex could complete another hike for #MST40hike.

We got on Tory's Den Trail to follow the MST eastbound, a steady climb up until we reached Huckleberry Ridge.

From here, it leveled off until Moore's Wall Loop Trail, where MST turned left and began a steep climb.  As we got higher in elevation, we started seeing the rhododendrons blooming.

Soon the trail got to the ridgeline and was more gradual up to the top, passing by some cool rock outcrops.

At Moore's Knob, we took the short spur up to the summit.

I climbed the lookout tower and could see the visitor center and lake down below.

Heading down from here, there were some dwarf bristly locust flowering.

We followed Moore's Wall Trail down to the lake, the end of the hike.  Alex was pretty tired by this point, so Sandy waited with him at the lake while I ran back to the car and picked them up.

Then we headed towards Pilot Mountain and got barbecue for dinner at All Sauced Up.  Then we drove to Pilot Mountain State Park and checked into site 9 at the campground.  After setting up, we built a nice fire and then went to bed.