Rock Castle Gorge & Mabry Mill

Saturday, we took Alex to Virginia for a weekend of hiking and wildflowers.  We left early and arrived at the lower trailhead for Rock Castle Gorge Trail in Rocky Knob Recreation Area.  With a light rain, it wasn't too crowded when we arrived just after 9.  Rocky Castle Gorge Trail is a loop, but we were only hiking the part where we expected to see the most wildflowers along the fire road.  Near the start, we saw a little red eft newt along the trail.

There were a lot of striped cream violets along this lower part of the trail.

There were a lot of irises, but most were well past peak.  We did spot a a few jack in the pulpits.

The may apples were flowering as well.

After a mile or so, we crossed Rock Castle Creek on a footbridge and then passed by the Austin House.  There were two more creek crossings and then we stayed on river right side for the rest of the road.  In about 2.5 miles, the trail crossed a tributary at Rock Castle Cascades.

Even in fairly high water, the stream was too small to make much of a waterfall.  It's pretty high but the upper section is very overgrown.

Near the waterfall, some blue violets were flowering.

The trail split off from the fire road and crossed the creek one last time.  We hiked as far as Bare Rocks about a half-mile from the split.  Some beautiful showy orchis were flowering along this section.

This short section has some of the best wildflowers, with hillsides of trillium.

There were a lot of wild geranium blooming near Bare Rocks.

There were a few patches of fire pink.

But the trillium really steals the show!

On the hike back, we stopped some large-flowered bellwort.

The hike back was all downhill and went quickly.

From here, we took VA-8 up to the parkway and made a quick stop at Rock Castle Gorge Overlook.

Then we continued a few more miles to Mabry Mill.

The old mill was really beautiful in the spring.  We took turns checking out the inside as pets are not allowed in.

Then we toured around the grounds to see some of the other historical buildings and artifacts.

The lumber drying racks were used to dry wood produced in the mill.

The millraces that channel water to the mill and power the waterwheel snaked all throughout the property.

We really enjoyed our visit, despite the light rain.  In fact, the rain made it even more photogenic and kept the crowds away.

From here, we made our way to Floyd.

After checking in to the Pine Tavern Lodge, we went to Mickey G's Italian for dinner.  Back at the room, we watched a nice sunset from the back porch.

Lady's Slippers at Williamson Preserve

Saturday I headed to check out a new trail off the Neuse River.  I parked at the Mial Plantation Trailhead for Neuse River Trail and took that towards Johnston County.  After crossing the line, the trail became Claytons River Walk and I turned onto Bootleggers' Loop to enter Williamson Preserve.

The trail crossed a small creek on a footbridge and then came to some old barrels right off the trail, presumably from moonshine production.

There were some atamasco lilies blooming around here.

The trail soon came to a split and I went right to hike the loop portion.  After finishing up the trail, I went back in the preserve on Neuse River Connector and hiked the Salamander Loop.  In about a mile, I spotted a pink lady's slipper.

I've never seen one in the Piedmont, just a couple times in the mountains.  Continuing on, I spotted another patch a little further.

There were a lot of these beautiful orchids all along the northern half of Salamander.  I was really excited to see so many.

After finishing up the loop, I hiked back to Neuse River Trail to head back to the car.

New Hope Creek Wildflowers

Saturday, we took Alex for a hike along New Hope Creek to see some wildflowers.  We parked at Hollow Rock Nature Park and took Hanging Rock Trail down to the creek and started following it upstream.  There were some painted buckeye growing along the trail.

Soon, we crossed under Erwin Road and entered Duke Forest on New Hope Creek North Trail.

Shortly past here, there was a large patch of striped cream violets blooming.

New Hope Creek is very scenic - rocky with steep cliffs, unusual for the Piedmont.

We stopped at a few places to enjoy the views of the creek.

And soon we started seeing more and more wildflowers.

There were a lot of irises, but at first most had already bloomed.  I spotted a couple wild geraniums flowering.

Eastern bluestar was another wildflower we saw.

There were a number of Pinxter azaleas blooming along the creek.

Green-and-gold added a splash of yellow.

And there were some azure bluets as well.

A little further, we came to more irises and these ones were blooming.  In fact, I don't think I've ever seen so many irises.  It would be spectacular at the time of peak bloom.

After crossing Pine Mountain Creek, we found a nice big patch of jack in the pulpits.

And there was a single blooming bashful trillium.

As we got to the more rocky sections, there were a couple fire pink.

In about 2 miles, we came to the first rock scramble section.  These short but fun parts of the trail make this my favorite trail in the Triangle.

We found a spot to take a break along the creek, then started heading back.  The number of wildflowers along this trail was amazing.  I think this could be the best wildflower hike in the Triangle, in addition to being the most fun.