Art Loeb Long Branch Loop

Saturday, I had breakfast at the hotel then headed to the Pisgah Center for Wildlife Education by Davidson River and parked around dawn.  I got on Cat Gap Loop Trail (#120) and hiked to Cedar Rock Falls.  There were some big icicles next to the falls.

Most of the ice at the waterfall had melted however.

I scrambled on the rocks for some pictures but didn't spend too long.

Back on the main trail, I heard something and scrambled down to a campsite.  There was an Upper Cedar Rock Falls here.

It was about 15 feet and pretty scenic.

Just past here, I got on Butter Gap Trail and hiked through Picklesimer Fields.

It started raining lightly as I got to Grogan Creek Falls.

In good lighting, this was a really scenic waterfall.

I spent some time here getting some photos.

Then I got back on the trail and continued hiking up.  Near the top of Grogan Creek was another nice little drop.

Butter Gap Trail ended at Art Loeb Trail so I could finish up section 1.  It was steep up to Chestnut Mountain then not too bad after that.  At Gloucester Gap, I turned on FR-475.  There was a seasonal waterfall on a small drainage along the road.

I continued on FR-475 to Long Branch Trail and in about a mile, I took a detour on Cemetery Loop to the McCall Cemetery.

Then back to Long Branch Trail.  I took another detour on FR5095 to Long Branch Falls.  There was a lot of downfall preventing a good picture.  

It didn't look like it would be going anywhere soon so I hiked back to Long Branch Trail.

Long Branch Trail ended back at Butter Gap Trail to finish up the loop.

Before leaving the forest, I did one more short hike on Estatoe Trail from Art Loeb Trailhead.

The trail followed Davidson River downstream to Brevard on boardwalks and a wide trail.

Then I went to Oskar Blues for dinner and some good beer on New Years Eve.

Art Loeb to Cedar Rock Mountain

Friday, I headed to Brevard for the long New Years weekend.  I left earlier and arrived at the Art Loeb Trailhead at Davidson River around 830.  The trail first followed an old road along the Davidson River and there was still some ice left on the river, but it was melting quickly.

After crossing a bridge, Eastatoe Trail split and Art Loeb started heading steeply up.  In about 3 miles, North Slope Connector split off and the trail crossed a forest road before heading steeply up to the top of Chestnut Knob though there was no view from here.

The trail descended again to Cat Gap and a connection to the trail and then back up to Cedar Rock Mountain.

There were some really cool rock faces along the trail and a nice campsite.

The trail descended steeply and crossed a creek, which I believe is the headwaters of Kuykendall Creek.  I had gone about 8 miles at this point so turned around.

It rained most of the way back and was very foggy in places.

Once back at the car, I headed to Hawg Wild for barbecue dinner then checked into Hampton Inn

Icy Cascades

Monday, Sandy and I took Alex up to Virginia to find some icy waterfalls.  It was very cold over the Christmas weekend, and although it didn't snow, the temperatures were low enough that water would be freezing.  We left early and headed up to Cascades Day Use Area in Jefferson National Forest and met up with Casey at 930.  We got on Cascades Trail and at the first bridge, we crossed to take the lower trail up the to the falls and stay close to the creek.  There was a lot of ice on Little Stony Creek.

Hiking up along the creek, there was lots of ice along the little cascades.

Even without the snow, it made for a really beautiful scene.

We stopped numerous times along the trail to view the scenic icy spots.

There were some enormous icicles along the creek in a few spots.

The last portion of the lower trail before the waterfall was pretty treacherous with ice on the trail.  Even Alex was slipping and having trouble.

Soon, we could see Cascade Falls.

Although not completely frozen, it was really beautiful surrounded by ice.

There were some wicked icicles all around.

After enjoying the view, we hiked up to Upper Cascade Falls.

It too was very icy and beautiful.

After some pictures, we started heading back and took the upper trail back to the parking to make a loop.

We said bye to Casey and then drove to Pearisburg for dinner at La Barranca before driving home.

Piedmont Environmental Center

Sunday morning, we had breakfast at the hotel and checked out.  On the way home, we drove through High Point and parked at the Piedmont Environmental Center.  We first hiked the Bill Faver Lakeshore Trail.  There were some mushrooms on decaying wood on the forest floor.

The trail mostly stayed close to the shore and there were some nice winter views of the lake.

At one point, Sandy spotted two trees that were growing together.

Most of the way through the loop, we got onto Bicentennial Greenway and headed north.

There was a set of stairs to descend that had ramps for bicycles to get up and down.

Down the stairs and across the boardwalk, the trail reverted to greenway.  We spotted a great blue heron in the shallow water.

After crossing Fork Road, we turned on Deep River Trail.  There were nice views of the Fork Road Bridge from the trail.

We found a spot half a mile or so down the trail with a bench to take a break and have a snack.

A harvestman was also on the bench.

The trail continued along the lake shore and through a swampy area with evidence of beaver activity.

There was one more boardwalk and then we got back on the greenway.

We followed this south back to where we had gotten on and finished up the Bill Faver Lakeshore Trail loop.  I took a short detour on Wildflower Trail.

Then we finished the hike back up at the car.

On the way home, we stopped in Greensboro at Natty Greene's for lunch outside on the patio with Alex.  Their seasonal Red Nose winter ale was very good.

Salem Lake Hike

Saturday, we took Alex for a weekend in the Triad area.  We first went to Salem Lake and parked near the marina.  We got on Salem Lake Trail and began hiking around the lake clockwise.  Right away, we passed the dam and took a detour.

There was a beautiful great blue heron here.

He let me get a couple pictures then flew up to the top of the dam.

We got back on the trail and continued on.

In about a mile, we crossed a footbridge at the Lowery Mill Creek arm.  There was a railroad bridge just upstream.

The trail continued around the north shore of the lake.

At Linville Road, we crossed over the headwaters of the lake and started the southern shore.

There was one tree along the water that was completely covered in turkey tail mushrooms.

Near the end of the loop, the trail crossed over a rocky tributary of the lake.

There were some pretty little cascades on this unnamed tributary.

As we finished up the loop, we could see the railroad bridge again from across the lake.

The loop ended up back at the marina to conclude our hike.

We had worked up an appetite and headed to the Porch Kitchen & Cantina to have tacos for lunch.  The puffy tacos were really good.  After lunch, we parked at Reynolda House & Gardens.

Dogs are allowed on the grounds and trails, so this made a nice easy hike for Alex.  The house and fountain out front were really pretty.

We then got on the Perimeter Trail and hiked down past an old pond.

The trail ended at Woodland Trail that had some nice stonework along the trail.

Lake Katherine wetlands were just beyond here.  Lake Katherine is a man-made lake that has filled in with silt and become more of a marsh.

On the hike back we saw some leatherleaf mahonia, an invasive species with unusual berries.

We finished up our hike back at the car and took off.

We checked into the La Quinta Inn in Winston-Salem and ate dinner at the hotel before bed.