South Mountains Hike

Sunday, we checked out of the hotel and headed to South Mountains State Park to take Harper for another waterfall hike.  After getting our stuff together, we hiked down Hemlock Nature Trail and then took Big Bear Trail.  It ended a short ways at the base of Big Bear Falls on Shinny Creek.

We stopped to get some pictures but soon more people started showing up.

So we hiked back down and took High Shoals Falls Trail up.  The many steps were tough carrying Harper in a backpack but soon I made it to the viewing deck for High Shoals Falls.

The water made a cool breeze that felt really nice.

The trail is closed above the waterfall, so we headed back down and made a stop at a scenic spot along the creek.

Back at the parking lot, I took River Trail to Raven Rock Trail and headed up.  It was quite steep with the humidity.  There was one spot with a nice view.

I went as far as the intersection with Upper Falls Trail and headed back.  I was surprised to see other people making the steep climb up.

As we were leaving the park, we saw several emergency vehicles entering, but I'm not sure what happened.  We drove back as far as Mebane and stopped for dinner at Bright Penny.