Pine Island

We headed out to the Outer Banks for the Independence Day weekend.  We left quite early and made it to Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge just after sunrise.  We took a quick detour on the Wildlife Drive and within 2 miles, came to two black bears in a tree right along the side of the road.

A few other cars had stopped and everyone was enjoying watching and taking photos of the bear.  The lower male didn't seem to be interested and just wanted to take a nap.  The smaller bear on the upper branches was intently watching all the people.

We got some pictures and headed on.  Once we got to Currituck Banks, Sandy wanted to go to the pool and I wanted to get in a hike, so she dropped me off at Pine Island Audubon Sanctuary just past Duck.  A 2.5-mile nature trail led through the sanctuary.

I saw a common wood-nymph along the trail.

In about 0.7 miles, a short spur led out to an overlook on Currituck Sound.

A little further on the trail, I spotted some Maryland meadowbeauty flowering.

Near the southern end at the Dare County line, there was another overlook of the sound.

The trail ended on NC-12 near Sanderling resort and I turned around here.  A deer and her cute little fawn crossed the trail in front of me.

It was pretty hot in the open areas, but not too bad in the shade.

The live oak were really beautiful in the maritime forest, their gnarled limbs a testament to the harsh conditions on the barrier island.

Near the end, I spotted some coral honeysuckle flowering.

When I finished the trail, I started hiking north along NC-12 and eventually connected to Corolla Greenway.

There was a little shade along the trail, but not much and it was pretty hot hiking on the greenway.  I followed it all the way to Corolla Light and met up with Sandy and her family at the beach house.

I was pretty hungry by this point so Sandy and I went to Low Tide Bar & Grill to get lunch and beer from Northern Outer Banks Brewing.  After lunch, we headed to Currituck Banks Reserve for a short hike in the shade.  We started out on the boardwalk trail.

At the turn, we hiked down the Maritime Forest Trail through a beautiful woods of live oaks.

It looks like they made the trail have a short loop at the end and blocked off the path to the sound.  After hiking through the forest, we finished up the boardwalk out to the Sound Overlook.

The views were really pretty in the evening light.

We finished up our hike and headed back to the beach house.  We had pizza for dinner and socialized for a bit before going to bed.

Wildlife Refuge Hikes

Sunday morning, we woke up early and broke camp before daybreak.  Then we crossed the dunes and went for a hike on the beach at Cape Hatteras before the storms came in.  The Mountains-to-Sea Trail runs along the beach here.  Although cloudy, it was a beautiful sunrise.

The sky really lit up in between breaks in the clouds and generated some beautiful colors.  And it lasted for a while too.

We walked about 2 miles down the beach, turning around at Coquina Beach.

On the walk back, there was a little wintry precipitation, but just a few drops here and there.  Back at the car, we took and started making our way home.

After crossing to the mainland, we made a stop at Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge at the trailhead for Creef Cut Wildlife Trail right along US-64.  It's a half-mile paved trail along the wetlands.

At the end was a boardwalk loop through a freshwater marsh.

To the south, we could view the Creef Moist Soil Management area, though visitors are prohibited from entering to protect wildlife.

After some pictures, we headed back.

Our next stop was at the end of Buffalo City Road, a little further into the refuge.  Sandy Ridge Wildlife Trail started across a bridge over a canal into Milltail Creek.

Most of the short trail was a boardwalk and still had a decent amount of snow remaining.

The trail ended after about 0.5 miles at Sandy Ridge Gut, a little channel connecting Sawyer Lake and Milltail Creek.

We turned around here and headed back.

Continuing west on US-64, we made one more stop in Columbia at the visitor center for Pocosin Lakes National Wildlife Refuge.  The Scuppernong River Interpretive Boardwalk started from behind the visitor center.  The bridge on US-64 across the river was visible from here.

The boardwalk made a short loop along the river.

It looped back along a little tributary.

It started to rain a bit, but was fortunately a very short trail.

This was our last hike so we started making our way home.

Cape Hatteras MST Hike

Friday, we took Alex to the beach for a long weekend of camping.  We left very early in the morning in order to get to the coast close to sunrise.  Just after the sun rose, we turned onto the Wildlife Drive at Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge.  We drove a ways down Milltail Road but had no luck spotting a bear.  We turned around a started heading back and spotted something moving in the canal.  It was three adorable river otters!

They were frolicking and playing in the icy water in the canal.

One of them caught a fish and ate it.

Since the road ran parallel to the canal, we could slowly drive along and follow them down.

They were really enjoyable to watch - difficult to photograph, but easier to video.  From here, we headed to the Outer Banks and drove south into Cape Hatteras National Seashore and parked at the lighthouse.

From here, the plan was to take Alex for hike #38 from the #MST40hike, following the Mountains-to-Sea Trail from the lighthouse to Frisco Campground.

The MST followed Lighthouse Road to the British Cemetery.  British sailors who helped defend the US coast from German submarines were buried here.

From here, MST followed Open Ponds Trail through a beautiful maritime forest.

In just over a mile, we passed by scenic pond nestled between the dunes.

Further on, the trail passed through some sandy areas where intersecting trails from Buxton Woods joined.

The last half mile or so was an old service road that ended at the campground.

We turned around at the campground and hiked back.  Since we hadn't made it to the beach, we made a short stop the original location of the lighthouse to see the ocean.

It was cold and windy and the surf was really strong.

A few brave souls were surfing in these crazy conditions.  But not us, we got some pictures and headed back to the car.

Leaving the lighthouse, there was a pull-off on Lighthouse Road at a pond with a number of ducks and other birds.

We stopped here for a couple quick pictures of the birds.

The redhead drakes were really stunning in their breeding plumage.

Then we headed north, stopping in Avon at Froggy Dog for dinner.  Then we headed to Oregon Inlet Campground and set up camp.  It was very windy but a pretty sunset.

Bears and Crabs

Tuesday after work, we headed to the beach to visit Sandy's family in Corolla.  We left Raleigh around 430 and headed east.  We were passing through Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge right before sunset so made a quick detour on the Wildlife Drive.  And sure enough, just a mile in and there were several cars pulled over.  We stopped to see a mother bear and her three cubs foraging just off the road.

They were mostly hidden in the bushes but the mama bear kept poking her head up to keep an eye on all the people taking photos.

The sunset view was really pretty here.

Then we continued on to the northern Outer Banks.  The in-law's beach house this year was in Corolla Light, very close to the beach.  After we got settled in, Sandy and I got our headlamps and went for a night walk on the beach.  There were a lot of ghost crabs scurrying around at the edge of the surf.

Most ran off when we got close, but a couple were preoccupied and we could get close enough to shine a light on them.  Several of them were eating mole crabs.

I'm not sure if they're scavenging for dead mole crabs or hunting live ones, but several of the ghost crabs were eating them.

It was a very dark and clear evening and we had great views of the stars above.  After a bit, we headed back and went to bed.