Panther Branch Natural Area

For Mother's Day, Alex and I took Sandy for a hike at Panther Branch Natural Area, a newly-opened nature preserve owned by the Eno River Association located in western Orange County near Efland.  After parking, we set off on the Red trail to make a loop, passing some scenic unnamed tributaries.

We saw two box turtles at different points along the trail.

About half way through the loop, we took Yellow Trail and crossed Panther Branch on stepping stones.  In high water, the crossing would be difficult.

The Yellow Trail made a short loop here and we saw a bunch of jacks in the pulpit flowering.

The trail came out at powerline clearing high above Eno River.

The views of the river were really nice here and a lot of mountain laurel was blooming.

Many wildflowers were blooming in the open clearing.

Spoonshape Barbara's buttons are an interesting white flower.

Venus' pride was another little one flowering.

Back in the woods, we went down to the picnic area at a bend in the Eno then went back up.

After crossing back over Panther Branch, we finished up the loop to complete our hike.

From here, we drove a short ways to the Hillsboro Division of Duke Forest and parked along the US-70 connector.  We hiked into the forest and along Snake Fire Trail.  The first part was very overgrown with tall grass and we got pretty wet hiking through.  Once in the woods, the trail was more reasonable and we saw another little box turtle.

At the end of the trail, we turned right on Old Quarry Road and went out to the old abandoned quarry.  There was lots of lichen growing on the rocks.

Then we hiked back and took Cates Road to make a loop.

After our hike, we went to lunch to celebrate Mother's Day.

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.

New Hope Creek Hikes

Sunday, I went for a couple hikes along New Hope Creek in Orange and Durham Counties.  My first stop was Johnston Mill Nature Preserve, a Triangle Land Conservancy property.  I arrived pretty early and there was still plenty of parking.  Hiking down to the creek, it was pretty dry as we haven't had much rain in a while.

I took Bluebird Trail through an open meadow along a powerline clearing.  There were lots of yellow ironweed flowering in the open area.

I continued on and got on Old Field Bluff Trail and hiked around the rest of the trails.

Finishing up here, I drove to Erwin Road and parked at Hollow Rock Nature Park.  First, I crossed Pickett Road and hiked the Headwaters Loop.  Then, I hiked Hanging Rock Loop down to New Hope Creek.

There was very little water in the creek.  The trail also passed through an open meadow.

Right before the spur, I went out to New Hope Creek Overlook.

Then I hiked under the Erwin Road bridge and into the Korstian Division of Duke Forest.  The New Hope Creek North Trail follows the river upstream.  Almost immediately, there was an old dam along the creek.

The trail stayed close to the creek through a really rocky and scenic section.

Further along, I had to scramble in places along the creek - it was a really fun trail!  Eventually, the trail departed from the creek and climbed up Piney Mountain.

I was able to make loops along the hike back to Hollow Rock and my car.

Duke Forest Hikes

Saturday was going to be hot, but I wanted to get a hike in before it got too bad.  I headed to the Al Buehler Trail in Duke Forest.  This trail is on Duke Campus and technically not in the forest, but it's maintained by the forest.  From the parking area off NC-751, I hiked clockwise around the loop.  The trail first passed through a wetland area where stream restoration is underway.

Just off the trail was a wildlife blind, though I didn't see anything in the wetlands.

Shortly past here, the trail crossed over a dam that created a retention pond to improve water quality.

A connector trail led to a short fitness loop and then I got back on the main trail.

It makes a big loop around the golf course and eventually back to the trailhead area.  It was still pretty early so I drove north a mile or so on NC-751 and parked near Gate 3.  Hiking in on Gate 3 to Gate 7 Road, I took a short detour on Pine Thickets Forest Trail and then looped around to Gate 7.  There were some sundrops blooming along the trail in open, sunny areas.

I made a loop on the Gate 5 Road and then headed back.  Before leaving, I hiked Gate 2 to Gate 4 Road, making a detour on each of the little spurs.  It was around noon when I finished up and had really gotten hot by this point.