Hot Beach Day

Tuesday, I woke up before sunrise and headed down to the beach.  The moon was still visible in the twilight sky.

It was a very beautiful morning on the beach.

I walked north a ways and soon the sun popped up over the horizon.

I continued a little further past the fence as the sun continued rising.

I spotted some seabeach primrose flowering along the dunes.

I turned around shortly as I didn't have time for a long hike today.

But I wanted to enjoy one last early morning on the beach.

It was already hot by the time I got back to the beach house.  We went to breakfast with Sandy's dad and then went to the beach one more time to play in the water.  The ocean was refreshing but it was hot out of the water.  We then finished packing up and said good-bye then started driving home.  In Manteo, we stopped for lunch at Carolina Barbecue then drove the rest of the way.

Fireworks at the Beach

Monday, I slept in a bit and missed sunrise.  But I still got a relatively early start and hiked south along the beach.

It was another pretty hot morning and I went as far as the Currituck County Southern Beach Access and turned around.

When I got back to the beach house, we all went to the beach and played in the water for a while.  After I had enough sun and saltwater, Sandy and I went to the Beer Garden for some drinks.  Heading back to the house, we had burgers for dinner and then I went to Historic Corolla Park to watch the sunset over the sound.

There was a great blue heron wading in the shallow waters.

The park was very pretty in the twilight, but it was very crowded.

I headed back to the house to watch the fireworks from there.

After the fireworks, we walked down to the beach to look for some ghost crabs.

Then we headed to bed as I wanted to wake up for sunrise one last time in the morning.

Sunrise Hike on the Beach

Sunday morning, we woke up early for a sunrise hike on the beach.  We walked down to the beach while it was still dark and found a nice spot to watch the first light of the morning.

Soon, the sun poked up over the horizon.

It was a very beautiful sunrise.  Here's a video of it.

Sandy went back to bed, while I started hiking north on the beach.  It was a beautiful hike in the morning light with the waves crashing.

Heading north, I soon crossed the fence to where driving is allowed and entered Currituck National Wildlife Refuge.  I saw a couple wild horses up on the dunes but couldn't get a good picture.

I hiked down the beach for several hours.  I had initially planned to go as far as the state line, but it was quite a bit further than I thought.

I went as far as Carova Beach and turned around there.

It had gotten quite hot on the hike back and there's absolutely no shade on the beach.  I'm glad I didn't try to go further.

At the beach house, I went to beach with the in-laws and played in the water for a while.  Then Sandy and I went for another hike at Currituck Banks Reserve to get out of the sun.  We spotted some Indian blanket flowering.

We just went for a short hike and enjoyed the beautiful maritime forest for a while.

Heading back to the house, we had barbecue for dinner.  Corolla was having their fireworks on Monday, but we could see fireworks up and down the barrier island.  Some people were illegally lighting off fireworks on the beach as well.

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.

Neusiok Trail Hike

Saturday morning, we woke up and had breakfast then headed to the trailhead for Neusiok Trail along NC-101.  The Neusiok Trail, part of the Mountains-to-Sea Trail, runs through the eastern portion of Croatan National Forest, from the Neuse River to Newport River.

The northern section has been closed since Hurricane Florence, so we hiked south.  The trail traverses through dense coastal forest and most of it is a real jungle.

Bushwhacking is not an option.  About three-quarters of a mile from the road, a short spur led to Dogwood Camp shelter, one of three shelters for primitive camping along the trail.

A marbled orb weaver spider had made his web at the shelter.

Continuing on, there were a few little ponds along the trail.

When we came out to Forest Road 147, we ran into a large group of hunters.  The trail followed the road for a while and it started raining, so we headed back.

From here, we drove back to Atlantic Beach and headed out for another walk on the beach.

It was another beautiful day on the beach.  We walked east on the beach to just past the pier and then headed back.

We had enjoyed Idle Hour the night before, so had dinner here again.  Then one more run out to the beach just before sunset.

Then we headed back to the mainland.

We stopped at a couple gas stations and Food Lion in Newport, but no one had firewood.  So we just went back to Oyster Point and burned a fire log before going to bed.