Pilot Mountain Loop

Sunday morning, we broke camp and made the short drive to the old park office at Pilot Mountain State Park so Alex could complete another #MST40 hikes.

Starting on Grindstone Trail, we hiked back past the campground and through the nice patches of mountain laurel.

At the intersection with Mountain Trail, we turned right to stay on MST and hike around the mountain.

We followed Mountain Trail to Pinnacle Hotel Road and then got on Grassy Ridge Trail to make a loop.

We finished the hike up back at the old park office.

On the way home, we stopped for fajitas at Cancun in Burlington.

Yadkin Valley Hikes

Saturday morning, we left the mountain section of Pilot Mountain State Park and headed to the Yadkin River section.  This section would be much less crowded on a nice Saturday.  We parked at the Corridor Trail parking on Hauser Road and started along Yadkin Islands Trail to Yadkin River Park Road.  Hiking along the road, there were a lot of wildflowers blooming.

There were some real big patches of daisies.

At the picnic area, we got on Horne Creek Trail and followed its namesake downstream.

More wildflowers blooming along this trail as well.

Bladder sedge, green-and-gold and a lot of jack in the pulpit.

The ones here, as seems to be typical in the Piedmont, were green and white as opposed to the green and black seen in the mountains.

After a mile or so, the trail crossed the railroad tracks and followed along Yadkin River.

There were a lot of spiderwort flowering along the river.

There were a number of blackberry bushes as well.

At the end of the trail we got on Bean Shoals Canal Trail and had a view of the river and islands on the other side.

There were some American strawberry bush flowering, but they had not yet produced the showy berries.

We followed the river further downstream on Bean Shoals Canal Trail.

The trail followed the remains of the canal construction.  In the 1820s, a project to build a canal around the shoals was started but never completed.

We followed the trail to the end past the shoals.

On the way back, we took Yadkin Islands Trail to make a loop back.

From here, we drove to Elkin and parked along Main Street so Alex could get another hike for #MST40hikes.

We followed Main Street and picked up Elkin & Alleghany Rail Trail following Big Elkin Creek upstream.  There was a dam right at the start.

The trail then led through Elkin Municipal Park and then led under highway 268.

After this point, the trail became a little more rustic.

There was another scenic dam on the creek here.

The trail crossed the creek on a footbridge and then led past the reservoir.  I scrambled down to the creek for a view.

From here, the trail followed a private gravel road out to Collins Road, where we turned around.  Hiking back to the start, we stopped at Angry Troll Brewing for dinner.

After dinner, we headed back to camp and I took a hike on Grindstone Trail up towards the top.  There were some nice mountain laurels blooming on the hike up.

Closer to the top, I saw some dwarf bristly locust flowers.

At the summit parking, I went out to the Little Pinnacle Overlook for an evening view of Pilot Mountain.

Then I hiked back down.

Sandy had started a campfire and hung around the fire for a while before going to bed.

Jameokee Trail

Friday, we had to travel up to Ohio for a family emergency.  It was a long drive for Alex, so we stopped on the way for a short hike at Pilot Mountain State Park.  Parking up at the top, we hiked the Jameokee Trail around the Big Pinnacle.

It doesn't look that big from the highway, but up close, it's huge.

The trail and views were really nice in the evening light.

We could see the Saurotown Mountains in the distance.

The entire loop is just a mile, but it made a nice break, both for us and for Alex.

After finishing the loop, we continued the long drive north to Ohio.

Pilot Creek Hike

Saturday, we took Alex to get another stamp in his passport at Pilot Mountain State Park.  Since the last time we visited, another trail has opened.  We parked at the Pilot Creek Access off Boyd Nelson Road.  The Pilot Creek Trail leads three miles to the park's campground through the northwest corner of the park.  Right at the start, there were a number of daffodils blooming in an open area.

The trail crossed several little tributaries of Pilot Creek on its way to the main part of the park.

An old dilapidated cabin was just off the trail about half way.

Near the end, we saw the wheels of an old carriage of some sorts.

When we reached Grindstone Trail, I went left and ran to the visitor center to get Alex's passport stamped.

I caught up near the cliffs for rock climbing.  We stopped here for a snack break and to enjoy the lovely views.

After our snack, we continued to the top to the Little Pinnacle Overlook.  Beautiful views of Pilot Mountain and the Saurotown Mountains in the distance.

A couple more overlooks provided views of Pilot Mountain from different perspectives.

Then we made the hike back down the mountain.  It was all downhill from here.  We spotted some trout lilies along the creek.

Finishing back at the car, we headed for home, stopping for barbeque on the way.

Pilot Mountain Holiday Hike

Last Sunday, we headed out for our annual holiday hike at Pilot Mountain.  Sandy and I left a little early to get a waterfall on the way.  Near Yadkinville, we got off US-421 and drove just a short ways to the pull-off for Shore-Styers Mill Park.  It was quite cold this morning, but just a short walk to Shacktown Falls.  Right past the gate, a short path led down to the base of the waterfall.

Although only about 10 feet high, it was quite scenic and rather impressive to be so far east of the mountains.

After a couple pictures, we headed back to the car and drove the rest of the way to the main entrance of Pilot Mountain State Park.  We met up with our friends at the visitor center and began our hike up to the top of the mountain.  Starting off on Grindstone Trail, there was some up and down as the trail follows the main park road and then soon began ascending in earnest.  When we got to the second split, we went right to get on Ledge Springs Trail.  Leading past the cliffs on Little Pinnacle, this is my favorite trail in the park.  With lots of big rock steps, it’s fairly strenuous, but I love the massive stone cliffs and outcrops.

Even in the cold weather, we saw a couple groups of people rock climbing.  At the end of the trail, we turned right on Jomeokee Trail to head out to the Big Pinnacle.  It was cold and windy here, so we found a nice sheltered area to stop and eat lunch.  Even sheltered, it was pretty cold here, so after lunch, we continued on around the pinnacle.  I stopped for a picture of the “bonsai” tree growing out of the face of the pinnacle.

We finished up the loop and then made a stop at the Little Pinnacle Overlook with the best views of Pilot Mountain and the Sauratown Mountains in the background.

I also made a quick stop at the other overlook at the end of the Sassafras Trail.  It was further down the mountain so the views aren’t as good here.

After some pictures and a stop in the heated bathrooms, we started hiking down the mountain on Grindstone Trail.  At the second split, we turned left on Mountain Trail to hike around the flank of the mountain and back to the visitor center.  Back at the cars, we headed into Pilot Mountain for dinner at Tlaquepaque.  After dinner and drinks, we drove a short ways up the road to the Pilot Mountain Christmas lights.  We came on a Sunday as it would be a little less crowded than Friday or Saturday, but there were still a lot of people here.  After parking, we walked around for about 30 minutes enjoying the amazing Christmas light display.

Unlike some displays that are set up by an entire town, this was just a family decorating their property.

They had been doing it for 50 years, with most of that in Florida, but this would be their last.  With over 750,000 lights, it was an impressive display and I’m glad we got to see it in the final year.