Pitcher Plants at Horseshoe Lake

On Sunday, Sandy had the day off and the weather forecast looked fabulous, so we took the kayaks out to Horseshoe Lake in Suggs Mill Pond Game Land. We got on I-95 south and took exit 49 to NC-53 east. In about 15 miles, we turned on to Live Oak Methodist Church Road right after the water tower and continued to Suggs Mill Pond Game Land. Although this place is rather remote, there were quite a few other vehicles here, so clearly we weren’t the only people who wanted to paddle the lake today. Even before putting in, we saw a blooming pitcher plant right by the water’s edge.

The water level was higher than when I had been here in the past and reached almost up to the dock. We got in our boats and started paddling out on the water. We initially paddled to the west, where the lake is more swampy.

There were a ton of cypress trees sticking out from the water and the lake’s surface was covered in fragrant water lilies.

It was still early to see the lily pads in peak bloom, but we did find a few beautiful flowers. There were also some nice patches of blooming pitcher plants in this area.

We paddled around this area, exploring for a bit, then headed over to the main part of the lake. The water is more open here with cypress trees mainly along the shore.

We paddled out about half way across the lake and stopped for a bit to have a snack. Then we paddled some more along the shoreline and found some more great patches of pitcher plants.

They’re easy to find as the bright yellow of the pitchers and flowers stands out in contrast to the green of other vegetation. The flowers on these plants are really interesting - the flower has five petals with an umbrella-shaped structure in the middle.

Looking straight on, it appears to be solid, but looking from the side, I could see that it was like an umbrella. At one point I was right in the midst of the pitcher plants and a fly was buzzing around my head.

I thought to myself that isn’t a very safe place for a fly and that he would likely end up as lunch for one of these carnivorous plants.

The sun was quite bright and there was no adequate shade, so after a while, we paddled back to the dock to finish our kayaking adventure.

Paddling Horseshoe Lake

Last Saturday, we headed out east for a day of paddling on Horseshoe Lake in Suggs Mill Pond Game Land. We haven't gotten a kayak yet, so we met up with Chris and Mel and borrowed one of their two-person inflatable kayaks. Leaving from Raleigh, it took less than two hours to get to the lake. Luckily, Chris knew the way, as the lake is not real easy to get to. From I-95 near Fayetteville, we took exit 49 to NC-53/NC-210 east and took the split to stay on NC-53. After about another 10 miles, we turned left on on Live Oak Methodist Church Road which eventually turned to gravel and then turned onto another gravel road into the game land. This last road didn't have a name, but there was a sign indicating that this is Suggs Mill Pond Game Land. We parked at a small parking area near a dock leading to the lake. After inflating our kayaks and getting in the water, I realized that I hadn't applied sunscreen, but it was too late now. So we paddled out a bit and turned left to head towards the southern part of the horseshoe.

This part of the lake is more shallow and murky with many cypress trees growing out of the water and bog mats with pitcher plants and other vegetation.

Although the lilly pads were not blooming yet, the pitcher plants were. I had seen them before, but never flowering.

The plants have green umbrella-like flowers with five long petals hanging down.

The new pitchers haven't formed yet (so the plants won't accidentally "eat" pollinators), but we could see the older ones from last year.

We paddled deeper into the swampy area here and continued until we couldn't go any further, getting stuck in a couple spots. Then we turned around and paddled back and over to the northern end of the horseshoe.

The lake is much more open and deeper here, but we did stop a few times to see some more pitcher plants along the edge of the water.

Continuing to the other end, it was more of an open water paddle here without the trees and shallow spots on the other side. Although there were a few instances of running into a submerged tree. And being in a tandem inflatable kayak, we weren't going to fast on the open water. We stopped and ate lunch on our kayaks around here and then paddled back.

After getting out of the water, I realized I had gotten a bit of a sunburn on my arms. Clearly sunscreen is an essential part of kayaking - not something I will forget next time! After packing everything up, we headed back to Raleigh, stopping in Garner for dinner at Outback.