Dusting of Snow on the Eno

We started our hike again this week at West Point on the Eno Park, this time hiking west, following the river upstream.  Despite the warm weather we've had this winter, it was actually snowing today.  The ground was warm so there wasn't much accumulation, but it was definitely coming down when we started.  We crossed Eno on the footbridge and turned left to follow MST westbound.  Near the dam, we had to rock-hop across Crooked Creek, but the water level was pretty low today so it was easy.

It snowed most of the way through West Point park, but there was little accumulation.  Mainly it was on spider webs.

Across Guess Road, we passed into Eno River State Park and the MST followed Laurel Bluffs Trail.  In early May, the mountain laurel along this trail put on quite a show.  The sun came out and any residual snow vanished.  We passed Gebel Rock, a nice overlook at a bend in the river.

We followed the trail to the old Durham Pump Station, where we took a break.

I walked around the ruins of this pump station that provided water to Durham at the turn of the 20th century.

It was in use until 1927 when the city needed a larger system.  It's amazing to see how nature has reclaimed the land.  One section was flooded, but a number of trees were growing out.

Even a maintenance hole had a tree growing out of it.

It was nice and sunny on the hike back.  What a difference a couple hours makes!  I got a couple pictures around the ruins of Guess Mill, shortly before we exited the park.

There's an old home site nearby, but only the chimney and a water pump remain.

The mill stone is right next to the trail, right before it goes up to Guess Road.

From here, we passed back into West Point.  I stopped to see an old chimney along the trail.

It was still cold, but the sun was out.  One little turtle had popped out of the river onto a log to catch the sun's rays.

Soon we were back to the parking lot - just one more hike to finish up the MST in the Triangle.

Easter Hike at Eno River

On Easter, I had scheduled a MST hike along the Eno River, continuing the hikes along the MST in the Triangle since finishing the Falls Lake Trail. Despite the poor forecast and the fact that most of the hikers dropped out, I decided to hike anyway. Driving to Durham, the rain was pretty heavy and I was having second thoughts about the hike, but by the time I got to West Point on the Eno, the rain had lightened to a drizzle. I met up with Jim and Kevin and we headed out, crossing the footbridge over the river and hiking off on the MST.

Almost immediately, we came to a stream crossing right at the dam. Normally, the water level is lower and its easy to rock-hop across, but today the water level was much higher. We walked up and down the creek and found a board leading mostly across the creek and were able to cross there and continued our hike. The rain seemed to really bring out the critters. We saw a couple of toads hanging out in the puddles that had formed on the trail. And we found a deer skull along the trail and a deer ribcage in the river. The rain was lightening up and by the time we reached Guess Road, the rain had completely stopped. Before, we would have had to go up to the street and cross Guess Road, a dangerous crossing, but now there was a path under the bridge and leading up to the road to cross the river on the sidewalk. A good trail safety improvement, so hikers don't have to play Frogger crossing the road. Then, we headed into Eno River State Park. A little ways down the trail, Jim spotted a "red eft", the juvenile stage of an Eastern newt.

He was bright orange in color, with small red spots, and very small. I got a good picture of him, but I should have put a coin or something in the picture for perspective of how small this guy was. A little further on, we saw another crossing the trail and heading into a small stream. And long the trail, there were a ton of may apples, although not in bloom.

A sign, though, that these and other wildflowers will be coming to life soon. We even saw an owl high in a tree along the trail. Wow, the rain really brought the wildlife out!

We stopped at Pump Station and walked around a bit, checking out the ruins, and resting for a short snack, before making our way back. Back in West Point, we saw several turkey vultures perched in the trees near the shore.

So what I was worried would end up being a miserable hike in the rain, turned out to be a fantastic hike in pretty decent weather and great wildlife viewing. Moral of the story - don't give up because of the threat of poor weather; sometimes the bad weather days are the best hikes of all.