Umstead Reopening

North Carolina State Parks, including William B. Umstead State Park, re-opened on May 9th.  Having been closed since late March, I think this was the longest I had gone without visiting Umstead in a decade!  So with the park opening, we got there right at 8 on the Crabtree Creek side of the park.  Hiking on Sycamore Trail, we saw some jack in the pulpit right at the start.

The trail switchbacks down to Pott's Branch and crosses on a footbridge.

Following Pott's Branch for a ways, the trail then crosses a gravel road and begins a gradual ascent through a beautiful forest.

When we came to the split, we went straight and then switchbacked down to Sycamore Creek.  There were some partridgeberry flowering along the trail.

At Graylyn Trail, I got on Company Mill while Sandy and Alex finished Sycamore Trail.  When I got down towards Crabtree Creek, there were some beautiful mountain laurel blooming.

I ran into Pat here and she indicated that Company Mill Trail had been rerouted during the shutdown.  After crossing the bridge over Crabtree Creek, the trail now turns right and gradually climbs the banks above the creek.

It meets back up with the old trail in about 0.3 miles.  I hiked almost to the other parking lot and did a quick loop around Inspiration Trail.

Then I started hiking back, finishing up the Sycamore Trail loop on the way back.  It was good to be back in Umstead!

Umstead Ruins Hike 2019

Saturday, Pete led a Ruins Hike at William B. Umstead State Park, the first one since Rod passed away.  This was always Rod's favorite hike and I know he would be happy knowing the tradition was carried on.  We started at the Reedy Creek side of the park and started off hiking down Company Mill Trail.  A couple rock piles were just off the trail.  The families living here before the park tried to remove the rocks from the soil to improve farming conditions.  Children would help move the rocks after school as part of their chores.  Continuing on down the trail, we next stopped at the Company Mill dam remains along Crabtree Creek.

It was really flowing with the recent rains we had.  The bridge over Crabtree Creek was recently repaired and just opened back up.

We crossed over to the other side and stopped at the mill stone.  A little further was the remains of a bridge that was destroyed in a flood in 1927.  Leaving the trail at this point, we bushwhacked up to the magazine that was used to store explosives during the park's construction.

From here, we got on the old Mill Road and went to the Grissom home site.  Several years ago, Joe Grissom would join us for part of these hikes as he was one of the last people to have been born in what is now the park.

The most impressive foundation was the old chicken coop.  Continuing on Mill Road, we went out to Camp Craggy, a scout camp that operated in the 1920s.

There was a lot of water in the pond.  A solar panel was set up here to power some sort of air monitoring device.  Heading north on another old road, we stopped at the Archie Black home site.  According to Joe, Mr. Black was not a very nice man and he once used his children as mules to till the field.

Not much was left of the home site, but there were the remains of a very cold car, maybe a Model A or Model T and the Champion spark plug sign.  The ruins of an old tobacco barn was not far from here.

Tobacco farming was not successful in this area and the barn lasted less than a year before burning down.  From here, we got on Reedy Creek Trail and stopped at the Teal home site.

Mrs. Teal was an older woman and kids at the time were scared of her.  Joe and his sister were walking by one day and she offered them some apple pie and milk.  They liked her after that.  Her house was painted white, most houses weren't painted.  At Company Mill Trail, we stopped briefly at the Danpierre home site, one of the most wealthy families though not much was left to see.  We took Company Mill Trail down and crossed the Sycamore Bridge.

Following Sycamore Trail, we went up a small tributary where the CCC had build several check dams to reduce erosion.

The old Log Cabin Theater was just above this though not much remains at this spot besides glass bottles.  On Graylyn Trail, we went back down over the bridge and back up to Reedy Creek Trail to start heading back.  Right at the intersection was the Dickinson home site.  This family owned a store in the area.  Past here, we got off to see the old CCC Camp.  An old outhouse was in remarkably good shape.

The headquarters were between Graylyn and Cedar Ridge Trail.

Further down, we went off trail again to see the old water tower.

There were a couple old well holes in the ground.

We made one more stop on the way back to see the bench dedicated to Rod at Reedy Creek Lake.

A fitting end to a hike that he enjoyed so much.

National Take a Hike Day

Saturday was National Take a Hike Day so we took Alex to William B. Umstead State Park for a Hike.  It was a little chilly but had dried out after a very wet week and it was very pleasant hiking weather.  Hiking on Sycamore Trail, we descended to Pott's Branch, which had a lot more water than usual.

Most of the leaves were down, but the creek was really pretty on an autumn morning.  Where the trail split, we went straight and switchbacked down to Sycamore Creek.  A short detour led to the dam below Sycamore Lake.

In the high water, there was a nice waterfall flowing down.  We took a little break here so Alex could enjoy the views.

Back on the trail, we continued following Sycamore Creek downstream then back up the ridge.  At the Graylyn Trail crossing, we made a quick stop to see the chainsaw art.

The loop ended just past here and we finished the trail back to the car.

Wake County Wildflowers

Sunday morning, I headed out to check out the wildflowers locally.  Being mid-April, they should really be popping.  My first stop was the Reedy Creek entrance to William B. Umstead State Park to hike Company Mill Trail.  There were a lot of spring beauties flowering along the trail, especially where it followed the creek closely.

Along Crabtree Creek, there were a couple spots where Pinxter azaleas were blooming over the creek.

I also spotted a great blue heron fishing in Crabtree Creek.

It had been raining when I drove in this morning, but the sun had come out and it had become a beautiful day.

After finishing up the trail, I headed into Cary to Hemlock Bluffs Nature Preserve.  First I hiked down to the East Hemlock Overlook to see the massive old trees for which the area is named.

Normally found in the mountains, Eastern hemlock live here due to the microclimate of the steep north-facing bluffs.  Continuing down the stairs, I hiked the Swift Creek loop.  Down in the floodplain of the creek, a lot of spring beauties were blooming.

I spotted this wildflower, maybe a sorrel, right at the end of the boardwalk.

Further on the loop, I also spotted some wild geranium.

Then I hiked the other loops before finishing up.

But I had one more place I wanted to stop before finishing, so made the short drive over to Swift Creek Bluffs Nature Preserve.  This preserve is small at only 23 acres, but big on wildflowers.  There were a ton of wild geranium blooming right near the trailhead.

I got on the Swift Creek Loop and saw a couple atamasco lilies, one of my favorite wildflowers.

Hiking up along the creek, I saw lots of spring beauty blooming right along the creek.

A lot of star chickweed as well, but none of the geranium by the creek.

I also saw an Eastern Comma butterfly next to the creek.

After hiking along Swift Creek, I took the Stairway to Heaven up past the huge beech trees.

It's finally gotten warmer out and I was feeling it climbing up the stairs.  The steep bluffs feel really out of place for being right in Cary, but once at the top, houses are visible - a reminder of the preserve's suburban location.  After finishing up, I hiked back to the car, stopping one more time to see the beautiful geranium.

Swift Creek Bluffs is definitely a great local place to see spring wildflowers.

Chainsaw Art

Saturday, Sandy and I took Alex for a hike at William B. Umstead State Park.  From the last parking area on the Crabtree Creek side of the park, we went down towards the boat house and then hiked along the gravel roads to Reedy Creek Multi-Use Trail.  From here, we followed the multi-use trails to make a big loop around the park.  As we were finishing up on Graylyn Trail, we went left a short ways to see the chainsaw art.

After a large red oak had fallen, two artists from Gatlinburg, Tennessee came out and used chainsaws to make a beautiful sculpture from the enormous downed tree.  It's hard to believe such intricate detail could be carved with a chainsaw.

We got some pictures and then took Sycamore Trail back to the start.

April Flowers in Umstead

For April Fools' Day, Sandy and I took Alex to William B. Umstead State Park for a lovely spring hike - no fooling!  Alex got to try out his new doggy backpack.

It rained a bit yesterday, but today was just beautiful.  We parked at the Glenwood side of the park and started hiking Sycamore Trail.  There were several spots where we saw flowering dogwoods blooming in the forest.

At the split, we turned left and crossed Graylyn Multi-Use Trail and then descended down to Sycamore Creek.  There were lots of wildflowers blooming along the creek, including Green-and-Gold and Star Chickweed.

When the trail came back to Graylyn Trail, I split off to hike the Company Mill Loop and see some more wildflowers along Crabtree Creek.  It was getting a little warm for Alex so he and Sandy headed back.  And sure enough, there were lots of spring beauty blooming along Crabtree Creek.

Then I started heading back.  On the last stretch of Sycamore Creek, there were some nice patches of azure bluets blooming.

Then I made my way back to the car to finish up my hike.