Cass Scenic Railroad

We left Spruce Knob/Seneca Rocks and headed to Cass Scenic Railroad State Park to catch the 12 o'clock train up to Bald Knob.

After going through two switchbacks, the train stopped at Whitaker Station for a short break then headed back up the mountain.

We stopped at Bald Knob for about a half hour and took in the scenic views of the surrounding mountains, then the train headed back down.

It was a very enjoyable train ride with wonderful views.

The weather was fantastic and I think we had the perfect weekend for this trip.

My only complaint about the train ride is the coal smoke. The steam engines are originals from when Cass was a mill town, and the coal-powered engines produced a lot of smoke.

The engine pushes the train uphill, so the smoke was downwind of the train going up, but the opposite going down, so there was a lot of smoke and embers, particularly on the way down. My eyes are still a little red and I've been coughing up ash since I've been back. If I rode the train again, I think I would try to get a seat in the last car, furthest away from the engines.

Fall Foliage in West Virginia

This weekend, we headed up to West Virginia to see the fall foliage. We first stopped at Reddish Knob along the West Virginia/Virginia border and took some pictures at the overlook, then continued on. Our first stop was Seneca Rocks in Spruce Knob/Seneca Rocks National Recreation Area.

We climbed up to the rocks for a quick lunch and spectacular views of the surrounding mountains.

The rocks themselves were quite impressive as well.

Then we headed to North Fork Trail. I bailed about half way through the hike, because it was getting dark and I can't see well in the dark. After we regrouped, we headed to Spruce Knob Lake campground and set up camp. In the morning we headed up to Spruce Knob, the highest point in WV, and walked the short trail around the mountain top for more wonderful views of fall colors in the surrounding mountains.

White Pines and Morrow Mountain

Yesterday, we started our plan to do monthly hikes from Joe Miller's book, 100 Classic Hikes in NC. This month, we tackled hikes 35 and 44. We started with White Pines Nature Preserve, south of Pittsboro. From the parking lot, we hiked the Gilbert Yager Trail to add a little distance to this hike.

Then we turned right onto White Pines Trail and then right again onto the River Trail until we reached the Deep River.

We followed the River Trail to where the Deep and Rocky Rivers meet then turned left to continue along the River Trail along the Rocky River.

At the end, we took the short Schoolkids Trail in a short loop to see the remnants of the Old Cable Bridge. We took the River Trail back up to the White Pines Trail and back to the parking lot to complete this hike.  Then we headed to Morrow Mountain State Park.  We parked at the Horse Trailer parking lot and hiked the Sugarloaf Mountain Trail in the counterclockwise direction until intersecting the Morrow Mountain Trail.

We followed this surprisingly strenuous trail up to the summit of Morrow Mountain.

A short section of this trail has nearly 500 feet of elevation gain in a half mile. At the top we headed over to the scenic overlook for some pictures then took the Mountain Loop Trail around the summit to meet up with the Morrow Mountain Trail to head back down.

It was just as difficult going back down - this time hard on the knees instead of the lungs. When we met back up with the Sugarloaf Trail, we turned right and traveled a while before another steep slope up to the top of Sugarloaf Mountain. We went the opposite direction as suggested by Joe Miller and know I know why he suggested the way he did - the Sugarloaf Trail is much steeper going counterclockwise. At the top of Sugarloaf Mountain, it started to rain a bit, so we quickly headed down the more gradual slope down the mountain and back to the parking lot. Back in Cary, we had beer and wings and celebrated completing the first two of one hundred hikes from the book.

Beach Camping at Bear Island

This weekend, my last before the wedding, I spent camping on Bear Island in Hammocks Beach State Park. Saturday morning, we drove out to the park early, but still just barely missed the 930 ferry to Bear Island and so caught the one at 1030. I stayed on campsite 10, which ended up being quite a good mile and a half walk with all my gear.

After setting up camp, I took a dip in the ocean to cool off and started to explore the island.

At the east end of the island, there were many sea shells and a view of Emerald Isle and Swansboro.

We headed to the western end of the island for dinner and watched the sunset, then headed back to the campsites under a nearly full moon.

I woke up before dawn and headed back to the east end of the island to watch the sun rise.

Then a few more hours of fun in the sun and waves before packing up and taking the ferry back to the mainland.

Quick Stop at DuPont Forest

Sunday morning, we went to DuPont State Forest.  First we made a quick stop to see Hooker Falls.

Then we hiked to see Triple Falls.

Unfortunately, there was no more time and had to head back to Raleigh.