Valley of Fire

The last week of October, Sandy and I headed to the US southwest for a week in Zion.  We flew out Saturday morning from RDU on Frontier Airlines.  It was our first time flying them, but everything went smoothly and the flight attendants were very friendly.  Even after paying for bags and seat upgrades, it was a lot cheaper than other airlines and we got direct flights.  Our flights even arrived a bit early to Las Vegas at about 930.  After getting our luggage, we headed to the rental car center.  Avis upgraded our reservation and we got a convertible Mustang for the week.  From Las Vegas, we got on I15 north for about 30 minutes and got off for Valley of Fire Road.  The road heads through some remote desert terrain before entering Valley of Fire State Park after about 15 miles.  After paying the admission fee, we continued east and turned left on White Domes Road at the visitor center.  We drove almost to the end, parking at the third parking area after Fire Canyon Road at the trailhead for Fire Wave Trail.  After getting our stuff together, we crossed the street to pick up the trail.  Right at the start, the desert views here were just great with gorgeous red rock mountains all around.

It was a totally different environment than what we're used to hiking in.  No trees and sparse plant life, though there were many cacti, creosote bushes and other desert flora.

The sandy trail descended down towards the base of Gibraltar Rock then south and east around the mountain.  Gibraltar Rock stood out like a monolith and was visible along the entire hike.

After passing around the mountain, the trail then headed southeast across open desert and the rocks began to show the red and white stripes of Fire Wave.

Soon we made it to the Fire Wave, a beautiful area of candy-striped white and red rock that resembled a fiery wave.

It was just amazing that the rocks could naturally be so colorful.

Sandy found a small cave where we could relax in for a few minutes to avoid the desert sun - no trees means no shade.  After a break, we started heading back.

Back at the car, we drove the rest of the way to the end of White Domes Road and the trailhead for White Domes Loop.  From the trailhead, we hiked south to do the loop in the clockwise direction.  The trail initially descended down a gorge between the colorful mountains.

The rocks and mountains here were so colorful and the Aztec sandstone had eroded into some amazing formations.

Soon we came to the site where the ruins of a rock wall were visible - part of the set from the 1966 movie The Professionals.

Valley of Fire is a very popular filming location.  The trail then turned west and led through a dry slot canyon on Kaolin Wash, known as the Narrows.

True to its name, it was very narrow.  The trail then turned north passing by more interesting rock formations.

We started to hike through more open desert with White Domes to our right.  The rocks became more eroded as we continued.

Soon, we began to spot some rock windows that we could see completely through.

One of these windows was quite large - eventually this will erode into an arch.

Finally, the trail started to loop back around, passing a small cave in the mountain.

Past here the trail came back out at the road and we made our way back to the car.

From here, we drove back down White Domes Road, making a quick stop at the visitor center.  While Sandy used the facilities and bought some drinks, I hiked out to the Balancing Rock for some pictures.

The trail is only about a tenth of a mile.  I walked around a bit to view the Balancing Rock from different angles.

From the far side, it doesn't appear to be balancing, but the rock had a bunch of holes eroded in it.  Hiking back, I could see the half-moon over Valley of Fire.

It was a beautiful scene.  We met back up at the visitor center and continued heading east.  We made a quick stop at Seven Sisters, seven large rock monoliths.

I couldn't find a good spot to view all of them and there were many people here picnicking.  The picnic shelters here distracted from the scene and it didn't seem appropriate to have them.  Continuing east, we made one last stop just before the east entrance to the park.  As we got on the Elephant Rock Trail, I spotted a rock that resembled a dragon.

The light was in just the right angle to illuminate the "mouth" and look like it was breathing fire.  Just past here, we went left to hike the loop in the clockwise direction. We passed Elephant Rock shortly but the view from the trail wasn't great.

I did find a cool view spot between two rocks.

From there, the trail ran right next to the road for a while before looping back through the desert.  The sun was getting lower in the sky and the moon was clearly visible.

The rocks around here were really eroded with many holes and small caves.

This part of the loop trail was also the Old Arrowhead Road Trail and was quite scenic.

After completing the loop, I went back to Elephant Rock and managed to find a better view.

It was just amazing how much this rock arch resembled an elephant.  It was getting late, close to sunset so we found a nice spot to watch the sun dip below the mountains.

But the park closes at official sunset, so we headed back to the car and left the park.

Driving into Overton, we checked into the North Shore Inn and had dinner across the street at La Fonda.  It was a long day, so went to bed shortly after dinner.

Robertson Millpond

Saturday was a beautiful fall day, so we decided to take our kayaks out and go to Robertson Millpond Preserve.  We arrived around 930 and put in at the dock.  Park staff have installed numbered buoys to mark a paddle trail through the swamp.  The last time we visited, about a year ago, the buoys went up to 37, at which point we had to turn around.  Now, they've made a complete loop going all the way up to #73.  The weather was just perfect and the pond was so scenic.

Sandy was excited to kayak since we haven't been in a while, so we went around the loop rather quickly.  Since it's just over a mile, we continued on another partial loop, going a lot slower so we could enjoy the views and get some pictures.

The bald cypress trees here are really beautiful and so unexpected to find them here in Wake County.  I even found some Spanish moss.

We went about a quarter of the way through the loop then slowly made out way back.

Foggy Day at Elk Knob and Mt. Jefferson

Sunday morning, I headed to Elk Knob State Park, arriving at 8.  It was very cloudy and lightly drizzling, but I didn't actually get rained on.  I started on the Summit Trail, heading up the mountain.

The trail is a little steep, gaining about 1000 feet in under 2 miles, but switchbacks keep the slope reasonable.  There was an overlook about two-thirds of the way up the mountain, but visibility was only a few feet.

At the top of the mountain, it was even cloudier.  I first went to the South View; on a clear day, I could see Roan Mountain and Grandfather Mountain, but today, I could barely see the shrubs right in front of me.

The actual summit of the mountain is at the North View and not much to see here either.

So I headed back down the mountain.  At the trailhead, I took the short Maple Run Trail to Beech Tree Trail and hiked the short loop.  Despite the dreary weather, the trail was really scenic in the fog.

Then I took the Backcountry Trail down towards the campsites.  The first part was very steep until I reached the headwaters of North Fork New River - it was barely a trickle up here.  I continued on to Mine Branch and then hiked back out.  At one spot near the park boundary, a break in the trees provided nice views of fall colors on an adjacent ridge.

After crossing North Fork, it was a gruelingly steep climb back up, much steeper than the Summit Trail as there were no switchbacks.

Back at the car, I left Elk Knob and headed to Mount Jefferson State Natural Area.  It's been a while since I've visited and since my last visit, they built a trail from the park entrance up to the top of the mountain.  So I parked at the visitor center and started hiking up the Mountain Ridge Trail.  The trail switchbacked up and came out at the road near Sunrise Overlook.  There was no seeing the sunrise or anything else from here today.  I missed the turn and just walked the road up to the next overlook - Jefferson Overlook.

I couldn't see much from the overlook, but did find where to pick up the trail on the way down.  It was really hard to find the trail going the other way, so I again walked the road up to the upper parking lot.  With the cloudy weather, I didn't have to worry about much traffic.  At the picnic area, I took the Summit Trail up to the top, where there is a radio tower.  The summit of Mount Jefferson is here, but not much to see.  So I hiked along the Rhododendron Trail following a ridge along the summit.

The trail itself was quite scenic in the foggy weather.  Near the end, I went out to Luther Rock.

There certainly wasn't much to see so I finished up the Rhododendron Trail loop and started heading back down.  At the end of the parking area, I picked up the Mountain Ridge Trail heading back down.  It's easy to follow going down.  Near Jefferson Overlook, I had to climb down some rocks and there was no indication that this was the trail at the base - it would be really hard to find coming up.  I picked the trail back up at Jefferson Overlook and followed it back down the mountain.  Driving home the rain picked up, but I managed to miss the rain for my entire hike.

Fall Color along Tanawha Trail

Saturday, I headed to the mountains of the High Country for some early fall colors.  I left around 530, taking US-421 to the Blue Ridge Parkway at Deep Gap.  Driving south on the parkway, I parked at Beacon Heights.  I picked up the Tanawha Trail/Mountains-to-Sea Trail across the street and turned left to hike away from Beacon Heights, going eastbound on MST.  After crossing US-221, I came to Stack Rock Creek.

A footbridge crossed the creek, just below the parkway bridge.  I climbed up the rocks for a view of the bridge - it was very foggy but could still spot some fall colors.

Just past the bridge were some cool cliffs just below the parkway.

Continuing on, it was less than a mile to the Linn Cove Viaduct Visitor Center.  A short paved trail led to underneath the viaduct.

Although I've driven over the viaduct many times, this was my first time hiking beneath.  It is truly an engineering marvel.  The trail crossed under the viaduct and ran parallel next to some enormous cliffs.

It was a very rocky and scenic stretch of trail.

After climbing up a bit, the trail leveled off and I headed towards Wilson Creek.  Just before the parking area, was a balanced rock that looked like it could slide down the mountain at any moment.

A spur trail led below the bridge over Wilson Creek to the parking area.

A footbridge led across the creek for the Tanawha Trail.

Wilson Creek starts below Callaway Peak and here at the headwaters, it was barely a trickle.

The trail passed a rocky section and then gradually started heading up towards Rough Ridge.

I hadn't seen too many other people up to this point, but Rough Ridge was really crowded.  And for good reason - the colors up here were beautiful even if it wasn't the nicest weather.  Coming up from Wilson Creek, I came out at the top point of the overlook.

Unfortunately, the cloudy weather prevented good long-distance views from up here.

And from here, it started getting really crowded.  The fall colors made a break to let people pass enjoyable.

Further down the ridge, the views of Linn Cove Viaduct from a distance were great.

The whole area around Rough Ridge really had great color, and it was beautiful even in the poor weather.

But it was only at high elevations, almost all green at lower elevations.

The climb back down was crowded, but once past the Rough Ridge Trailhead, I didn't see too many more people.  I was surprised to see some nice wildflowers blooming.

In another half-mile or so, a spur trail led down to the parkway at Boulder Field Overlook.  Across the road, there were distant views of the viaduct.

It really put the hike in perspective.  Continuing on, I saw several more types of wildflowers blooming along the trail.

I went about another 2.5 miles to the intersection with Daniel Boone Scout Trail.  I took a break here and had lunch, then started making my way back.  This section of the trail was very peaceful and I didn't see anyone else for miles.

The weather had cleared a bit so I stopped for a few more pictures at Rough Ridge.

The summit of Grandfather Mountain was still hidden by clouds but it was a bit clearer than when I had passed a few hours earlier.

But there were a lot of people here now, so I didn't stay too long.

I made a quick stop at the summit, but the colors weren't as good as from the main overlook.

When I was almost back to the car, I took the short Beacon Heights Trail up to the overlook.  The rocky peak overlooks were separated by a forested section.  I went to the northern overlook first.

Looking west towards Grandfather Mountain, there was a lot of color at high elevations.

Looking east towards the Piedmont, not so much.

At the southern overlook, I had a nice view looking south towards Linville Gorge, with Table Rock just barely visible.

After some pictures, I headed back to the car and stopped for a view of the parkway before departing.

There were a lot more cars here than when I arrived in the morning.