Yadkin Valley Hikes

Saturday morning, we left the mountain section of Pilot Mountain State Park and headed to the Yadkin River section.  This section would be much less crowded on a nice Saturday.  We parked at the Corridor Trail parking on Hauser Road and started along Yadkin Islands Trail to Yadkin River Park Road.  Hiking along the road, there were a lot of wildflowers blooming.

There were some real big patches of daisies.

At the picnic area, we got on Horne Creek Trail and followed its namesake downstream.

More wildflowers blooming along this trail as well.

Bladder sedge, green-and-gold and a lot of jack in the pulpit.

The ones here, as seems to be typical in the Piedmont, were green and white as opposed to the green and black seen in the mountains.

After a mile or so, the trail crossed the railroad tracks and followed along Yadkin River.

There were a lot of spiderwort flowering along the river.

There were a number of blackberry bushes as well.

At the end of the trail we got on Bean Shoals Canal Trail and had a view of the river and islands on the other side.

There were some American strawberry bush flowering, but they had not yet produced the showy berries.

We followed the river further downstream on Bean Shoals Canal Trail.

The trail followed the remains of the canal construction.  In the 1820s, a project to build a canal around the shoals was started but never completed.

We followed the trail to the end past the shoals.

On the way back, we took Yadkin Islands Trail to make a loop back.

From here, we drove to Elkin and parked along Main Street so Alex could get another hike for #MST40hikes.

We followed Main Street and picked up Elkin & Alleghany Rail Trail following Big Elkin Creek upstream.  There was a dam right at the start.

The trail then led through Elkin Municipal Park and then led under highway 268.

After this point, the trail became a little more rustic.

There was another scenic dam on the creek here.

The trail crossed the creek on a footbridge and then led past the reservoir.  I scrambled down to the creek for a view.

From here, the trail followed a private gravel road out to Collins Road, where we turned around.  Hiking back to the start, we stopped at Angry Troll Brewing for dinner.

After dinner, we headed back to camp and I took a hike on Grindstone Trail up towards the top.  There were some nice mountain laurels blooming on the hike up.

Closer to the top, I saw some dwarf bristly locust flowers.

At the summit parking, I went out to the Little Pinnacle Overlook for an evening view of Pilot Mountain.

Then I hiked back down.

Sandy had started a campfire and hung around the fire for a while before going to bed.

Triad MST Hikes

Friday, we took Alex for a camping weekend at Pilot Mountain.  We left Friday morning and first stopped at Cascades Preserve northwest of Greensboro.  This would be Alex's 15th hike for #mst40hike.

After parking, the trail picked up across the street and headed into the woods.  At about a half mile, a footbridge crossed a little tributary and split to form a loop.  Turning left, there was a little overlook.

There was too much foliage to see much from here.  We did spot some phlox growing along the trail.

The trail then passed into the next drainage.  The intermittent stream had a number of cascades for which the preserve is named.

The water level was low and lighting was poor, but it was a scenic little spot.  I'd like to return in better conditions.

Just past here, a rope crossing led to Kayauwee Trail, a short spur.

We also followed the MST out to Haw River Road and back before finishing up our hike here.

Next, we headed to Tory's Den at Hanging Rock State Park so Alex could complete another hike for #MST40hike.

We got on Tory's Den Trail to follow the MST eastbound, a steady climb up until we reached Huckleberry Ridge.

From here, it leveled off until Moore's Wall Loop Trail, where MST turned left and began a steep climb.  As we got higher in elevation, we started seeing the rhododendrons blooming.

Soon the trail got to the ridgeline and was more gradual up to the top, passing by some cool rock outcrops.

At Moore's Knob, we took the short spur up to the summit.

I climbed the lookout tower and could see the visitor center and lake down below.

Heading down from here, there were some dwarf bristly locust flowering.

We followed Moore's Wall Trail down to the lake, the end of the hike.  Alex was pretty tired by this point, so Sandy waited with him at the lake while I ran back to the car and picked them up.

Then we headed towards Pilot Mountain and got barbecue for dinner at All Sauced Up.  Then we drove to Pilot Mountain State Park and checked into site 9 at the campground.  After setting up, we built a nice fire and then went to bed.

Fairy Stones!

Sandy had Saturday off, so we took Alex for a day hike up in Virginia at Fairy Stone State Park.  First, we stopped at the main trailhead and got on Little Mountain Falls Trail.  We started to see some wildflowers along the trail.

A lot of foamflower and green-and-gold were blooming.

In about 1.5 miles, we came to Little Mountain Falls.

It's a small waterfall on a very small stream, but made a scenic spot to stop and take a break.

After a break, we continued on the trail and spotted more wildflowers.

A few dwarf crested irises were still in bloom.

Near the top, we came to Blue Ridge Overlook.  The view was partially obscured so we just stopped for a picture and continued on.

It was mostly downhill from here to finish up the loop.  Some bluets were still blooming along the trail.

After finishing our first hike, we stopped at the visitor center to buy a couple fairy stones in case we had no luck hunting.  Then we drove to the Stuarts Knob Trailhead for another hike.  We started off on the Iron Mine Trail and immediately came to the first of several old mines in this area.

They are sealed off but an interesting glimpse into the area's past.  We then got on Whiskey Run Trail and found a showy orchis.

A little further was another old mine.  Although sealed off, I got peer through the gate for a picture.

The trail made a loop around Stuart's Knob, passing an old quarry and ending at the Beach Overlook.

From here, we got on Upper Stuart's Knob Trail to Lower Stuart's Knob Trail.  A short spur led to Bull Mountain Overlook.

We then looped back around to Iron Mine Trail and took another spur to the last mine.

Right past here, was a nice spot with a number of wildflowers blooming.

Fire pink and green-and-gold made for a colorful show.

We then finished our hike up back at the parking area.

Before heading home, we stopped at the Fairy Stone Pit Stop to hunt for fairy stones.  This seems to be the most popular spot in the park and the only area that was crowded.  We roamed around in the woods and found a spot to search for fairy stones.  In about a half-hour, we managed to find about a dozen of the little stones, then started making our way back home.