Little Lick Creek

Today was a beautiful day for a hike on the Falls Lake Trail.  Every year, I hike the Falls Lake and Eno River sections of the Mountains-to-Sea Trail (Segment 10).  And today we hiked section 14, one of my favorite sections from Baptist Road in Rolling View Recreation Area, part of Falls Lake State Recreation Area, to Little Lick Creek.  It was chilly when we started but warmed up nicely. Near the end of the trail, we crossed the bridge over Little Lick Creek and then the boardwalk to dry land on the other side.  We stopped for a break on the boardwalk, before making our hike back.

The bridge and boardwalk are relatively new, having been constructed in the winter of 2011-2012.  With the bridge in place, the Falls Lake Trail was complete, almost 60 miles in total through north Raleigh and Durham.

In the fall of 2011, I made it out to this site before the bridge was constructed.  There had been another bridge that burned out long ago, and just the burnt pilings remain.  Here's an old picture from before the bridge was constructed (and the water level was a lot lower).

After crossing, we headed back.

Winter Hike at Stone Mountain

Last Saturday, Sandy had the day off, so we headed to the mountains for a winter day trip. Our destination was Stone Mountain State Park at the edge of the Blue Ridge Escarpment. We left around 7, arriving at the park around 930. After parking at the Upper Trailhead, we started off on the Stone Mountain Loop Trail in the counterclockwise direction. Turning, right at the split, we headed up to the summit of the park’s namesake. It was very cloudy and foggy so as we hiked up the mountain, we knew there weren’t going to be any great sweeping views.

But the dreary weather and fog made for a spooky atmosphere and it's nice to enjoy the park in a different setting. We stopped for a bit at the summit but didn’t spend too much time here as we couldn’t see much.

Just past the summit, we followed a short path to the other side of the mountain. The views weren’t any better here, but there were a few patches of residual snow.

Then we headed back down the mountain towards the Lower Trailhead Parking. At the parking area, we followed the road about a mile to Widows Creek Falls. I had been here before several years ago, but it was Sandy’s first visit. The water level was quite low.

Despite this, the waterfall was really cool – the rock face that water flowed over looked like a skull (albeit with just one eye socket). In normal water flows, it’s obscured, but today it was really obvious.

I scrambled down to the lower cascades, for some pictures from a different angle and then we ate lunch here, before following the road back to the Stone Mountain Loop Trail. Back on the main trail, we almost immediately turned right to get on the Wolf Rock Trail and followed this out to its namesake overlook.

The views weren’t great due to the fog, but still we could see the edge of the Blue Ridge Escarpment covered in dense fogs. Continuing on the trail, Sandy spotted a little sapling covered in water droplets - it was quite photogenic.

We also stopped at the remains of an old hunting lodge.

Continuing to the end of this Wolf Rock Trail, we made a short detour to Cedar Rock. This overlook has probably the best views of Stone Mountain, even covered in clouds.

Then we backtracked to the intersection and hiked the Blackjack Ridge Trail. Following the ridge down, the trail loops back towards Cedar Rock, we could see both that and Stone Mountain from the trail.

Especially in the winter when the leaves are down, the monolith just towers over everywhere else in the park. At the end of the trail, we went backwards on Stone Mountain Loop Trail to check out Hutchinson Homestead then continued back towards the start.

We took the Middle Falls/Lower Falls Trail to follow Big Sandy Creek downstream and made a detour on the spur trail to see Middle Falls. This one is not too impressive in low water, but we scrambled down for a picture or two.

There was one nice cascade above the main drop that I stopped for a picture of.

Then we continued on the main trail. At the end, it meets up with the Out-and-Back Bridle Trail. But there was no Lower Falls. After the fact, I realized that Lower Falls is further down on the bridle trail. But that trail didn’t exist the last time I was here. It’s not the most exciting waterfall anyway, I’ve been here before, so we just gave up and headed back. Back on the Stone Mountain Loop Trail, there were several spots to stop and see some very scenic cascades along Big Sandy Creek.

And soon we made it to Stone Mountain Falls. The water level was low, but this is still an impressive waterfall.

While we were there, a guy proposed to his girlfriend in front of the falls, and Sandy and I were reminded of our engagement at Hebron Colony Falls many years ago. Then we climbed the many steps up to the top and headed back to the car to finish up our hike. On the way home, we stopped for barbeque at Little Richards in Yadkinville.

Royal Palm & Flamingo

Friday, we had planned to go snorkeling at John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park.  Due to unfavorable weather, the trip was cancelled so, we instead went back to Everglades, entering at the main entrance just west of Homestead.  We first stopped at the Ernest F. Coe Visitor Center, where a ranger suggested we head to Royal Palm.  Arriving here, all the cars were covered in tarps.

Apparently, the resident black vultures attack cars and try to remove windshield wipers and weather stripping.  There were no bungee cords left, but we were able to wrap the rental car with a tarp and close it in the car doors.

Once the car was secure, we started hiking the Anhinga Trail – a short boardwalk with lots of wildlife.  Anhingas, the trail’s namesake, are very interesting birds with a long pointed beak used to spear prey.  We spotted one anhinga with an impaled fish on his beak.

Now that he had caught his prey, he needed to get it off so he could eat it.  Near here was a beautiful strangler fig right along the trail.

Further along we spotted a number of alligators as well as cormorants, herons, and vultures.

The open views of the Taylor Slough were just beautiful.

After finishing the short boardwalk, we then hiked the Gumbo Limbo Trail.  Although both trail are right next to each other, they each explore a different landscape.  While the Anhinga Trail lead through an open swampy area, the Gumbo Limbo Trail was through a dense hardwood hammock.  There were several of the distinctive red-orange trees for which the trail is named.

Once we finished the trail, we headed back to the main road and continued towards Flamingo.  Our next stop was the Pinelands, another short interpretive trail that led through an “island” of pine forest.

We heard lots of birds in here, but the forest was too dense for a good view.  We also spotted some Bahama Senna blooming right along the trail.

Then we continued to Pay-Hay-Okee Overlook with great views of the River of Grass.  Pay-hay-okee is a Seminole word for "grassy waters" and we had a nice view of the Shark River Slough from the elevated observation tower.

On the short walk back, we passed through a cypress swamp.  It's just amazing how different ecosystems lie so close together.

By this time, it was getting later in the day and we were hungry so we continued to Flamingo and had lunch at Buttonwood Café.  It was damaged in a hurricane and there wasn’t a lot of seating, so we were seated with a German couple for lunch.  After lunch, we hiked the Guy Bradley Trail along Florida Bay to the campground.

Near the entrance to the campground was an impressive nest with two ospreys.

And a number of black vultures were drying their wings.

After some pictures, we made our way back and departed the Everglades.  We had dinner in Homestead at Sake Sushi and Thai and then got packed for a flight home in the morning.

Back to the Mainland

Thursday morning, we woke up again before sunrise.  The views were beautiful, but the bugs were back.  Dave made another great breakfast of French toast and cinnamon buns and then we broke down camp.  At low tide, the water was too far out to easily get in our boats.

So we waited and enjoyed the beach for an hour or so.  As the tide came in, we started paddling back.  Dave took us a different way back and we spotted some dolphins and pelicans on the way.  We stopped at an island near the beginning of Indian Key Pass for lunch.  It would be a lot easier going back in as we would be going with the tide instead of against it.  And sure enough, we were back to the Gulf Coast Visitor Center in no time.  We unpacked the kayaks and helped Dave load everything in his van and then said good-bye to our new friends.  Sandy and I headed back towards Miami on US-41 and then went south to Homestead, checking in to the Hampton Inn.  A shower felt so great after camping and swimming in salt water the past two nights.

Ten Thousand Islands

Wednesday, we woke up around sunrise and the bugs were back.  Sandy and I stayed in our tent for a while and watched the raccoons out on the beach.

All food was safely stored in the kayaks, so the raccoons headed into the surf to look for crabs for breakfast.  Since there’s no freshwater on the island, they would drink dew off leaves.  As the sun rose in the sky, the bugs died down and Dave made a great breakfast of eggs and bacon. After eating, we started our paddling tour of the Ten Thousand Islands.  We first headed northwest to Round Key.  It was low tide so a sandbar was sticking out where a number of pelicans and gulls were resting.

After a short break, our next destination was Camp Lulu Key, where we would eat lunch.  Surprisingly, there was a building here.

Apparently, someone came out with a boat and built a house here.  The park service let him squat for a while before finally kicking him out.  The house was all boarded up, but the porch made a nice spot for lunch.

The beach was really pretty here, with one side facing the open waters of the Gulf of Mexico and the other looking deep into the Ten Thousand Islands.

After lunch, we continued our paddling.  Dave led us through a mangrove tunnel, hoping to find some roseate spoonbills, but no luck.  We spotted a manatee from a distance but too far for a picture.  We then continued back to Picnic Key.  While swimming off our beach, I saw a fish apparently jump really high in the air.  We had seen lots of jumping fish – mullets, I believe – but they only jumped a foot or two in the air.  This one must have been six to eight feet.  Just as he crashed back to the water, a dolphin popped out and ate him.  The fish hadn’t jumped that high – I think the dolphin knocked him out of the water.  For dinner, Dave made jambalaya with sausage and shrimp. Since the bugs were pretty bad the night before, we gathered some driftwood to make a bonfire, which helped quite a bit.

We enjoyed one last sunset from Picnic Key and stayed close to the bonfire to keep the bugs away.  Once they died down, we went for another evening walk on the beach.

With a new moon and no light pollution, the views of the stars were fantastic.  Then we headed to bed.  With the fire built below the high tide line, the waves washed all trace away.