Waterfalls at Hanging Rock and Mayo River

On Sunday morning, we woke up to a light rain.  We broke camp quickly and made the short drive to the visitor center at Hanging Rock State Park to begin our hike.  We followed Indian Creek Trail, which is part of the Mountains-to-Sea Trail, downstream.  Our first stop was Hidden Falls, a small waterfall on Indian Creek.

With the recent rain and overcast conditions, it was really looking nice.  Of course it started to downpour as I was getting pictures, so we quickly headed down the trail to Window Falls, where we sought shelter under a rock overhang.

When the rain lightened, I headed down to get some pictures of the waterfall and then we continued on the trail.  Few people hike past Window Falls on Indian Creek Trail, so we didn't expect to see anyone.  It's a really nice trail and there are some really scenic sections along the creek.

After crossing the road, the trail continues, passing an old building and then following a ridgeline high above the creek.  There's an overlook high above the creek, but it's too overgrown to really see down into the gorge.  There were more mountain laurel blooming up here, though.

After the overlook, the trail heads down to creek level with several crossings through a scenic canyon-like area with several creek crossings.

Shortly past this area is the end of the trail.  I hiked the Riverbluffs Trail for a short loop to see the Dan River bluffs from across the river.

There was also some Ohio spiderwort blooming along the trail.

After the loop, we hiked Indian Creek Trail back to the visitor center.  With all the rain, we spotted more red eft newts along the trail.

Fortunately, Alex doesn't seem too interested in amphibians.  Before leaving, we hiked over to see Upper Cascades Falls, but it was too crowded for a picture.  I made a quick stop to see the rock gardens and then we left.

Before leaving Hanging Rock though, we stopped at Lower Cascades, my favorite waterfall in the park.

It was really flowing and the big amphitheater-like rocks surrounding the falls are beautiful.

Then we started making our way home, but wanted to get one more waterfall.  We drove into northern Rockingham County to an undeveloped parcel of Mayo River State Park,  From the pull-off on DeShazo Road, we followed what looked like an old road past wooden stakes indicating state park property.  It was less than a quarter-mile to the top of Fall Creek Falls.

The road basically ended, and we scrambled down to the base of this surprisingly nice waterfall so far east in the state.

We got some pictures and then made the drive home.

Hanging Rock Five Overlooks

On Saturday, we were going to complete the Five Overlooks Challenge at Hanging Rock State Park.  After waking up, we got our stuff together and started hiking the Moore's Wall Loop Trail up to the summit.  It was a steep climb up, but we started early so the temperatures wouldn't be too bad.  Soon we made it to the top and took a short break to enjoy the views.

We met a guy from Winston-Salem up here knew our friend Waterfall Hiker Chris.  Looking west, the Sauratown Mountains were visible, with Sauratown Mountain first and Pilot Mountain in the distance.

I climbed up the lookout tower for the best views.  Also spotted a pretty little American Painted Lady butterfly on the rocks up here.

After some pictures, we continued on the loop trail.  The mountain laurel and rhododendron up here were just beautiful and we stopped frequently for pictures.  Just past the summit of Moore's Knob, there were a ton of rhododendron blooming along Moore's Wall below the summit.

Further on the trail, there was a beautiful spot where both the mountain laurel and rhododendron were blooming together.

We continued on down the mountain, passing some pretty wildflowers, and went left at the split to stay on Moore's Wall Loop Trail.

In a short ways, Sandy jumped at the sight of a snake - and it was a copperhead.  Although they're not aggressive snakes, I don't know if Alex would do and I certainly didn't want him to get bit.  Fortunately, when the snake saw he, he slithered enough off the trail that we could safely pass.

At the next junction, we turned right on Magnolia Springs Trail to start heading back up.  At the ridgeline, we turned right again and made our next stop at House Rock.

There were really nice views from here and we could see the Winston-Salem skyline in the distance.

While Sandy and Alex took I short break, I walked around to get some pictures.  The mountain laurel up here were really beautiful.

Next, we continued on towards Cook's Wall, passing more beautiful mountain laurel.

At the end of the trail, we reached Devils Chimney.  We had lunch here while watching some guys fly a GoPro drone around.

It was pretty hot, so Alex found a shady spot under some rocks to rest.  Heading back, we stopped at the gap between Cooks Wall and Devils Chimney and scrambled down a steep path for a really good view from between the cliffs.

Then we continued to backtrack on Cook's Wall Trail, passing Magnolia Springs Trail and then getting on Wolf Rock Trail.  It was quite crowded at Wolf Rock, so I waited for a large group of scouts to leave so I could get some pictures.

Alex appreciated a little break.  Then we finished up the trail and turned right on Hanging Rock Trail to get our last overlook.  This one is the most popular in the park and was very crowded.  I spotted some fire pink blooming near the summit.

Alex took a little rest while I got some pictures.  Looking west I could see Moore's Knob with the lookout tower just barely visible.

Hanging Rock, the park's namesake is very popular and crowded since it's such a beautiful overhanging rock with great views.

But since it was so crowded, we didn't stay too long.  We headed back down to the visitor center and I got a patch for Alex; the lady at the office said he was only the second dog to receive a patch (after her grand-dog).  From here, it was just another mile on the MST back to camp.  We headed into Danbury and got a pizza to go and then headed to Green Heron Alehouse.  They don't serve food, so Alex was allowed inside.  We ate our pizza and drank beers before heading back to camp.  We built a campfire, but shortly after the sun set, it started raining so we just went to sleep.

Mountain Laurel at Hanging Rock

For the weekend, we took Alex for a camping trip at Hanging Rock State Park.  We left after work on Friday, arriving around 6 in the evening.  Alex was a little anxious after the car ride, so after we set up our tent at site 46, we took Alex for a short hike.  We followed the road towards the lake and took the Lakeshore Path towards the bathhouse.  The lake was really pretty in the late evening light.

Past the bathhouse, we went left at the first split on the Chestnut Oak Nature Trail.  While we didn't see any other people on the trail, we did spot a few amphibians.  A toad was hopping along just off the trail.

And a little further was a red eft eastern newt.

We also started to see a lot of mountain laurel flowering on the trail and even a few rhododendron.

When we got to the next split, we followed Cook's Wall/Wolf Rock Trail up the ridgeline to see even more in bloom as we got higher in elevation. There was also galax flowering - pretty flowers, but a little stinky.

When we got up to the top, we took a short break as it was pretty hot and humid here.  Then we headed down and finished the loop around the lake.

More mountain laurel were blooming and it was a very lovely walk.

We then headed back to camp as the sun was setting and built a nice bonfire before retiring for the evening.

Mother's Day at Ledge Creek Forest

For Mother's Day, I took my mom for a short hike at Ledge Creek Forest Conservation Area, a recently-opened preserve owned by the Tar River Land Conservancy.  It's located between Butner and Creedmoor near the community of Stem.  After parking, we went left and followed the blue-blazed Ledge Creek Trail.  It started out through an open meadow where a few little flowers were growing and it looks like the conservancy is planting pine trees.  The trail then looped around through the woods, eventually heading down towards Ledge Creek.

It's a beautiful little creek and the steep bluffs along it are unexpected way out here in rural Granville County.  I climbed around on the rocks a bit while my mom and Alex waited up on the trail.

Then the trail climbed steeply up the bluffs and leveled off before intersecting the yellow-blazed Pond Trail.  We followed this trail passing by some pretty little farm ponds with a lot of algae growing on the surface.

Where the water was visible, it looked very dark and tannic.

On a little bridge, I got a picture of my mom with Alex, enjoying her Mother's Day hike.  We finished up the loop through another open area where it appears they are planting pine trees.  After our hike, we dropped Alex off and went to lunch.

Bosch Alive

Wednesday was my last day in Berlin.  Most of my colleagues headed to Dessau, but I stayed to continue working in Berlin.  I had seen a sign for Hieronymus Bosch exhibit, so after work I decided to check it out.  I walked over to Alte Münze to see the Bosch Alive exhibit.  It was not like a traditional museum exhibit at all - it seemed more like a rave venue than a museum.  I had to walk around to the back of the building and go through a dark corridor to find the entrance (it was well signed at least).  After paying admission I headed inside.  There were a couple of dark rooms with benches and beanbag chairs in the center.

On all the walls, projections of The Garden of Earthly Delights was shown onto the walls, with the figures from the painting animated and set to music.  It was really cool - I've always loved Bosch and The Garden of Earthly Delights is my favorite work of art.

I watched through the animations and then left.  Afterwards, I headed to Tex-Mex Cantina for dinner and then walked past Museum Island.  It was late so I didn't have a chance to visit the museums, but the buildings were really nice.  The Bode Museum along the river was really scenic.

Heading back towards the hotel, I passed the Berlin Cathedral.

This has to be one of the most beautiful churches I've ever seen, with a nice fountain in front.

There was a service, so I wasn't able to check out the inside.  Then I started heading back towards the hotel, passing through Gendarmanmarkt one more time.

After a few pictures, I headed back to the hotel to pack up for a long flight home in the morning.