Falls Lake Trail to Little Lick Creek

Saturday, we took Alex to get his next hike for the MST 40 Hike Challenge, Hike 22 - Falls Lake Trail from Rolling View to Little Lick Creek.

We parked at the hiker lot at Rolling View Recreation Area in Falls Lake State Recreation Area and took the spur trail to Falls Lake Trail and turned left to hike Section 14.  Shortly after leaving state park land, we crossed an intermittent stream and there were nice winter views of the lake.

We passed a nice little beach and went down to the shore line.

Continuing on, we came to a private gravel road at about 3 miles and crossed a tributary and then back into the woods.

Right past here, we spotted the remains of some old cars off the trail.

At the end, we crossed the bridge and the boardwalk and took a break at the bench.  I ran up to Jimmy Rogers Road and then we headed back.  We made a detour on an old road out to the lake.

Then we made the hike back.  I took a detour through Rolling View before heading back.

Down Roseboro Loop

Monday morning, we woke up early and broke camp.  Before leaving Jones Lake State Park, we took one more hike.  We took the Bay Trail and then turned onto the Mountains-to-Sea Trail into Bladen Lakes State Forest.  Hiking about a mile along J.C. Butler Trail and Salters Lake Trail, it was scenic in the early morning.

There were a number of longleaf pine saplings growing along the trail.

After a mile or so, we turned back and left the park.

Heading home, we made a stop in Roseboro for the #MST40Hike hike 27, Downtown Roseboro Loop.

We parked near the Community Garden and hiked down Roseboro Street.

At Broad Street, we turned right and passed by two houses on the National Register of Historic Places.  The first was the Dan E. Caison Sr. House, a bungalow.

Near the end, was the Troy Herring House, an impressive three-story home.

We turned right on Railroad Street to make a loop.  On the way, we passed the Brick Cone Silo.  It was part of the Herring Lumber Company's operation.

The company was founded by Troy Herring who built the home we had passed in 1912.  We returned to the car right after that.

We made one more stop before heading home at Mitchell Mill State Natural Area.  From the parking area, we hiked down a cool granite outcrop along Little River.

We hiked along the granite downstream along the river.

There were some scenic little cascades along the river.

There was a trail that followed the river further downstream to the dam, all that remains of Mitchell Mill.

I bushwhacked down the river left side, but there was no place I could find for a good view.

Then we hiked back to the car.

It was a short drive home from here.

Singletary & Jones Lakes

Sunday morning, we had breakfast and headed to Singletary Lake State Park.  Starting off on the CCC Loop Trail, we headed to the pier.

I went out on the pier for some nice morning views of the lake.

Continuing on the trail, interpretive signs described various theories for the formation of Carolina bays.  Meteor showers, underground springs, limestone sinkholes, wind action and even spawning fish have been proposed, though no one theory can fully explain them.  The lower loop portion ended by the lake drain.

Here, we went north on got on the Mountains-to-Sea Trail as it followed a sandy road.

The sand along the road was yellow in color, but just off the trail, the sand was very white, almost looked like snow.

MST continued beyond the park as Singletary Lake Trail in Bladen Lakes State Forest.

We hiked as far as NC-53 then turned around.  Back in the park, we tried to finish up the CCC loop, but it was flooded where it crossed the lake drain.

So we just hiked back to the car.

From here, we headed back to Jones Lake State Park for another hike.  We were hoping to hike the entire way around Bay Trail, but it was closed north of the visitor center.  So we hiked the other way on Bay Trail.

Just past the split for Salters Lake, Bay Trail was closed so we took the Service Road out to NC-242 and walked the road back.  Hike 29 for #MST40Hike was from Jones Lake to Turnbull Creek Educational State Forest.

So we turned on Sweet Home Church Road to hike out to the entrance to the forest and then back to Jones Lake.  There's an off-road trail between the two, but its currently closed due to an out bridge.

We went into Elizabethton for dinner again and made it back to camp before sunset.

We headed out to the pier and boathouse for a wonderful sunset view over the lake.

The sky really lit up in gorgeous fiery colors and reflected brilliantly against the lake.

Once darkness set in, it was another chilly night and we built a nice campfire to stay warm.

Bay Tree Lake

For the holiday weekend, we took Alex out to the Bladen Lakes area for a weekend of hiking and camping around the Carolina Bays.  Our first stop was at Harmony Hall Plantation in White Oak for hike #28, Old Cape Fear Countryside, on the Mountains-to-Sea Trail 40 Hike Challenge with Alex.

Harmony Hall is one of the oldest residences in North Carolina, built before the Revolutionary War.

The house itself is only open limited hours, but there are several other historical old buildings on the property.

The chapel and small bell tower were particularly pretty.

Most of these buildings were from elsewhere in the area and moved here to be incorporated in the historical site.  The Brisson-Guyton Cabin looked like it had seen better days.

The last building as we got to the road was the General Store, also only open with limited hours.

At this point, we turned right to hike down River Road going east.  At NC-53, we turned left.

Out turnaround point was at the White Oak Post Office at Gum Spring Road.

Mountains-to-Sea Trail continues along this road towards Suggs Mill Pond, but this was the end of the Old Cape Fear Countryside hike.

From here, we drove to Bay Tree Lake State Natural Area, a satellite of Singletary Lake State Park.  A small parking area was along NC-41 and there were several miles of trails around the preserve.

There's no map available, but the trails make a big loop around the park.  I realized about half way through that the trails would not lead out to the lake.  So we followed a sandy 4WD road down to a spot going out to the lake, though it was partly flooded.

I bushwhacked to find a view of the lake but it wasn't the greatest.

We continued on the sandy roads a little further and found a much nicer spot with a little beach.

There were great views of the lake and it made a perfect spot to have lunch.

After a break, we headed back to the trails and continued hiking through the pine forest.

Near the end was a split and we went right.  This was just a connector and bisected the loop trail, so we took the 4WD road back to the trailhead.

From here, we headed into Elizabethtown and got carryout dinner from China Hibachi and headed to Jones Lake State Park.  We had dinner and set up camp then went for a short evening hike.  Access to the fishing pier was difficult due to flooding by I found a way.

There were nice views of the lake and I figured this would make a nice spot for sunset.

We continued along Bay Trail for a while and had to maneuver around a couple flooded spots.  In about a mile, the Mountains-to-Sea Trail split to the left into Bladen Lakes State Forest along JC Butler Trail.

We went a short ways then made our way back.  Right at sunset I went back out on the fishing pier for a sunset view over the lake.

Then we headed back to camp.

It was a beautiful but chilly evening.

We made a big fire to stay warm and then went to bed.