Jamison Mill Hike

Saturday, we took Alex up to the Virginia mountains for a weekend of hiking.  Our first stop was at Jamison Mill Park along the shore of beautiful Philpott Lake.  From the trailhead at the boat ramp, we got on Golden Shore Trail that followed the shoreline closely.

It was rather overgrown and lots of downed trees over the trail.  Eventually, it departed the shore and headed up to meet up with other trails.  We took Ridge Access to Dew Drop Loop and then Bob Carter Trail.  Following the shoreline again, we got some nice views of the lake.

There was some downy rattlesnake plantain along the trail.  This orchid species was not flowering yet, but the leaves are really interesting.

There was a bench a ways down the trail where we took a break and had a snack.  Too much foliage for a good lake view, but maybe in winter.

We got back on Dew Drop Loop shortly and then Sunset Trail.  Some mountain laurel was flowering.

The trail wound through the western end of the park and ended back at Dew Drop Loop.

There was another bench at the intersection, so we took another break.  On the hike back, we took Red Rays Loop for an alternate route back.

We saw some fire pink flowering, but just one or two here and there.

Our hike finished back at the boat ramp and we returned to the car.

From here, we drove up to the Blue Ridge Parkway and parked at the picnic area in Smart View Recreation Area.  A short spur trail led to the Smart View Loop Trail and we went right hiking the loop clockwise.  Some lyre leaf sage was flowering along the trail.

A short spur led to Smart View Overlook with a V-shaped view looking down to the Pigg River Valley.

Golden Alexanders made dainty yellow flowers along the cleared areas.

Back in the woods, we spotted more wildflowers along the hike.

Fourleaf milkweed was very pretty.

I also spotted some millipedes on a tree, not sure whether they were mating or fighting.

About half-way through the loop, we passed the Trail's cabin.

The historical cabin was built by Trail family in the 1890s.  It was closed off, but we could peer inside through gaps between the logs.

Continuing on, many more wildflowers were blooming along the trail.

Phlox and fire pink added some beautiful color.

Although mostly forested, there were a couple breaks with nice views down towards the Virginia Piedmont.

The trail then looped back around and ran parallel to the parkway.

We saw some blue skullcap flowering.

After crossing the entrance road, the trail dipped back in the woods for a short ways before the spur to our parking.  But we found a couple nice patches of pink lady's slippers flowering.

They're one of my favorite wildflowers.

There was also some flame azalea and mountain laurel blooming.

After some pictures, we took the spur back to our car.

From here, we continued northbound on the parkway for a ways.  Just north of Smart View, there was some gorgeous flame azaleas blooming so we had to pull over.

Some fire pink were flowering along the side of the road.

Continuing on, we made a stop at Pine Spur Overlook, but it started raining so we didn't stop long.

View Devil's Backbone was just another mile up the road and also had a really nice view.

Next was View Cahas Mountain, a closer view of the mountain we could see from the previous stop.

Further north, the Blue Ridge Parkway was closed so we turned around and headed back south.  Past Smart View, we made a stop at Shortts Knob Overlook, but the view isn't very good.

Then we stopped one more time at Rakes Mill Pond.

The early 19th century mill was gone, but the dam and mill pond remained and were quite scenic.  The mill was named for Jarmon Rakes, who let customers fish the pond while waiting for their grist.

After our last stop, we headed to Tuggle Gap Roadside Inn and checked in.  For dinner, we headed into Floyd and got barbecue from Bootleg BBQ.  After dinner, we stopped at Buffalo Mountain Brewery for a drink before retiring for the evening.

Panther Branch Natural Area

For Mother's Day, Alex and I took Sandy for a hike at Panther Branch Natural Area, a newly-opened nature preserve owned by the Eno River Association located in western Orange County near Efland.  After parking, we set off on the Red trail to make a loop, passing some scenic unnamed tributaries.

We saw two box turtles at different points along the trail.

About half way through the loop, we took Yellow Trail and crossed Panther Branch on stepping stones.  In high water, the crossing would be difficult.

The Yellow Trail made a short loop here and we saw a bunch of jacks in the pulpit flowering.

The trail came out at powerline clearing high above Eno River.

The views of the river were really nice here and a lot of mountain laurel was blooming.

Many wildflowers were blooming in the open clearing.

Spoonshape Barbara's buttons are an interesting white flower.

Venus' pride was another little one flowering.

Back in the woods, we went down to the picnic area at a bend in the Eno then went back up.

After crossing back over Panther Branch, we finished up the loop to complete our hike.

From here, we drove a short ways to the Hillsboro Division of Duke Forest and parked along the US-70 connector.  We hiked into the forest and along Snake Fire Trail.  The first part was very overgrown with tall grass and we got pretty wet hiking through.  Once in the woods, the trail was more reasonable and we saw another little box turtle.

At the end of the trail, we turned right on Old Quarry Road and went out to the old abandoned quarry.  There was lots of lichen growing on the rocks.

Then we hiked back and took Cates Road to make a loop.

After our hike, we went to lunch to celebrate Mother's Day.

Ocean Isle Beach Day

Saturday, we took Alex to the coast for a beach day at Ocean Isle Beach. On the way down, we made a stop at Green Swamp Preserve to check out the carnivorous plants.  A short hike on the preserve trail led through a forest that had recently been burned and across a rickety boardwalk through a dense forest area.  Across the boardwalk, the trail entered a beautiful savanna and we began to see the carnivorous plants.

And a lot of non-carnivorous plants were flowering too.

The rosebud orchids were especially pretty.

Partridgeberry has tiny little white flowers.

Continuing on, we came to another savanna with a ton of pitcher plants.

Unlike the tiny little fly traps and sundews, the pitcher plants are quite conspicuous.

They were flowering as well.

The sundews are so small, they are hard to spot.

I think that there were spoonleaf sundews as well as the more common pink sundews present.

But the pitcher plants were the star of the show.  I really love their flowers.

Like the sundews, the Venus fly traps are very small and easy to miss if not looking carefully.

We went as far as the trail went before hitting a wet spot and turned around.  Nearly back at the car, I went down to the mostly dry burrow pit to see some ten-angled pipewort flowering in the much.

We were the only ones around for our hike but another car pulled in as we were leaving.

From here, we continued to Ocean Isle Beach and parked at the pier.  We took a walk down the beach and found a nice spot to set up an umbrella.

While Sandy and Alex relaxed in the sand, I walked down the beach to the east end of the island.

On the way back, I took a detour at Winston-Salem Street and hiked the short Ocean Isle Beach Nature Trail.

The mostly boardwalk trail had very nice views of the tidal marsh and intracoastal waterway.

Back on the beach, Sandy and I took our shoes off and walked in the water a bit.  It was a little cold for a dip, but felt nice just ankle-deep.  Alex, however, stayed further up on the beach and refused to get any closer to the water.

When we had enough of the sun, we made the short walk over to Pelican's Perch for a late lunch on the patio.  Then we made the drive home.