Haw River

Yesterday, we drove out to Jordan Lake to investigate a hiking trail recommended by a co-worker. We exited Highway 64 after crossing Jordan Lake at the Haw River exit. Having been warned about a poorly maintained trail and questionable trail blazes, we set out.

Our first challenge was crossing the creek at the foot of the parking lot. Three tries and a dirty pants leg later, we made it over. We followed what we thought was the trail and saw this pretty view:



It was a beautiful day with lots of sun and a great breeze. We ambled down the banks of the Haw River crawling over rocks, stepping over roots, and the occasional fallen tree. We saw lots of evidence of beaver activity ...



... and freshwater clams.



After about 30 minutes of climbing over rocks and wondering if there even was a trail, we met this little guy:



We didn't linger too long at snaketown and continued hiking until the rocks became impassable. We were rewarded with this view:


The entire hike lasted about an hour and we later learned that there is a red blaze trail that was perpendicular to the river up a ridge that we should have followed. A map or better trail blazes would have been helpful. We highly recommend this trail with beautiful vistas and definitely wear hiking boots.

Linville Falls, North Carolina

Linville Falls National Park is easily accessible via the Blue Ridge Parkway at mile post 316.3. There are clearly marked trails just beyond the visitors center and over the footbridge that crosses the Linville River.



The Ervin Trail runs parallel to the river and is quite easy as the elevation actually dips and is 1.6 miles round trip. Here, the Linville River spills over the upper falls where it widens and pauses. Drifting into a narrow canyon, the water suddenly spirals out of sight and plunges 45 feet over the lower falls.


The Chimney View Trail, 0.7 mile from the visitor center, is the first point on the trail where the lower falls can be seen. The trail continues up to the overlook and is fairly steep and is rated strenuous - I would rate it closer to moderate.

Be forewarned: if you have an aversion to steps, you may not enjoy this trail.




The various trails take you to different perspective views of the same 90-foot Linville Falls. They are all worth checking out especially if you have a camera. Hey, you are already there, why not?



Linville Falls park is a lovely 1 to 2 hour diversion with spectacular views of a roaring water 90-foot fall. It is a great place to stretch your legs after driving on the Parkway for a while. Hiking boots and a camera are strongly recommended.

For more information, please go to http://www.virtualblueridge.com/parkway/general/waterfalls.asp

Roan Mountain State Park, Tennesse

OK. It says Roan Mountain is a Tennessee state park and while the park may be in Tennessee a large part of the mountain is in North Carolina. It's a big mountain and rivals Mount Mitchell with an elevation of 6285 feet. We drove from Blowing Rock, NC and it's not the easiest place to find despite its size. I had not been to Roan Mountain in over 25 years.

I was thinking about a visit when the June issue of Our State magazine featured an article on Roan. Was it a sign from the hiking gods? The piece concentrated on the Cloudland Trail and the magnificent Rhododendron that bloom in mid June. For more information on Our State magazine, please visit http://www.ourstate.com

We drove through the park and up the mountain, past access to the Appalachian Trail to a gate house that was unmanned at 10:30 am. Honor system here, put $3 in an envelope, tear off receipt/parking tag and proceed to the parking lots.

Per the article in Our State, we parked in a huge, empty lot that is presumably for buses but also has some car parking. On one end of the parking lot there is the trail head for the Cloudland Trail and on the other end of the lot there is a restroom and a short trail to a post-civil war hotel once stood and access to the Appalachian Trail.



We followed the Cloudland trail for a ways through some rhododendron. We came to a 3-way intersection on the trail where we met some other hikers who were lost and did we know the way to the observation platform? We didn't either, but took the straight ahead fork and went past the Rhododendron garden and eventually found ourselves at the observation deck.



The view and the breeze was spectacular but a thick haze hung over the mountains obscuring any long distance view or photography. The hike was well worth the effort:



Walking back we stopped at the garden and walked the loop trails there. After a while all Rhododendron look the same. We got some great pictures and got to see more Rhododendron in one spot than you would see anywhere else in a life time.

It may be also worth noting that this time of year while these plants are in full bloom, they are also full of bees and other buzzing and possibly stinging insects. We suggest hiking boots, insect repellent, and plenty of water.


This was a great side trip for us. The Rhodey's were beautiful and it was fun getting back to a place I had not been in years.



We will go back and maybe next time we will be on the Appalachian Trail as it passes through Roan Mountain. As I recall, the views from the ridge the trail traverses were even better than the ones from the observation deck.

Directions to Roan Mountain: From Boone, NC take Hwy 105 to Newland, NC. Take Hwy 194 North out of Newland toward Roan Mountain, TN.

Glen Burney Trail in Blowing Rock, NC

In October of '06 and June of '07 we visited Blowing Rock, NC for a few days. We made the town our base camp and struck out each day from there in search of adventure or at least diversion. Call us gluttons for punishment but on both visits to Blowing Rock, we hiked the Glen Burney trail.

The trail starts out in the Glen Burney Park lower parking lot and meanders down through a gorge past 3 water falls on the New Year Creek. It is 1.6 miles from the trail head to the last water fall and an elevation change of 600 feet. This might not sound like much on the way down, but it is on the return trip! Actually having done this twice now, I would have to say that the going down is slower than the going up if you are in decent shape.

Once you start out on the trail at the parking lot near the current sewage lift station/pump house, you encounter a gravel service road that narrows to more of a trail. Along this road there is a wooden fence that tries to obscure the view of or hide the hikers from an incredible house or lodge that is being built off of Globe Rd. which roughly follows the trail albeit at a much different elevation.



At 0.4 miles you come across the "ruins" of a sewer plant that served the town back in 1929. The Glen Burney area dates back to 1892. The gorge and park area was donated to the town of Blowing Rock in 1906 by Emily Pridden who founded a school and owned land in the area.



At 0.8 miles you can hear and see the Cascades "falls". At 1.2 miles you encounter the Glen Burney falls and at 1.6 miles you reach the Glen Marie falls. The trail is covered in Rhododendron. It is dark and quiet along the trail with only birds and the occasional car passing way up on Globe Rd. to disturb you. But, that is only if you are away from the falls or creek itself which are quite noisy in a pleasant way. The sound of rushing or falling water is one of nature's great tranquillizers.









When we were there last October, you could continue along the trail to reach Globe Rd. and walk back up that path. Now there are "no trespassing" signs and other signs requesting you to turn around. This is the end of the trail and the start of the moderate to strenuous walk back up the trail.



We, and the parks and rec folks, recommend hiking boots, water, a snack and a camera. We have met folks on the trail in street shoes, Crocs, flip flops and running shoes. There are lots of rocks and roots to traverse. Our June hike was just after an overnight rain and all surfaces including the dirt trail floor were slippery so the total time round trip was almost 3 hours.

This is a great little "off the beaten path" hike in the middle of a "tourist" mountain town, just off the Blue Ridge Parkway near Boone, NC. Few people know about this trail and most of the ones who do, have not hiked it. There are lots of less worn paths taking off from the main trail but you are advised to stay on the main one. There are wooden stakes indicating the mile marks every so often now. Hopefully, folks will leave them where they are. The trail could uses some blazes as there are none at all and some junctions or forks in the road get a little confusing.



If you make it down and back up and are so inclined, stop in the Six Pence Pub on Main St. for a pint. The Glen Burney trail and park is just off Laurel Lane which is just of Main St. in Blowing Rock. We highly recommend both.

For more information about Blowing Rock, NC, please visit http://www.blowingrock.com/

Chimney Rock Park, North Carolina

Recently, we traveled to Chimney Rock Park located 25 miles southeast of Asheville, NC, Chimney Rock Park is a "fee to enter" non-state park like Grandfather Mountain. This is a beautiful park and offers trails for the novice to the expert.

Privately owned, the state of NC has purchased Chimney Rock park and it is slated to close fall of 2007 for renovations and reopen in 2008 as an official North Carolina State Park.

Chimney Rock Park has one prominent feature and that is the "Chimney" rock formation. It is accessible via a trail or elevator and stairs. We drove up to the elevator access which is through a tunnel cut through solid rock, rode the elevator up to the gift shop and snack bar, walked out on the deck and over to the stairs up to the rock.



The views are spectacular of Hickory Nut Gorge and Lake Lure.




From here you can start hiking down the trail to the parking lots and hit all of the other points of interest along the way. Most of these points are rock formations and along the way is Hickory Nut Falls. The "falls" is a little stream of water shooting out and down about 400 feet. There are about 3.5 miles of trail up and down the mountain. Some of the stairs and other parts of the "trail" are a little dangerous and no doubt will be changed or closed when the state takes over the park.





The trail map provided at the park is cartoonish and we found it hard to follow.

It costs $14 per adult to enter the park. For the views and hiking, you can't beat the Blue Parkway which is close by and free. If you haven't been to Chimney Rock yet, we recommend you wait until it reopens as a state park.

How to get there from Asheville: Take Interstate 26 East toward Hendersonville. Get off at Exit #49A (Old Exit #18A - Bat Cave and Highway 64 East). Stay on 64 East for 15 miles and the Park entrance will be on the right.

For more info on Chimney Park, please visit http://www.chimneyrockpark.com/index.php

Where's Waldo?

Find the wild animal in this picture:




Can't find it? Look a little closer:



This shy creature is a North Carolina fox squirrel,the largest and most colorful tree squirrel in the state. We came across this little guy quite by accident as we were driving from Southport, NC, to catch the ferry to Fort Fisher. It was a treat to watch him.

A few facts about Fox Squirrels:

1) They are twice the size of the more common gray squirrels,
2) They are diurnal - meaning they are only active in the day,
3) They are solitary, asocial creatures except during mating season, &
4) They have a life expectancy of six-seven years.

The next time you are in the coastal plains of North Carolina, slow down and take a closer look at those pine-oak forests, you might get lucky and see one!

Duke Forest Al Buehler CC & Shepherd Nature Trail

Today's journey finds us in Duke Forest at the Shepherd Nature trail and the Al Buehler Cross Country Trail.

We started the afternoon walking the cross country running trail around the Washington Duke Inn and Golf Course. This trail is a little noisy as about half of it parallels Highway 15/501. The trail is nicely groomed with a fine crushed gravel that is really more like light gray sand that is has been compacted. It is an excellent walking surface. Lots of folks run this trail and we saw one bike rider who was just flying. There are some glimpses of the golf course and you walk across the paved entrance to the inn.

There are several side trails and very little signage other than mile and kilometer markers. Somewhere, there is supposedly a paved path to a 32-station fitness course. We didn't see it. All in all, a nice 2.9 mile walk in mostly shade on good surface.

Next, we drove into Duke Forest proper and went to Gate C. The letters and numbers of the gates are hard to see from the road. This is the Shepherd Nature trail that is supposed to be a 0.8 mile loop. Again, not much signage and we got a little confused on which way to go at one point so we just back tracked and got in a little extra walking. There are signs along the trail mostly identifying trees. This trail is a little more rugged in spots than the cross country trail but we easily managed it in running shoes. Boots might be in order after a rain.

We saw deer in 3 different places along the trail and lots of lizards. This trail crosses an access road or two and could use some directional signage but is a nice little walk in the woods. It is always a nice bonus to see deer and other wildlife when hiking in the woods.

For more information, please visit http://www.nicholas.duke.edu/forest/index.html

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American Tobacco Trail, Wake County

Recently, we hiked part of the ATT in Wake County from the New Hill-Olive Chapel Rd. parking area to 64 highway, about 2 miles one way. This part of the ATT uses what they call screenings for the trail surface. It is essenitally crushed gravel and provides a pretty good walking surface when dry. There were lots of walkers, runners, joggers, bike riders and horses on the trail as it was "Saturday in Wake County" as we like to say. Really it could have been a lot more congested than it was. We only had to get out of the way of a couple of horses. One guy, dressed in black riding a black horse, was going at a full gallop going and coming. This trail really caters to horse riders. Just be careful where you step!

This section crosses a beaver kill apptly named Beaver Creek and at the 2 miles mark almost to Highway 64, there is a driving range with signs on the trail warning you about errant golf balls (not too cool if you get beaned by one, they hurt). This entire part of the ATT is approx. 5.5miles long according to the brochure but another section may have been added at this writing. One day we will go to the other end near White Oak Church Rd. to see for ourselves.

For more information, contact the park at (919) 387-2117.