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 the Wild Things Are

Do you see the amphibian in this poison ivy patch?



Do you think frogs are allergic to poison ivy? Probably not, I don't think I have ever seen one wearing calamine lotion...

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!

Lord of the Flies

Hello, I am this week's guest editor. I am a Petite Basset Griffon Vandeen or "PBGV." My name is Petey, but I also go by Petey No!, or Petey I Said No!

I have a good life with my human family, they take me for walks and give me treats. I live in a nice house that is beautifully appointed with many things for me to explore. All in all, I have it pretty good.

My only complaint is about the flies. Yes, I said flies. Somehow, my human family's home is infested with flies. The funny thing is the flies only appear when I am completing my household chores. Do you know about household chores? I have 2 main chores: emptying the clothes dryer and turning over waste baskets.

I am an expert at emptying the dryer: I like to stick my head in the dryer, grab the laundry in my mouth, and run through the house. Sometimes, my human family runs along side of me, yelling my name "Petey No!," while we complete the transfer of clothes from dog to human. And then the flies appear, I know this because usually the older human family member grabs a fly swatter and shakes it at me! The humanity!

Haven't these people ever heard of bug spray? But like I said, it is a good life. I try my best to keep up with my chores regardless of those pesky flies.

This brings me to my next observation: bath time, a weekly ritual at our house. It is the most cruel of all human rituals - soak, lather, repeat. I try to be a good dog during bath time, assuming that the point of it is to remove the flies that my human family hates so much.

As soon as the bath is over, I escape to run through the house stopping only to wiggle my backside on the carpet. Ahh, the smell of wet carpet and dog ... smells like ... victory. My human family really likes this part of the process and they usually run with me through the house carrying a towel and yelling my name, "Petey I Said No!"

I love my human family and I will keep up with my household chores remembering that after all, they are human. Let's hope they can figure out how to get rid of the fly problem and then maybe, just maybe, we can cease with all this bath nonsense.

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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What Happens When You Feed a Deer Peanut Butter

About Raleigh, NC

Raleigh was founded in 1792 as North Carolina's capitol city. It was named for Sir Walter Raleigh, who attempted to establish the first English colony on the shores of the new world in the 1580s.

Raleigh is the capitol of State of North Carolina and the county seat of Wake County. Raleigh is known as the "City of Oaks" for its many oak trees. As of the 2000 census, it had a population of 276,093, making it the second most populous city in North Carolina, after Charlotte.

Raleigh, Durham and Chapel Hill make up the three cities of The Triangle, so named in 1959 with the creation of the Research Triangle Park, a research park between Durham and Raleigh (mostly located within Durham County). The Triangle is a regional population, equivalent to the U.S. Census Bureau's Combined Statistical Area of Raleigh-Durham-Cary. Its estimated total population as of 2005 was 1,509,560.

Raleigh boasts more than 4,300 acres of parkland and almost 1,400 acres of water, offering recreational activities year round. A nationally-acclaimed greenway system spans 41 miles, providing walking, jogging and hiking trails that connect many of the city's 150 major parks.


Annual snowfall: 7 inches

Annual rainfall: 41 inches

Most importantly, it is home to our beloved Carolina Hurricanes, winner of the 2006 Stanley Cup, and our alma mater North Carolina State University.

For more information about this area, please visit:

http://www.visitraleigh.com/visit/index.html

For more information about our beloved Hurricanes:

http://hurricanes.nhl.com/

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