I’m just back from a little trip up to the North Carolina mountains. My first stop was a revisit to the Fawn Lake area of the DuPont State Recreational Forest. Being late-spring-going-on-early-summer, the forest was very green and lush.

Given my aviation background, I had to make my way up to the old airstrip. Back in decades past when DuPont (the company) had a plant up here, they had their own airstrip. It was closed long ago along with the plant, but the X marking of a closed runway is still visible.

Great view from the north end of the strip.

Many of the paths in the forest are actually gravel roads, but there are some that are more to the liking of my hiking shoes, like the Mine Mountain Trail.

This Forest is very popular with mountain bikers, but I’m not sure this novice MTB’er would attempt something like this:

The Real Reason for my trip though was Samara Jade‘s Birthday Bash Concert in Asheville at the Ayurprana Listening Room. I like this as a venue, because it’s not very large, it used to be a modest-sized church (see the link).

I suspected, knowing what I do, that there’d be some audience participation, and there was quite a lot of singing along, clapping, and dancing going on. It’s been a very long time since I’d been singing in a church (or former church), but there I was. I did not attempt to dance though, that would have probably resulted in injuries.

People sometimes say that a piece of music speaks to them. Quite a few of Samara Jade’s songs speak for me. See her web site linked above. You can also listen to (and buy!) her music on Bandcamp. I would encourage you to pay more than the asking price if you can, it can’t be easy to make a living doing this.

To sandwich the concert on the other side, I paid a visit to Looking Glass Rock. I’m not as fond of out-and-back routes as I am of loops, but I figured this one looked interesting and would fit my schedule. I got there early to start off into a lush, and somewhat misty, forest.

I knew it was all uphill going out, but it seemed pretty easy, mostly hard-packed dirt and a slope that wasn’t too steep. The sort you feel you could do all day long.

Along the way there were a couple of these rock outcrops where the plants haven’t gotten a toe(root)-hold, yet; give them time.

As you start getting towards the top the trail gets rockier and steeper.

According to my phone’s GPS, the trail peaked at 1208m (3963′) ASL and then it drops a bit, you go around a bend, and all I could think was “Holy $H*!”, that view, that place!

The rock curves down towards that precipice, and as someone with an intense dislike of being in places like roofs and tops of ladders, I didn’t venture very close. But still, that was pretty intense from where I stood. Apparently rock climbers go there, but there were notices posted at the trailhead that the rock faces were closed due to nesting falcons. I’m pretty sure I heard some up there.

I can see why human people go there. There were just a few when I got up there, but on the way back down I passed several groups headed up. It seems to be a lesser-known trail etiquette that those going downhill should give way to those going up, but I follow that. It’s a lot easier for me going downhill to get moving again than someone wrestling with the gravity of the situation, so to speak.

On the way back from that 2026 “epic” road trip that started with a visit to Douthat State Park, VA, I stopped for a day at Natural Bridge State Park, VA. This area felt a bit more commercialized than other state parks I’ve visited, which is just an observation, not a criticism. Still, at that there were some good trails to get out into the woods.

The signature attraction is The Natural Bridge, a rock formation left when an underground river cut away the rock, leaving a bridge. Getting to the bridge required going down (and back up) a lot of steps, 137 according to the park web site.

The path is mostly paved, so you don’t need your hiking shoes. Pretty quickly you come to The Bridge, which from here is more of a “natural underpass”.

It’s actually pretty awesome, I couldn’t help being in awe of that rock overhead.
The trail contines past there and ends at Lace Falls.

I was advised at the extensive visitor center that it was best to drive to the other trails in the park, which I concurred with because getting there involved some stretches of busy highway. So it was off to the Blue Ridge Trail.

Nothing to this point indicated that the hotel had a connection to the trail, had I known I’d have just walked from there.
As at Douthat, flowers were blooming everywhere:

I kept trying to get a picture of the numerous butterflies, but they wouldn’t stay put and a cell phone makes a lousy wildlife camera. I did catch one, sort of:

The trail led up to a ridge with a view:

There is an adjacent Thistle Ridge Trail and disc golf course:

This is one course where you’ll probably want your hiking shoes:

I didn’t try to play the course as I was only there for one day. Many of the goals looked tricky to this novice, and just a little overshoot would have you diving down a hill into the woods (hopefully not head first).
From there is was over to the Buck Hill trail and more up and down:

Finally, I wrapped up the day at the short Skyline Trail. There’s a discovery area at the trailhead:

And, as you might expect from the name, there is a view of the skyline:

This park was a bit of an exception in that I was able to cover all the published trails in one day and then followed up with a late lunch from the Natty B Cafe just up road to the east. The salad and Turkey Reuben sandwich were quite good.

There were very limited camping opportunities here, so I opted to stay at the Natural Bridge Hotel right by the Natural Bridge itself. The accommodations there weren’t as nice as I had at Douthat, but were adequate for the purpose, if a bit expensive compared to a campsite.

Once again it was time for my spring “epic” road trip. Last year I stopped along the way to spend a day at Douthat State Park in Virginia. I decided that one day there just wasn’t enough so this year I planned two days to try and take in more of the park.

This narrow bridge leading to the campsites always gives me pause:

As usual the campsite accommodations were excellent. My “room” had a river (or creek) view (watch that first step though):

And there were flowers in the room:

In fact, there were flowers Everywhere! I saw lots of butterflies taking advantage of them.

But I came here to hike, so after a night in my hammock tent, it was off to see some sights.

Again, as usual, I found well-marked trails. Yes, I was heading for the Mountain Top Trail:

And what a supertastical view from the top of that mountain! The picture doesn’t do it justice, it just reminds me of what I saw:

Coming around to the Mountain Side Trail gives a view of Lake Douthat:

Ya know, they always give some very good reasons to stay on the trails when hiking: don’t trample the plants, don’t cause erosion, and you’re Far less likely to get lost if you stick to the trails. Some of the trails here add another reason: if you go off the trail, it could be a long time before you can come to a stop.

When I’ve gone even farther north earlier in the season, I’ve been a bit disappointed at not seeing any snow. This time I found some snow, in a corner of the mountain the trail was following:

After I completed that hike I was sprawled out at the table at my campsite when a Chipping Sparrow came poking around. He went right under the table where I was sitting. I didn’t want to scare him off, so I just aimed the phone blindly to snap this picture of him:

The next morning, let’s do it all again!

This day took me up the Blue Suck Falls Trail (I’ll have to ask how it got that name), which felt a bit like rock climbing in some areas:

And there we have the Blue Suck Falls itself!

Continuing up to the Middle Mountain Trail (which is actually a bit higher than the Mountain Top Trail) again provided some amazing views, including from Lookout Rock:

As they say, what goes up must come down (unless you’re NASA), so down the mountain to the lake:

The lake flows out into Wilson Creek, which is a convenient handrail back to the campsite.

I think Douthat State Park is going to be a regular stopover on my northeast trips from now on. The facilities are excellent (well, the wifi at the park office could be a bit more reliable, but really the point is to disconnect), there’s lots of nature and trails, and there’s no cell phone coverage (I suggest taking a PLB or satellite communicator in case of emergency, and tell the boss to not even bother trying to call).

For a number of reasons, it’s been a difficult year for me to get out & about. But I would not be restrained on the day of the Winter Solstice, a special day for all my wild familiars. That it took me almost a week to get this posted is just par for this year.

For this day, I made my way to the Long Cane Horse Trail in Abbeville County, SC, USA. Despite the name, it’s actually a multi-use trail for horses, bikes, and hikers. Concernedly, the web site still says the area is closed due to damage from Helene, but as that was over a year ago, I suspected the accuracy of the web site. Sure enough, there were no signs about any sort of closures and once once on the trail, I saw horse and bike tracks.

The “B” trailhead did show some redesign:

and the initial part of the trail heading to point “C” had a couple places where the overhead clearance was reduced:

But aside from that, the trails all the way to “D” were quite passible.

There were several open areas where the pine trees were taking over:

I’m sure they’ll sort themselves out as they grow, assuming the humans leave them alone.

But the main event was the Winter Solstice, when the sun shines on its most southern point on earth. Curiously, as that moment, 10:03 EST, approached, I started to hear a LOT of bird chatter, almost like a dawn chorus. However, it was way too late in the day for that. At the moment:

After the moment passed, the bird chatter subsided to a more normal level. I didn’t hear anything else like that whole rest of the time I was in the woods, including coming back through that same area. Could be coincidence, but I suspect the birds were observing the Solstice in their own way.

I decided to stop at Gray’s Creek for lunch:

and noted that the sun didn’t get much higher at noon than it was at the Solstice.

I really need to do more of this sort of thing. Birds aren’t meant to be indoors, Blue Jays are forest creatures..

On the same road trip that brought me to James River State Park, VA, I was able to spend some time at Douthat State Park, VA (pronounced dow-that; I had to ask). Once again, a great place to hike and camp, which I did.

This is the road to the campground. It gave me a brief pause, I’m not used to driving over bridges with no sides.

The White Oak campsites are set up to handle RV’s, but I was able to find a place for myself.

My campsite was just above the stream, which was probably not far from being a river.

And it came with flowers.

Not as many as I had at James River, but the higher elevation (~1400′ MSL) would mean spring would be just a bit later here.

Again, hiking is what I came to do, so shortly after sunrise, bright-eyed and straight-feathered, I set off. There are lots of trails to pick from, many easily accessible from the campground. I headed west.

Most of the trails were like this, single-track and (seemingly) all uphill.

But the climbing was rewarded with some supertastical views (that’s Lake Douthat there):

Climbing means that there are going to be places where you could fall off the trail. If you did, it might be a while before you came to a stop.

They say the land tells a story. This was on a downhill section of trail right where it took a sharp right turn. I think the story here is that a mountain biker almost went down into the gully.

Getting close to the top, where the Salt Stump trail runs into the Middle Mountain trail. The trail topped out around 3100′ MSL.

Now who put these rocks all the way up here?? (as if I didn’t know, Mom Earth)

Wow-mazing views from up here, making the climb well worth it.

At the Tuscarora Overlook there’s a small cabin. I’m told this is the first structure that was built in the park and was used as a fire lookout.

With a view like this, it’d be worth it even if you didn’t need a lookout. You can almost see Lake Douthat in the middle just past that first ridge. The campground would be just a bit to the right, behind that ridge.

There were a number of opportunities to wade or hop across streams. Here were three in a row.

Near the camp store & grill is where the water runs out of Lake Douthat.

In addition to those facilities, you can practice your land canoeing.

You don’t see many of these any more:

Oh yeah, did I mention there’s a grill? I decided I didn’t need to cook (much) that evening.

While I prefer so-called “primitive” camp sites, the campground I stayed at wasn’t that dense and the humans were generally quiet, and I had no issues there. In fact, there wasn’t even any litter I could find.

The only nit I can pick is, again, navigational. At an intersection along the Heron Run trail, the marker pointed in an ambiguous direction. I knew the trail should be following the lake shore which resolved the ambiguity. It was disappointing though that I didn’t see any Herons Running the trail. In reality, this lake, with steep banks, didn’t look like good habitat for the Herons I’m familiar with, who like to wade around in shallow areas.

Another great time at a Virginia State Park. Next time I’m up that way I’ll have to hike around the eastern part of the park.

Strava activity: https://www.strava.com/activities/14245994753

During a recent road trip, I stopped off for a day of hiking at James River State Park, VA, very conveniently located almost exactly half-way along a too-long-for-one-day drive. I have yet to have a bad experience camping at a Virginia State Park, and this one did nothing to change that perception.

I stayed at the Branch Pond campground, where there are so-called “primitive” campsites. Goes to show how words can not mean what they sound like. In this case, “primitive” is better and “modern” would be worse, contrary to what many humans would think. But fortunately I’m not entirely human.

And my “suite” even came with flowers in the “room”.

As the campground name suggests, it was right near the Branch Pond.

…a neat little pond fed by several streams, one of which ran right by my campsite.

This tree near my campsite looked kind of grumpy, probably due to things humans have done.

But I came here to hike, and hike I did. The trails varied with wide dirt, gravel, double-track, and moss-lined single-tracks.




I guess trails can create their own habitats, that’s the only place I saw moss growing in that area.

This is said to be the most-photographed spot in the park. Well, I took a photo here anyway. This is where the Tye River runs into the James River.

Speaking of rivers, I saw a couple of these along the river trail. In case a rescue was needed?

The James River did have some flow to it.

There was a neat wetland parallel to, but separate from the river.

Now lets see, was I following the blue or the green blazes? Guess it doesn’t matter here :).

I make it a point to look at all trail signs, because sometimes they tell you things you really should know.

The worst part was the area of thunderstorms that rolled through on my last night there. I really think they should do something about that🤔. I elected to take shelter in the car while the storms passed, although there was a dry area under my hammock tent when I broke camp, so I probably would have been ok outside. Probably. Maybe.

But storms are just another part of a wild bird’s life.

I did note a couple of discrepancies between the trail maps and the trails, which bothers me a bit as I’m a rather pedantic about my navigation, and knowing where I and, where I’m going, and how to get there. Might be a “bird” thing, or from my aviation background. The Branch Pond Loop trail wasn’t really a loop, as the area on the north side of the pond was closed. And the Dixon Trail Connector, shown on the posted maps and on one trail that-a-way marker, wasn’t really there. Minor issues really, and otherwise the maps and trail markers were very good, which I’ve come to expect at Virginia State Parks.

All in all, a great time and highly recommended.

Strava activity: https://www.strava.com/activities/14177869612