Jun 2 Deep River State Trail

 

The new bridge over Bush Creek

The Deep River State Trail is about to add 2 miles of former railroad right of way to its trail system. The section connecting Franklinville and Cedar Falls is already a social trail although it does end abruptly before it can connect to a public road in Cedar Falls. Reclaiming old railroad beds is a bit of a chore. In North Carolina, abandoned railroad right of ways reverted to property owners sooner than in other states. Nevertheless, this old railbed is slowly becoming a top tier greenway. I wanted to familiarize myself with what this section has to offer. 

Beginning at Andrew Hunter Rd, I began my hike along the backyards of several town homes. Invasives, particularly Chinese Yam, an invasive vine, is choking everything in its path. It is a benefitable and nutritious plant in Asia and probably could also be here, if it weren't for its aggressive invasive quality. The tuber is edible and is considered tasty but handling it can cause a skin irritation. 

The trail surface is large chunks or gravel here until you get beyond the headrace for the hydroelectric powerplant. Continuing on to the long bridge over Bush Creek, old concrete railroad structures are on both sides of the railbed and on both sides of Bush Creek. The ruins on the opposite of Bush Creek look to be for a former mill site. Water upcreek has been channeled almost to the railbed. There, it turns from paralleling the creek to entering it between stone ruins which could have held a waterwheel at one time.  

If you follow the railbed, you will get glimpses of the river. It is a short distance from the railbed to the river and you can see some faint social trails for this purpose. I followed 4 to the river and back. I heard a Red Shouldered Hawk nearby, saw an adult Bald Eagle and a juvenile, as well as a couple Great Blue Herons. Of course there were Canadas here too. I watched a group of 12 adults and 12 goslings for quite a time. I stayed hidden except when I tried to get a bit closer. The adults saw me and gently coerced the goslings to slowly swim away. They need about 2 and a half months to fly after hatching. These still had a lot of fluffy down rather than feathers. The adults kept a tight perimeter around the goslings. 

Arrowhead viburnum

There is that Tree of Heaven 

At this spot there were several Trumpet Creeper Vines in 3 trees for a nice display. 

Part of this hike was to assess invasives along the trail. Once you get to within 250 yards of the Sapona side, an ocean of invasives occurs. The adjacent property owners have open and early successional growth which has led the way for a tangle of vines, mostly Multiflora Rose.  

I had a lot of fun here. Jumping from stone to stone, I saw so many freshwater bivalves, mussels and clams. I think the clams may not be native here. The river alcove where I saw the largest pile of shells looked like a great spot for a hungry raccoon.