PHOC had a short outing at the picnic pavilion at the end of the road in Horne Creek section of Pilot Mountain State Park. Beginning at the parking area along Hauser Road, we walked to the river and back. This area appears to have been heavily farmed in the past. Forests are in a series of early to late successional forests. Above is one of my favorites. The Blue Mist BBQ restaurant was a Randolph County institution for years. Now, long closed, this Blue Mistflower always reminds of that place.
The American strawberry bush becomes Hearts abusting bush this time of year. Here is a prolific example.
Umbrella leaf magnolia populates this area in numbers I've not seen locally.
The railroad came through here in 1890 and is still here but used sparingly. The railroad was built alongside the Yadkin River. Its construction mostly obliterated the remains of the Bean Shoals Canal. The canal was a failed 1820s project which tried to skirt around "Bean Shoals", a 2 mile section of river.
It is this retaining wall that sunk the project. Locals anted up funds to built the canal but in the course of constructing it, a 1000' retaining wall was deemed necessary to stabilize the canal. Construction of the wall depleted the funds and doomed the project. I am told that this is the only remaining part of the canal. The railroad was built on top of it.
This is looking across one channel of the river. A long narrow island splits the river here.
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