Make a Donation to Pilot Mountain State Park

Next time you visit Pilot Mountain State Park, please look for my donation box, located in the Park Office. Then make a donation to the Friends of Sauratown Mountains. We'll use your donation for projects at Pilot Mountain State Park.

I made the donation box with scrap wood I had laying around from other projects. I did have to purchase the plexiglass. I needed a hinge so the box could be opened and emptied. Fortunately I had saved an old wooded spoon. The long handle was just the right diameter to serve a pivot peg. That saved $9 I would have to pay for a piano hinge. 

Jan 27 Weymouth Woods State Nature Preserve

Here I am next to the world's oldest Long Leaf Pine located in the Boyd Tract of Weymouth Woods State Nature Preserve near Southern Pines NC.

The Stats

465 years old

This year its birthday is celebrated on March 23

75" in circumference

75' tall

Nanci stands by the second oldest Long Leaf Pine.

The Stats

Approx 360 years old

93.5" in circumference

105.5' tall

Long Leaf Pines were used in the production of naval supplies, principally for the British navy. An inverted "V" cut was made in tree from which sap flowed. The sap was collected then boiled and distilled in turpentine, varnish, tar and related products, all used to weather and waterproof sailing ships. This was a principal industry in the coastal plain of North Carolina where the Long Leaf Pine grows. The industry effectively ceased during the civil war when the North blockaded the South and the Brits were forced to look elsewhere for these needed supplies. Many trees still bear these scars.

Jan 23 Purgatory Mountain Trail

The North Carolina Zoo just opened this trail to the public. The property had long been owned by the zoo and was a favorite lunchtime respite for zoo employees. I think we hiked about 3 miles on the two trails open on this property. It is an easy grade among the rock outcroppings. A couple mad made upland pools can be found here. It appears the squirrels like the signs too.

Jan 21 Fall Mountain Trail

Fall Mountain Trail begins and ends at Morrow Mountain State Park's boating access area. Originally the trail followed the lakeshore of Lake Tillery to Falls Dam. Several years back, the trail was rerouted when a bridge over a side creek was washed out. Now the trail is located on higher ground and does not go to the dam. You can still find the a portion of the old trail and make your way to the base of the dam. It appears the land surrounding the dam is privately owned and is well posted. I suspect this is another the reason the trail was rerouted to not include the dam. 

Many ring billed gulls occupy the rocks below the dam. There is very little remaining space for gulls so they take turns sitting on the rocks.

The new trail reaches a high point with limited wintertime views of the lake. Then it follows some old two tracks coming very close to the historic Dr Kron house. The cemetery behind the house is a Kron family resting ground. Chain link fence, as seen in the below photo, enclose something here. I know the fence served a purpose at one time. Perhaps the cemetery was a private inholding in the park. 

Finish the loop back to the boat access area and you can take the short Three Rivers Trail loop as well. The three rivers are the Yadkin, Uwharrie and Pee Dee. The Uwharrie flows into the Yadkin across the lake. Where they conflow, the Pee Dee is formed.

Jan 17 Rainbow Falls

This is my final waterfall for this week heavy rain and snow. Over 8 inches fell during the 4 day period and filled the creeks and falls. I was not able to make it to Abrams and Ramseys but I still had a decent week of waterfalls. 

Rainbow is one of the most popular falls. The roundtrip route is only 5.6 miles and it follows LeConte Creek for much of its way to the falls. The few crossings I had to rock hop today posed no problems unlike yesterday going to Grotto Falls. I didn't encounter anyone else until my return when I met the organized WWW hike headed up. They ran into problem after problem and I now wish I had stopped and walked back up with them as they had lost their sweep at this point. A couple suffered mild hypothermia, one got a nasty splinter under a fingernail and of course all were wet from the rain which began about the time I encountered them. To make matters worse, their bus was not in the parking area when they returned. Ed, the leader had everyone crowd in the tiny outhouse to warm the two with hypothermia while he walked down toward Gatlinburg to get a cellular signal. He found the bus dutifully waiting at the wrong trailhead and finally got things squared away.

Jan 16 Grotto Falls

Grotto Falls is on Trillium Gap Trail. During the winter months the easy route to the falls is closed. Today I started hiking at the Rainbow Falls trailhead on the Trillium Gap trail. It is about a 7 mile hike from there. Much of it is right next to the Roaring Fork Road. A couple times I had to walk out to the road to get over swollen creeks.

Once again today, the hills were filled with silver ribbons of water headed down.

Here I am in the grotto looking out through the waterfall. It was noisy and a bit wet. Normally you can proceed through the grotto and continue on Trillium Gap Trail. Today you'd have to wade through some water to do that.

Jan 15 Laurel Falls at Full Throttle

The ambitious plan today was to visit Abrams Falls. It should be roaring. Cades Cove Loop Road is closed so on to my less ambitious plan - visit Laurel Falls. The trail to Laurel Falls is the most popular in the park. It is paved in its entirety or at least as far as the falls. The waterfall is a 2 parter. The upper fall is upriver of the bridge above. As soon as the water passes by the bridge it starts its second fall. Normally you don't even need the bridge to cross here but today the even the bridge didn't help.

This is a typical scene today - silver ribbons of water coming down the hill sides where it doesn't normally flow.

I climbed up to the upper fall and down to the lower fall. The lower fall is much more scenic as it overflows its normal channel. The walkway and bridge are at the top of this fall. It would not have been a good place to slip.