Kron family cemetery
This hike begins and ends at the boat launch area on Lake Tillery in Morrow Mountain State Park. Although sections of the trail were muddy from all the recent rain, it was a nice outing. The first feature of note was a spring gushing water, right in the middle of the trail. Springs are created when ground water runs into impenetrable rock. The ground water flows along the rock until it either finds a way through it or comes to the surface as a springhead. The water is pushed upward out of the springhead.
The next interesting encounter was a Red fox sighting. The fox was walking toward me along a creek. At about 30 yards it spotted me and took off. It looked like it was flying just above the ground, with that large bushy trail flowing behind.
Falls Dam
The park trails no longer go to Falls Dam but you can still find the old trail. I did not initially find the old trail and ended up bushwhacking through the area before I finally stumbled on to it. The dam is near a section of the Yadkin River which was called "The Narrows". It must have contained a series of rapids and dropped the river significantly. This is also the area where the Hardaway archaeological site is located. That property is currently being transferred from Alcoa to the State. Already, the artifacts found on the site have been moved to UNC Chapel Hill. The collection numbers 1.3 million specimens.
Right at the dam, you can climb a rock outcropping to get you up level with the dam. That was my lunch spot for this hike. While on the rocks, I spotted a Bald eagle soaring above.
Lake Tillery
The hike back to the parking area was much easier now that I knew where the old trail was.
American Holly
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