May 5 Uwharrie Naturalist Day

It's a 7am start at Low Water Bridge near Ophir and there are 30 folks waiting. I did not expect such a gathering of early birds but that is why we came, to see the early birds. Brian O'Shea from the Raleigh Museum of Sciences is leading us on a bird tour of the 1300 acre Low Water Bridge Preserve, a property owned and protected by the Land Trust for Central North Carolina. Crystal Cockman has organized the event and Executive Director, Travis Morehead along with his family, are in attendance as well. There are some small kids along making this a nice family event.

The hike starts along the Uwharrie River. I'm at the tail of the group so I don't know what birds are being spotted. I do spot this Atomasco Lily.

We hear the usual suspects, a Black Throated Green and Pine Warbler. Then a Prothorntary Warbler, Scarlet Tanager and few others which have slipped from my mind. Above, we have to cross Big Creek. 

Flat land meant it was good for farming and living on, as we see above. About this point, our group splits, with about half heading back to the parking area while the rest follow Travis to view a mine. I opt for the mine. We veer off the old road and meander for about 15 minutes, Travis sensing the way. We have to cross a small creek and then at the top of a hill, I see a big pile of dirt. Expecting to see a pit mine, which are found throughout the Uwharries, I am stunned to be staring down a 40 feet shaft cut through rock. Travis mentioned the shaft was explored by a naturalist interest in the bat population here. He was lowered into the shaft. At the bottom there was a horizontal shaft in which some bats were observed.

A few more flowers were spotted to round out the day. A Lanceleaf Coreopsis above and Foam Flower below.

Sweet Shrub 

The gold mine shaft

May 3 Snowbird Creek

We're doing a hike up and back on Snowbird Creek. The possible destination is Middle Falls, but I have doubts we'll be able to ford the creek in order to get there. The first 3 miles are easy uphill high above the creek, along an old railbed. At some spots it appears the old crossties are still in the ground. 

We reach this old panel truck which had been converted to a travel van. The back side windows were added. We have to cross Sassafras Creek, a tributary of the Snowbird Creek at this point. There is a sketchy rock hop which we successfully negotiated. I noted that on the return, this would be a more difficult crossing. 

And the rocks were slick, of course.

Continuing for another mile along relatively easy hiking conditions, we came to what appeared to be the first crossing of Snowbird Creek. It looked very difficult. I walked up creek a short way to scout a better route. That's when I saw this ↓↓↓

A bridge where I don't remember one. Last time I was here in 2007, it was not here. Now there is this massive bridge. How this got built is a mystery. The bed is one solid piece of wood spanning the creek. So, we crossed on the bridge. It wasn't but just a short distance beyond this, there was a "for real" creek crossing which didn't look inviting, so we eat lunch and called this the "turnaround" spot.

Just a short way back downcreek, we took a scramble route down to the creek and Big Falls. This was a spectacular spot with a staircase of ledges  leading to the Big Falls ↓

After spending some time at the this spot, on the rocks just above the falls, we scrambled back up to the trail and headed back down the trail.

At the spot of the Sassafras Creek crossing, I took off my pack to get my water shoes out. On a whim, I walked up the creek along a faint trail - and surprise, there was a log bridge, crudely made but quite inviting. How we missed this on the way up, I'll never know.

May 2 Huckleberry Knob

From the Cherohala Skyway, this mountain bald is a an easy hike along an old forest road. At the top, a 360 degree view awaits. At 5560 feet, it is the highest point in the Unicois. 

Near the summit is a cross and marker at the spot where a couple loggers' bodies were found after having been frozen to death. The two fellows, Andy Sherman and Paul O'Neal, were trying to cross the mountains to get to Robbinsville before Christmas 1899. Nine months later their bodies were discovered by a hunter. All accounts of this incident which I have read, note the bodies were found near several jugs of moonshine.