Oct 23 Medoc Mountain

 

Here, near the fall line, a 325' hill can be called a mountain. The fall line is where the harder rocks of the piedmont give way to the softer rocks of the coastal plain. Way back during the Paleozoic Age, 350 million years ago, volcanic activity formed a mountain range here. The surrounding countryside all eroded away into what is now massive open fields and almost completely flat terrain. Medoc Mountain is part of a granite structure that didn't completely erode away. 

I thought the name Medoc had a Native American origin but it is named for a French grape area in the Bordeaux region. There has to be a story behind that. Sidney Weller owned the land during the first half of the 19th century. He developed the land into vineyards which supplied grapes for his wine making business - Weller's Halifax. By 1840 it was the leading American wine producer. Weller is credited with establishing the country's grape wine viticulture. He named the mountain for the French wine making area. In 1854 he sold the business to the Garrett brothers Charles and FM. Later by 1900, a descendent Paul Garrett produced the country's most popular wine, Virginia Dare. Eventually, the vineyards were replaced with other agriculture.

In 1970, local conservationists began an effort to establish a park on the property. Much of the land was to be logged by Union Camp. The locals were able to delay timbering and by 1973 the land had been purchased and the state created the state park. It just celebrated its 50th anniversary. 

I viewed two dams in the park, both on the same tributary of Fishing Creek. This concrete one, has a rectangular opening with a metal frame to hold rising boards. 

The second dam is just upcreek. It is stone and earthen. It appears there is a possible mill race next to this one.

This surprised me. Mountain laurel, lots of it. So much that this trail has a long Mountain laurel tunnel.

At the top of the hill there was an early Boy Scout Camp dating to 1920. BSA was formed in 1910. I saw no remnants of any structures here. The summit is a long ridge which an old road follows for some distance. The Vinson family has a cemetery here. I was not able to learn anything about that family. These stones dated from late 1800s to early 1900s. The park built a wood fence around the cemetery. A roll of old cemetery fence is seen nearby.

Bridge over Fishing Creek

A large salamander, the Neuse River Waterdog is found here. It is a large salamander which only is found in the Neuse, Tar/Pamlico river basins. There are other similar salamanders known as mudpuppies, mud dogs etc. They all live in water, breathing through gills, never developing lungs like terrestrial salamanders. 

This kids' adventure and educational trail is located right by the Visitors center. It is both quirky and educational. A ranger told me that staff from several other state parks has come to view it. So, we may see more of these at other parks. 

Zoom in to see the accompaniments.