Feb 28 Mayo River Hikes

 

I think this is a Cayuga duck. While sitting in the picnic pavilion at Mayo River State Park, this guy and his mate approached and patiently watched as we ate lunch. Obviously, he was expecting a handout. I'm sure that would have resulted in a circus of other ducks to descend upon us. 

The large pavilion on the right has a number of picnic tables and massive fireplace. The shelter on the left has a wood fired grill. There is a two mile loop hiking trail from the parking area.

Bench cut from a large log.

For most of the two mile hiking trail, we were in an unexciting forest recovering from a timber cut some decades ago. However, the upper part of the loop had some interesting mature trees like this giant White oak. There was a significant amount of iron ore through here. 

Next up on our journey through the various Mayo River State Park tracts, is the Hickory Creek access. I love this tract but due to time constraints, we only walked a short distance to this log cabin with what appears to have a tree chimney. 

Finally, our last stop is the Deshazo tract, right at the VA/NC border. The picturesque waterfall, Falls Creek Falls, is located just a few minutes from the parking area. Just a few minutes more on the trail and you are at the Mayo River.

What is exciting about this area is that both NC and VA are actively acquiring land along the Mayo River. The NC park has a head start and more developed infrastructure. Very near the border, the South Fork Mayo and North Fork Mayo confluence forms the Mayo River which flows south to the confluence with the Dan River at aptly named Mayodan. 

In 1728 William Byrd camped near this rock, now known as Byrd's Ledge. He wrote of the beauty of the area in his journal. His journal is a treasure trove of knowledge about life in that era. Byrd recorded so much in his journal including minutia like what he did everyday and what he ate for each meal. That information gives us an insight into what life was like at that time. 

There have been discussions or perhaps, fantasizes, about building a pedestrian bridge across the river here, connecting the NC and VA state parks. 

The confluence

Feb 23 Caraway Mountain & Dam

 

We've been looking at Caraway Creek basin dams for a couple years. This is the largest, estimated at 600 feet across. It has a similar design as the other check dams we have visited. The one difference is that this one has mortar and is not dry stacked like the others. Last year the dam was hidden in a thicket which has now been cleared away.

Jan 2024 photo of same dam

Slanted spillway with spillway abutment in background

Mortared wall

The creek used go through the dam at the spillway but now has rerouted around the far side where it has blown out. The 1954 Hurricane Hazel may have caused that as it did the last dam we visited in the Uwharrie basin. 

Cement slab may have been a footing for a tower.

Next up, is the scramble up Caraway Mountain. There is a road going almost to the top but we decided to take the more adventurous route from Camp Caraway. We walked through open forest, pine forest and thickets, not seeing much of interest on the way up. At the top, were limited views to the east. Back Creek Mountain was about the only view we had. There appears to have been a tower of some sort here. Also, we saw piles of rock and holes. 

The top had stone walls on both the east and west sides. The stone walls paralleled each other but did not create an enclosure. 

We headed down a very steep hillside and picked up an old road which led us to the shooting range below.

The shooting range had both short and long range targets. It had been dug out of a hillside with the excavated dirt used to create an impact area. From there we passed a pond and then a thicket which finally deposited us back at Camp Caraway.  

Poor guy

Feb 17 Check Dam on Uwharrie Tributary

 

I'm call it a check dam but it has some differences from others we have seen in the Caraway Creek basin. This dam is located on an unnamed tributary of the Uwharrie River. It is about 200 yards from the Uwharrie. It spans the tributary in a tight spot. It is only about 150 feet wide and has the classic check dam spillway flanked with higher abutment walls. The center was breached in 1954 by Hurricane Hazel so there is no sign of conduit holes in the dam. It is also narrower than the Carraway check dams and made with smaller rock. It does have the slanted top, lower on the upcreek side. The top is capped with larger flattish rocks but much harder to walk on. 

A local coyote has claimed the top of the dam.

Top surface

Breached by Hurricane Hazel 

The upcreek side has been reinforced with mortar. I suspect this was done after it was built, not during construction.

After viewing the dam, we toured the rest of the 750 acre property. It is bordered on two sides by the Uwharrie River. We walked to the Uwharrie in a couple spots. It was flowing hard. 

Above is some  mistletoe in a Honey Locust. Look closely at where the mistletoe attaches to the tree. It actually taps into the trees vascular system to divert water and nutrients.  

This is the "Hughes House", probably just over 100 years old. It has a frame structure covered with weather boards. An addition was added on to the back. The house is beginning to collapse. 

We also visited a rock foundation and chimney fall on the property. A piece of metal which looked like the door for a cook stove showed an 1855 date on it. 

Rounding out our tour we visited a pond with a nice waterfall at its outlet and a spot by the Uwharrie known as "Cooners Knob", a favorite spot for coon hunting.

A final special treat was to see a Northern Harrier in a field.

Feb 10 Tanyard Creek Visit

 

This property is located along the Dan River close to the NC/VA state boundary. This is the house that had the very large European bee hive on my previous visit. The home sits high on the property with views of the surrounding fields. The Dan River is barely visible. 

A side tributary, Tanyard Creek flows into the Dan nearby. The name of the creek would indicate a tannery may have been located near here. 

During our visit, we scrambled along the the creek seeing many polypores or  shelf  fungus. 

The real treat was the rock here. During the Triassic period, 200 million years ago, this was an inland sea. Rivers fed the sea depositing sand, silt, rocks, smooth river stones and trees. The resulting accumulations were fused together under pressure forming the Triassic conglomerate rock found here. It also turned submerged logs into petrified wood.  

Note the small rocks embedded in the conglomerate rock. Many small and smooth river stones dot the rock surface. 

A nice cascade has smoothed out the rock here.

This is a view of the Dan River looking downriver. I was told that batteaux structures were in this vicinity. Although these in the photo look like naturally occurring rocks, the batteaux navigation system allowed boats to travel through the area both directions. In the mid 1800s, the US Army Core of Engineers improved navigation by blasting ledges and rapids, creating channels for boats to pass. 

A nice hunk of petrified wood. 

Feb 1 Bote Mountain Trail

 

Lung Lichen

Our hike is led by Joey and Roger, both former park employees. We started hiking on Lead Cove Trail, transitioned to Bote Mountain Trail and ending near Schoolhouse Gap. The Lead Cove trail is named for the lead deposits in the area which were mined by locals. Bote Mountain trail is named such because the Cherokee who were paid to build it, were given the choice of going up this ridge or the one next to it. They voted on this ridge. Since they did not have a "v" sound in their language, they pronounced vote as "bote". The ridge they did not choose is known as Defeat Ridge. 

Joey points to a bear hair on this tree. Bears bite trees or claw them to claim territory. Bite marks are usually about 6 feet up. Looking closely around the bite mark, often yields some hair. 

This small PVC pipe stuck in the ground, marks the spot a young woman is buried. The story is that she and a boyfriend planned to elope. One story has the boyfriend as a Cherokee, the other does not. Depending on the story, either the girl's father or uncle attempted to shoot the young man. The girl stepped in front to protect him and took the bullet. She died at the site and the boy got away. Having just killed the girl, the father or uncle must not have wanted to tell anyone what had happened, so the grave was dug atop a knoll. The PVC pipe is in a slight depression like you would expect a grave to be. It's unclear how the story survived. Did the boy tell it? Did the father or uncle ever confide in someone? That part will likely not ever be known. 

What is puzzling, there is a second pipe in the ground about 200 feet down from the top of the knoll. It is not in a depression and does not fit with the story of the girl being buried atop the knoll. Someone is messing with us?

Roger and Joey emerge from the Lead Cove Trail onto the Bote Mountain Trail which was built as a road and still resembles one. 

Dancing across the creek

We saw two chimney falls on Lead Cove. The first was just as we began hiking. This one was located right beside a creek and was likely not a home since there was no even remotely level ground around it. Possibly, it was a hunting cabin or shelter on the route to Spence Ridge which was used for summer grazing.

I found this area fascinating. Acres of muscadine covered and has killed some trees. Muscadine really takes over when there are timber cuts. Opening up the canopy and disturbing the leave litter allows seedbank seeds to sprout. The size of some of these vines indicate that this probably dates back to the last timber cut here in the 1920s or 1930s.