Of Earth and Stars

So many things I need to write about/catch up on here in this space. But first, I am just going to drop a few photos from our first hike of the year, the Campbell Creek Loop Trail at Raven Rock State Park. Since it's bound to be cold and rainy tomorrow, we decided to soak up some sunshine and fresh air while we could. We looped about 5.4 miles between the Loop Trail and the Lanier Falls trails. It felt so good to be outdoors, at one point I just felt so at peace, so happy, to be spending my day away from the computer and with L. and the dog, that I was almost teary-eyed. (It has been, to say the least, a burn-out inducing week at work.)

Running water, sturdy rocks, a blue sky and cool clean air? What more could you want?
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More Flickr photos here.

We had to wait about 20 minutes to enter the park due to high capacity, so after travel and hiking time, it took up a good 5 hours of the day. I was testing out a newer set of minimalist shoes (with some updated insoles) and was pleasantly surprised at how comfortable they were, as Raven Rock's trails live up to their name and require about equal amounts of time looking down as around.

There were a number of elevation changes (AllTrails lists it at 600 ft), between the geography of the river and that the park is located along the Fall Line between the piedmont and coast plain. But other than having the trek the last half mile back completely uphill, it was all do-able, and beautiful.

Anyway, I know my hiking photos are sometimes tedious, but it's just so nice sometimes to be in a place where you can just be, no rushing, no pretenses, just you and your own two feet carrying/climbing you onwards. And the wind in the dried leaves of winter, or the babbling creek, or the rush of the rapids - all remind me of how much bigger this world is than the little anxious broken pieces of that life seems to be sometimes.

Tomorrow I am looking forward to a day indoors, listening to the rain and catching up on my reading, and hopefully making use of some leftover spaghetti noodles in a creamy chik'n (soy curl) noodle soup.

Just a few pictures/follow up on today's trail exploration. We returned to the Bailey and Sarah Williamson preserve, which is only about 20 minutes away, and has a number of loop trails that we haven't gotten around to exploring. We wanted to try the Magnolia Run trail, which, per the map, looked like a 4-mile squirrelly/switchback-y trail usually indicative of sharp elevation changes. The only issues to getting to it is that it is only accessed by following a number of loop trails from the north end of the preserve, or by following the greenway along the river to a connector trail, jumping on a separate loop trail (the Salamander Loop), then finally arriving at the trailhead for the Magnolia (so, about a two mile hike from parking to start the trail, then the four miles through, then the two miles back). We've done 6-8 miles previously in Umstead, so thought it would be a good challenge, and we packed a bag with plenty of water and snacks for us and the dog, and even some first aid items and extra clothing. 

As it turns out, the trail is shared with mountain bikers, and they are often flying through, up and down the many hills, curves, and even planned ramps and bike bridges that are scattered throughout. So part of our hike involved dodging those folks. We screwed up a little at the beginning by mis-reading the sign on the direction of hikers vs. bikers and runners, so there was about six-tenths of a mile we were having to watch our backs for bikers. We were able to right ourselves at the next loop, though, so it turned out okay. 

I think both L. and I were a little underwhelmed at the trail, even though it was a beautiful day. It just seemed more attuned to bikers than hikers, and while there were plenty of turns, it felt more like wandering in circles than really being taken through a more varied geological terrain (there are lots of places along the trail in which you are parallel to or running up on other pieces of the trail, which feels redundant). Honestly, after the two-mile hike in and about three-and-a-half miles through the Magnolia Loop, we tired of the trek, and so took a short jaunt through the woods to dead-end on the greenway, which runs parallel to the south-side of the loop. Of course, we were still about three miles from the car at that point, so we had a long trek back either way, but the greenway was more direct. All in all, we were out and about for about 4 hours, so we got plenty of exercise.

And really - there were a few points of visual interest along the trail.


The walk along the greenway to get to the trail connector.

Some pics beyond the cut, and the rest in a Flickr album.( +5 )

After all of that, we came home quite tired; my hip flexors have definitely entered the chat and not shut up since. :P We considered going out to grab food, but had already packed the house with groceries earlier today, and didn't need to spend more. So L. graciously made my favorite easy Vietnamese tofu wraps, which were awesome.

I think tonight we'll wrap up watching The Midnight Club, and maybe can find something else appropriately spoopy to enjoy. Beyond that, I want to read more in my mushroom foraging book, too.

Hope all is well with you. ♥