North Carolina State Park #4: Raven Rock

Somewhere about a month ago Mila and I decided to try and visit each of North Carolina's state parks while we live here. It will mean going to about one a month, but luckily we've had a bit of a start. Without making this too long, I'll try and put some pics of the others while focusing on last weekend's camping/hiking trip.

The first state park we visited was during our first North Carolina excursion after moving here last summer, Hammocks Beach. Part of the Outer Banks (OBX as the cool kids call it), the park focuses on kayaking on an intracoastal waterway. While not the greatest kayakers, we still had a good time paddling around and racing a thunderstorm back to the car.

some birds had made it their nesting ground

hurry!

The second state park we hit was Hanging Rock. It includes miles of trails but the highlight is getting up on Hanging Rock itself. James was in town and it was in the 30s so we went bundled up. The only negative I can say is the large group of people yelling and/or blasting music while hiking. Come on now. I'm there to go check out nature, not listen to your music. Maybe I'm getting to be a grumpy old man.

We actually saw snow!

great view, but I'll have to come back in the fall to see all the colors too

There's a 50 miler this fall that starts at Hanging Rock. That's the one I'm going to start training for shortly.

The third state park is actually only about 15 minutes away - Carver's Creek. We for sure should have visited beforehand. There's a 2 mile loop that takes you down a sandy trail through a field then piney forest. Off to the north of that loop, you can tack on another 3/4 mile and find a nice little lake.

All right, we're caught up now. State Park #4 is Raven Rock. Another one that's pretty close. We slowly started gathering camping equipment a few years ago but had never gone camping until Raven Rock. A few friends of mine had gone rucking out there (eww), but I'd never gone. So, we (over)loaded the truck with shiny new camping equipment and set out. There was a 30% chance of rain but nada for storms, so we decided to go for it.

A little reminder of San Angelo

Here we go!

We, of course, chose the longest trail in the park, the 5 mile long Campbell Creek Trail. We wanted to get out there in the early afternoon, spend a couple hours enjoying the hike, and then set up camp before it starts to get dark.

We really enjoyed the peaceful hike. There were plenty of other people out there but everyone was doing the same as we were. Well, mostly. There was a group of young service members who apparently lost a couple members of their group and could be heard yelling that person's name throughout the woods. (they did find them eventually)

Hey there buddy

The trail's namesake

It's that pollen time of year here in North Carolina

Lanier Falls

my ankles' worst nightmare

Lanier Falls is the culmination of the Campbell Creek Trail but wasn't quite the dropoff I expected. However, the water was very fast moving at a point where the Cape Fear River is pretty wide.

We had to push to get back both because we started a bit late and the skies opened up on us. The truck doesn't have a topper and we'd left all of our camping equipment in the back. Including the sleeping bags. Luckily, the rainstorm dissipated after only a few minutes. It was enough to make a couple damp spots on my sleeping bag, but only down by the feet.

After hurrying back, we were able to get to the camping site and set up fairly quickly.

TBH, we were hoping/prepared for something a bit more "woodsy." The stakes didn't quite stick in the pea rock and our grill, water tank, and table were all unnecessary. Luckily, there were plenty of logs in those trees behind the site and we were able to make our dinner over an open fire.

and S'MORES!

We played cards for a bit and headed to bed with plans of checking out some of the trails on the other side of the park in the morning after breakfast. Then the rains came again. No worries, our new tent kept us nice and dry. But wait, what about our shoes and lighter? Oops. So.... we packed up and went to a restaurant for breakfast before heading home.

We enjoyed Raven Rock and, as it's only 45 minutes away with miles of trails, I'll definitely going back there when I get deep into ultra training.

State Park 3.5?

Like many of these blogs, this one's taken me weeks to write. Between work and our family 5k competition, I just haven't had the time to write. While getting this one done, I went back out to Carver's Creek. This time, I went to the other side of the park and got onto a new trail system. I didn't get lost but, didn't have the distances planned out perfectly so in cutting the run short, I still ran 7.5 instead of the planned 6. It was an extremely enjoyable run on easy, non-technical trails with very little climbing.