Pine bark

I drove along I-85 to get to the parking area, which had only a couple cars in it at 11am on a Saturday. Indeed, I only saw a few other people on the 2.2 mile trail. The first half a mile or so, there’s still a direct line-of-sound to the highway, but after curving around the back of the mountain, it dropped away and I was left with just the quiet of the woods. There’s much more pine around here than in Roanoke, so I snapped a couple pictures of the interesting bark texture. At this point, it was overcast, but bright. As I progressed on the path, it got darker and more overcast.

Interesting fungus

The thing that most caught my eye on the first half of the trail was this bit of fungus growing on a stump. There weren’t too many mushrooms around. It’s too cold for them at this point, I suppose. While walking around a different park in the area a couple months ago, there were lots of types of mushrooms popping up all over the place. In general, there wasn’t too much green around. On the back side of the mountain, there was a certain leafy tree/bush that was doing well for itself, but that was it. This is visible in the Google Map.

Busted fridge

Also around back, the park butts up against a powerline right-of-way. I walked under and around the structures. A long time ago (months, years, decades?) someone decided to use one of the towers as his personal dumb. On that day, he had two tires, a refrigerator, and random metal bits with him. It’s all slowly becoming part of the landscape, but I think the fridge will be around for a while. From the right-of-way, there was a view of a quarry a mile away and a smaller road. It was quieter, but they weren’t the most peaceful or natural surroundings. Luckily, the trail quickly led back into the woods.

Warning sign

The next adventure on the path was this warning sign which, while intimidating, didn’t keep me from walking the forbidden 20 feet to take a peek from the overlook. It was indeed a steep drop and it wasn’t until I went around to the bottom that I saw how undercut the overlook itself was. It does look like it’ll disappear to the bottom of Panther’s Den some day. However, today wasn’t that day and I live to disobey warning signs yet another day. Further along the bottom of the cliff was a fire circle and a pile of tent stakes giving the appearance that someone had braved the risk of an overlook falling on them and spent the night there.

Bumpy tree

At this point, the trail goes along the Eno River for a short stretch. At its widest, the Eno was about 20 feet across and if I squinted, I could see it flowing. A women walked by me impatiently calling her dog, who had managed to get on the other bank. Further upstream and downstream, the park ends and private land begins, giving one the sense that they really had to shoehorn the park into this space. Reading the history of the (somewhat new) park seems to confirm this. I don’t know whether they’ve added the additional 250 acres yet, but it doesn’t seem like there’s too much room to grow from it’s current size.

Ever-present interstate

From the Eno River, I came back around to the front of the mountain and was confronted with the sound of I-85 again. Perhaps in the Summer when all of the trees have grown in, the aural assault isn’t as brutal. On this stretch, I found a couple interesting trees and started passing more people coming from the other direction. A couple steps later, I was back at the parking area and on my way home.

In general, Occoneechee Mountain was a nice, quick getaway. It’s closeness almost makes up for the intrusiveness of the interstate while at the park. Maybe I’ll try back in the Spring when there’s a bit more foliage on the trees. As for Winter, I think I’ve seen all the park has to offer.