Raven Rock State Park

marcescent beech leaves, one of my favorite winter sights, ubiquitous back in NH

Last weekend Sam and visited Raven Rock State Park, a beautiful place on the eastern edge of the Piedmont region, in Harnett County, NC. We hiked the gentle rolling hills 4.5 mile Campbell Creek Loop Trail and the Lanier Falls Trail along the Cape Fear River. 

There was a a dead deer along one of the creeks that flows into the Cape Fear River. 

Our goofy pup, Marvin

The bench along Lanier Falls

Marvin and Sam along the trail

 

Okefenokee: Part III

 In August of 2020 I went back to Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge with my twin brother and best friend, Paul. August is not the most popular time of year to visit a wetland in southern Georgia, but we previously experienced it in December and January, and wanted to see it in the humid heart of summer. 

Understandably the platforms are closed in the summer, we opted to spend a few nights in  Okefenokee Pastimes Cabins, the private campground directly across from the refuge. 

Jones Lake State Park

 On a very hot and humid day in August of 2020, we hiked the 4-mile Bay Trail at Jones Lake State Park. The very flat trail is a loop around  224-acre Jones Lake, one of the two carolina bays in the park, the other being Salters Lake. 

a glimpse of the dense pocosin wetlands that border much of the lake

a view of Jones Lake from a gap in the forest, along the trail

an eastern fence lizard

the fallen flower from a loblolly bay, a beautiful wetland tree common in pocosins)

a pine stand in the adjacent uplands near the lake

an american toad

along Bay Trail

along Bay Trail

a rough green snake