NW

The pictures and journals shown here were taken on our trips to places in the octant northwest of the Research Triangle Park area.  This includes places as close as Hillsborough and some as far as Hanging Rock and Caswell County, North Carolina all the way to the Blue Ridge Parkway.  Blue underlinings are links by which you can learn more about that location.

2010

Ayr Mount

Jan. 16th

Sasha, Linda, Gabrielle, Lee

Large gathering (23)

Sheryl, Lydia, Pippin

2009

Hillsborough Occoneechee Speedway Trail	Nov. 14th	Gabrielle and Lily			Late Fall colors	Atop the stands	Maia leads the hike
Occoneechee Mountain	Oct. 17th			Richard, Earl, Rodney	Lily, Richard		Occoneechee Mountain State Natural Area
Ayr Mount	Aug. 29th	A car show pre-empted our visit to the HOST.	Randy, Jane, Linda	Mary, Nancy, Bill, Paul		Mary is the conehead on the right.	Patio view of Ayr Mount
Johnston Mill	Aug. 15th	Gathering	Shoebear lovin' Fleur	Fleur, Linda, Mary		Sitting at the memorial overlook
Ayr Mount, Hillsborough	4th of July	Santo and Kathy			View of the Eno River	A little break to enjoy the pond
Occoneechi Mountain	May 30th		Where's Linda?	Sasha joins us again.	Looking out at the overlook	Susan and Dianna	I let them taste the first blueberries up there.
Poets Walk, Ayr Mount, Hillsborough	May 16th	Bill greets Maya		Overlooking the Eno River	New Farmers Market		At the Saratoga Grill
Johnston Mill	Apr. 18th	The MATA group picture		Bill has his coffee	Rand and Earl	Nancy	On the Creekside Trail
Mebane	Mar. 14th	Rain!	Now shuttered, once a furniture factory				Shopping with an occasional stop to get out of the rain.
				Leaning on the locals...	and a wet kiss in the rain	Enjoying Mebane Esspress	and ecstasy over the hazel nut gelato.
Mebane	Mar. 6th	Linda and I prescreen Mebane for a future hike.				Mebane's Portugese bakery now closed
			Potential for our lunch is the Pomodora Italian restaurant			Wonderful gelato at the Mebane Espress
Johnston Mill (New trail)	Jan. 31st	The group gathers momentum	Margaret Wainwright leads the hike.		John returns a lot lighter than before.	The new cedar bridge
HOST	Jan. 3rd		He opened the museum for us to see.			Mary tries the comfy new  outhouse.

2008

Occoneechi Mountain for Fall colors	Nov. 1st	Richard, Rodney and Linda	Richard, Jane and Sam	The remnants of the observation deck	Color at the overlook		Newly designed pond
Johnston Mill Trail	Sept. 20th			Triangle Land Conservancy website	Carolina Bird Club - Liz Pullman description
HOST, Hillsborough Occoneechi Speedway Trail	Aug. 9th	Charles, Margie and Mary	Barb and Jim	Shiangtai	Checking the stats	Bill and Mary	Historic Speedway Group restoration projects
Poet's Walk, Ayr Mount, Hillsborough	July 19th	Debby	Jane and Linda	Earl and Rodney	Debby and Shiangtai		Group with Dave
Blackwood Mountain	May 24th	Old friend Jan joins us for this hike		Training young equestrians at Spence's Farm	Tom becomes part of a totem pole		Spence's Farm has an extensive organic garden. Mary photographing Nancy and Earl
				Jane, our leader for the day, swings.		Mounting the behemoth	View at the top of Black Mountain
Johnston Mill Trail	Apr. 26th	Mary and Linda being pulled by Fleur					Margaret Wainright told of a new trail she helped to clear.  Maybe next time.
Occoneechi Mountain State Park	Feb. 17th	The gang gets going.	Leslie and Linda.	Overlooking the Eno River	Sheryl watches as the kids scan the view.	Pyrophillite quarry	Coming around the new Loop Trail
Hillsborough Occoneechi Speedway Trail	Jan. 5th		Map of the track	New judges stand for the auto show in 2007.	The stands have been cleared.		Nancy with Bearly

2007

Blackwood Mountain	Dec. 16th	Photos courtesy of Shiangtai Tuan	Ken and Jane		Standing on the beaver dam	Sweethearts
Party at Jane's house at 5:00 pm		Jane and Leslie	Dave, Bill and Ted	Di Anna, Fran, Jack		Leading the singing are Ken, Sam and Suzi
Occoneechi Mountain	Dec. 1st	Rodney and Linda leading the way	Speeding up the hill	New hikers overlooking the Eno River - Gail, Diane, Pat		Terraforming the fishing lake during the drought
Occoneechi Mountain, Hillsborough	Oct. 20th	Gathering				Quite a breezy day
		Karate kid about to do the Crane kick	Ah... youth	the boundless energy	Toasting Linda's retirement	Pano video of the Saratoga Grill
HOST during severe drought - 80 days without rain	Sept. 22nd	Margaret and Ken	Leslie and Deb	Deb, Rodney and Linda crossing the bridge		Heading back
HOST	Aug. 18th	Racing at the Speedway	Linda competes with her new Canon camera...	and gets a shot of Mary.		Wendell and Ann at the Saratoga
Poet's Walk, Ayr Mount, Hillsborough	Aug. 4th	Eno River at a low level	Watching the dragonflies mate	Dee with Oreo	The manse	Upcoming car show at HOST across the river
Johnston Mill Trail	June 30th	Earl sporting his other Route 66 tshirt	Nancy climbs the hill.	Alex runs up with boundless energy.	Poor boy Pippin has a pink tail.	We cross the river to see the mill ruins.
Johnston Mill Trail	May 19th	Ascending the stairs	Anna and Whit climb over log.	Jane, Nancy and John	Smiling faces	Big black snake
Blackwood Mountain	March 31st	Linda	Jane describes her hike plan.		Richard reliving childhood.	"Every part of the earth is sacred to my people..." Chief Seattle
		On the old cart trail	Jane leads us down a side trail to a great fallen tree.	Standing on the behemoth	Wetland on the plateau	View USGS aerial map of Blackwood Mountain, elevation 744 ft.
Hillsborough Occoneechi Speedway Trail	Feb. 10th	Joan, Linda, Mary			Climbing the moss covered grandstand	Under the fallen trees
Poet's Walk at Ayr Mount, Hillsborough	Jan. 11th	Large turnout for a sweet little hike		Overlooking the Eno River		Classical American Homes Preservation Trust
		Kathy and friend Janet		Reflecting pond	Wonderful for a group picture	Preservation North Carolina: See Restorations - Ayr Mount Historic Site

2006

HOST	Dec. 9th	Adjust that hiking stick, Linda	At the overlook across from the Poet's walk	with hiking sticks flailing...	we meet with Jack and DiAnna.	Really cold today...43 degrees!
Johnston Mill Trail	Oct. 21st	Fall colors	Climbing the steps	Linda getting aerobic	Earl and cowboy Sam	Nancy & Gabrielle
Panther Cave at Eno River State Park	Sept. 23rd	Happily setting off	Ken with grasshopper	Exploring the old slave cemetery	Small group picture	The Nature Conservancy on the Occoneechi Mountain State Natural Area
		Earl helps Nancy cross over fallen trees.	Just how big was that rock, Dave?	Nancy and Earl joined in to see the den.	Rodney explores the panther den while Jack looks on.	Artifact - a fireplug in the woods
Historic Occoneechi Speedway Trail	Aug. 26th	Dee's Oreo admired by Mary	Linda, Rodney, Betty enjoying dappled sunlight	Earl expounds to Lily and Richard	More expounding	Hillsborough's Farmers Market
Johnston Mill Trail	Aug. 5th	Bill and Jane	Sharing the trail with horseman	Mary poses with her walking stick	Earl, Leslie, Mary	Linda leads the uphill climb.
Johnston Mill Trail on Hillsborough Hog Day	June 17th		Hiking so fast that the camera can't keep up			Goin' to the Saratoga Grill

We usually do our tour of Historic Milton on the 4th of July.  However, this year Milton was hosting a tour of the outstanding homes in Milton for the benefit of the Union Tavern/Thomas Day Home.  We planned to do it a little differently this time around.  We would go to Milton first and tour the homes in the cooler part of the day.  Lunch has always been a problem since the nearest eatery to Milton is in another state, Danville, VA.  This time we planned to visit Yoder's Store on the way back.  That way we would have a lovely spot for al fresco dining under the trees or on the porch of the store sitting on the wonderful cedar rockers.  Turns out the breeze was blowing and it was cooler than it was back in Raleigh/Durham.  This plan was a success and we will probably do this the next time we visit Milton.

Historic Homes of Milton	May 20th	We don't miss roadside America for Steph and Rand	Presbyterian Church with pews made by Thomas Day	Union Tavern, Thomas Day's home and workshop	Now showing some of his furniture	Baptist Church interior: columns and pulpit by Thomas Day
Row of Victorian buildings on Broad Street	11:24 am	The old South: theatre with entrance for blacks on right	Robert L. Walker's Victorian, circa 1870	Woodside: home of Major General Stephen Dodson Ramseur	The group picture!	Earl tells the sad tale of Dodson Ramseur
Interior of Woodside	12:31 pm	Thomas Day newell post	Caryatid arch at Longwood	Magnificent, opulent living room	Equally posh bath	Slave quarters
Johnston Mill Trail	May 13th	Lush emerald woods	Liliana leads uphill		Sad dedication I had not seen before	Were we discussing the DaVinci Code?
Historic Occoneechi Speedway Trail	April 8th, 2006	Old cedars draped in moss	Occasionally the sun breaks through	Big Bend trail offers view of the Eno River		Elaine, in front, soon leaves us for Montana!

Earl wanted to revive the hike up to Occoneechi quarry which we used to do as far back as 1997.  I had previewed the hike on January 4th to see that the trail is clear.  Other than a few fallen trees, it was.  I also detoured around the fence to take a look at the Panther Cave, the spring and the rock cap fern, a relict species that survives on the north slope of Occoneechi Mountain.  Those things are still there.  We did not attempt this with the group since the trail is a little like a bushwhack.  This was formerly on private property and now has been sold to the Eno River Association; soon to pass into the hands of the State Park.  The pictures I include here were taken three weeks before.  Of course, we lunched at the Saratoga Grill.  This has been a favorite for years and stays as sweet as it ever was.

Hillsborough to Occoneechi Quarry	Jan. 29th, 2006	Hiking from Hillsborough Courthouse makes this a decent hike.	Musing over the slave cemetery.	Lily, new hiker	group picture
			Finally we reached the quarry.		Panther cave	The rock cap fern survives and prospers.
Occoneechi Mountain State Park	Dec. 24th	Strung out...		Ken and Leslie	at the overlook	Randy and Linda
Ayr Mount, Hillsborough	Sept. 25th				On the Poet's Walk
Hillsborough Occoneechi Raceway Trail	June 25th			After climbing up the stands we took the Big Bend trail.
Montrose Open House	May 21st, 2005	Being led by an Aussie sheep dog		Poppy and bee
Montrose	Earl and Nancy stroll in.			Linda & Abbie Stuart		Abbie Stuart doing Kuerner's Barn
HOST	Feb. 19th, 2005	Entering the speedway				Mary and Catherine
Johnston Mill Trail	Feb. 5th 2005	Jane with her long awaited Prius!				Basking in the rays of the sun
HOST	Nov. 27th				Fiora, Leslie followed by Elizabeth, Stuart's sister
Johnston Mill trail	Nov. 20th	Large gathering (19)		New signage		Group picture
Occoneechee Mountain	Oct, 23rd	Bill doing the Egyptian		Brilliant view	I'nt 'at sweet?  Posin'
Johnston Mill	Aug. 21st
Johnston Mill	June 5th
Ayr Mount & Montrose Gardens	May 15th, 2004
HOST	Apr. 3rd, 2004				Our latest favorite hike
Johnston Mill	March 27th, 2004			This time Dave chose the middle road...poorly.
Johnston Mill Trail	Jan. 3rd, 2004					Carolina birders comment on birds at Johnston Mill
Historic Occoneechee Speedway Trail	Oct. 25th, 2003
Hillsborough town hike	August 16th, 2003
Occaneechi Mountain, Hillsborough	July 26th, 2003

Jane whispered in our hike coordinator's ear that Montrose was having an open house on the 17th of May.  Fortunately for us, he took her up on that opportunity.  Although the day was cloudy and drizzly we enjoyed cool temperatures while heavy rain did not fall on our parade.  Earl suggested that we park at Ayr Mount since parking at Montrose was limited.  But as we passed the school we saw a crowded parking lot and surmised correctly that that is where the visitors to Montrose, next door, were parking.  We gamely went on to Ayr Mount and decided to add a hike along the Poet's trail to our day's activities.  Many of our members had not hiked there and it was thoroughly enjoyable.  Then we moved on to Montrose.

Ayr Mount, Hillsborough	May 17th, 2003				Now we car pool to Montrose gardens
Montrose and its gardens and greenhouses	Later that day					Tale of Montrose from TLC 1999
	Still Later					Nancy Sanders Goodwin's garden - Duke Magazine

All in all this was a wonderful day of hiking two of the outstanding mansions of Hillsborough.  Of course, we dropped in to visit Colleen at her popular Saratoga Grill and had a pleasant brunch after the hike.  Table for 20 and even made room for Ken and Leslie.

Johnston Mill Trail

Mar. 16th, 2003

Triangle Land Conservancy web site

In the second week of 2003 Earl decided that we would tour the streets of Hillsborough again.  Linda led the hike to some of the high points of the town - the visitor center, the old schoolhouse, church with its famed Tiffany window, the library building and finally back for a group picture at the Indian Village beside the Eno River.   The post-hike activities included lunch at the Saratoga Grill where they provided us with tables for 20.  I enjoyed the blue cheese burger.  I mentioned to Mary and Bill that there was a new wine shop, the Hillsborough Wine Company, just down the street.  Turns out that they were having a wine tasting of Spanish reds with Bruno from the local distributor Oenophilia.  These were a surprise in that they were all reasonably priced and showed that the Spanish are developing wines that have international appeal.  This day was especially memorable since we had all seen new things in Hillsborough.  I just Googled and found a web site that reveals everything you ever wanted to know about Hillsborough which was very interesting.

Hillsborough

Jan. 11th, 2003

Earl let me know at the "Dead Poet's" meeting on Tuesday that Milton was having a house tour and this seemed to unearth a good turnout for the trip.  Lots of new opportunities for photography and lots of new locations, many of which we had not seen before.  Apparently, in all of the years that we have visited this tiny town we didn't know that it was near enough to a world class sports car racing track to hear the roar in the distance right on Commercial Row.  Imagine, I can take my sports car and tool around their track for a half a day with instruction for only $775.  What a bargain!?  Getting out of the car my glasses fogged so that I could not see from the oppressive humidity.  However, from the smiles you can see that we all had a good time.  For the panorama, you will have to scroll to the right to see all of it.  I haven't yet figured how to get the PixAround applet to work in my website.  No need to challenge your computer with that detail.

Shangri La, route 86N	Oct 5th, 2002	Successful Panorama				John tinkers with gadget
Yoder's Country Store	Afternoon			Signup for the Tour		Visiting renovated Woodside
Milton "Museum Without Walls"	Woodside now leasing					We're not in a hurry, are we?
On to Virginia Int'l Raceway	We could hear the roar of sports cars				Eating at Aunt Millie's		Funny Hat Day?
Robert L. Walker House, senator		Methodist Church of Milton				Marian Thomas, docent of Thomas Day House

 

Johnston Mill Trail, Triangle Land Conservancy

Sept. 7th, 2002

This hike above marked the end of the really hot weather and the preceding drought.  We had just had some sustained rain from a tropical depression off the coast.  Note the lush foliage and reflections of the trees in the New Hope Creek.  Gilda enjoys her frequent swims when she goes along with the group.

Ayr Mount, Hillsborough, NC	Aug. 10th, 2002					Preservation North Carolina
Shangri La and Yoder's Country Market	July 4th, 2002	White Rock Station on 158			Yoder's, a Mennonite family business
Milton, Independence Day, 2002	A small town celebrates			Union Tavern website
Caswell County	July 4th, 2001	Visiting Shangri-La		Yoder's Amish Store
Milton 4th of July Celebration	Parade			The Tavern

 

Following is the photolog of our first hike to the newly opened Johnston Mill Trail.  This trail is probably the best structured and maintained trails that we hike in the Triangle area.  There is sufficient altitude to make the hike a challenge and views of the New Hope Creek are provided along the way.  We prefer this hike in warmer weather because of the lush tree cover.

Johnston Mill Trail, Triangle Land Conservancy

June 30th, 2001

Click to view directions on the TLC website.

Just did the big O again, our own little Everest foothill.  We start our hike in Hillsborough which makes it a decent aerobic hike.  This time we were to find that the cliff beneath the observation platform had slid down the hill.  One wonders whether the construction of the platform had something to do with weakening the quarry face.  We have stood up there many times as the other pix on this page will attest.  Now, modernization is having destructive effects.  In order to make the climb worthwhile, since the quarry was roped off, we went on to the two towers on the mountaintop.  Too bad we can't go up to the top of the old tower so we can enjoy the view of the valley.

Occoneechi after a rain

June 2nd, 2001

high res

Our previous trip to Occoneechi State Park took place on a rainy day.  Since we had complaints last time I chose to take the easy trail but most climbed up the steepest trail to the top.  Needless to say, the three of us that took the easy trail got there first.  We found Colleen Carmody lecturing a group of school children of the wonders of the park at the overlook.  That day, I had been reading the News and Observer and lo and behold, there was Colleen with her betrothed on the front of the B section counting birds together at Falls Lake.  They both are park rangers.  You can see the result of their count at http://www.birdsource.org  I happened to take Ranger Carmody's picture that day (see below).

Occoneechi in the rain

Jan. 20th, 2001

Our favorite hike followed by a visit to  Saratoga Grill!

All photos these days are being taken with the 2.1 megapixel Nikon CoolPix 950.  We have a few shots that represent effects that can only be achieved with computer enhanced digital photography.

Occoneechi Mountain in the snow alone?	Nov. 20th, 2000				I visited Colleen, State Park Ranger, at 10AM.
Occoneechi Mountain Rock Climb	Oct. 21st, 2000
Eno River  Copter Flyover	March 28th, 1999				We celebrated with the Eno River Association and waved for the videocam.
Revisiting Hanging Rock	Nov. 13th -14th				Pan from exactly at the Geodetic Survey marker just before our picnic.
Window Falls & Hidden Falls	Nov. 15th, 1998				Go Guide to Appalachian Trail/Grayson Highlands Love camping despite the rain.
Grayson Highlands, VA	Aug. 28, 1998				Great weekend camping! Sherpa Guide to the Virginia Mountains
Milton, NC	July 4th, 1998				These are some other sights we see in Milton.  See below for link.
Occoneechi Mountain	Mar. 5th, 1998				Read more about a fun hike to a lush, high spot in the county!
Hillsborough, NC	Feb. 7th, 1998				Buy a post for the village pallisade.
Hillsborough	Sept. 20th, 1997				Occoneechee Mountain
Raccoon Holler, Blue Ridge	Aug. 1st, 1997				Read more about our trip. GORP - The Blue Ridge Parkway
Milton	July 4th, 1997				Entertainment in Caswell County
Hanging Rock, NC	Mar. 28th, 1997			Great hike on a sunny spring day!	State Park info Grayson County electronic village in the making