North Carolina State Parks: Goose Creek State Park

 North Carolina State Parks: Goose Creek State Park
3 Miles – 6/6/24

Yesterday’s discoveries in Eastern NC left me happy as a lark. The land, the history, and the people were awe-inspiring! This morning I woke up wondering, could I have just one more little adventure before I face the long drive back home to Charlotte? Of course.

The headwaters of the Tar River in North Carolina begin 215 miles inland, flowing eastward to the Atlantic Ocean. At the town of Washington, this freshwater river meets brackish water and becomes the Pamlico River which flows into Pamlico Sound, the second largest estuary system in the U.S.

Among the communities along the shores of Pamlico River are the towns of Washington and Bath. Each has a unique character and both have centuries of history to share. Visitors can spend a day or a week exploring, learning and eating. In Washington, I recommend starting at the North Carolina Estuarium, an outstanding environmental center, and the Washington Waterfront Underground Railroad Museum, housed in a caboose on Main Street. Bath’s claims to fame include status as the oldest town in NC, the oldest church building in NC (St. Thomas Episcopal Church) and home of the pirate known as Edward “Blackbeard” Teach.

Leesa Jones, founder of the Washington Waterfront Underground Railroad Museum

St. Thomas Episcopal Church

On the banks of the Pamlico River, about halfway between Washington and Bath, is Goose Creek State Park. It has a big shiny Visitor Center where I stamped my NC State Parks passport and got my bearings for exploring in a limited time frame (park map link here). Decisions to make about trails to hike.

First I drove around to check out the family campground (very few trees, y’all, so think about that summer heat) and the primitive camping area near Goose Creek.  I parked where the main road ends at a large picnic area with (yay!) restrooms. 

Before we start walking, let’s learn about the slinky snakes that live in the neighborhood

From the picnic area, a shady path leads to the official swim beach. Early morning and it was already steamy, with a welcome breeze by the water to keep biting bugs away.

Live Oak Trail, Mallard Creek Loop and Huckleberry Trail form a nice loop along the Pamlico River and Mallard Creek and through pine forest, with a couple of short interconnecting paths. I used the Strava app to keep me on track today. 

Live Oak Trail is just as it says, majestic trees dripping with Spanish moss, dipping limbs down into the water, swaying in the breeze, small waves breaking on the sand and dead limbs scattered along shore. 

  Nature’s sculpture

For a few moments I watched a woman and two little girls playing on a stretch of sand in between the trees. The blue skies, drifting white clouds, swaying trees, mesmerizing waves rolling onto shore, invoked scenes hundreds (thousands) of years ago when indigenous peoples knew this peninsula as home.

(Okay, I thought about all that later, but at the time I just enjoyed watching the kids playing.)

A grand live oak’s rooty toes stretch to the water. I learned later that this setting is the symbol
 for Goose Creek State Park (see patch photo at the top of this post)

Live Oak Trail intersects with a short trail to a tiny cemetery. It's not on the trail map but there is an interpretive sign. It is informally called Goose Creek State Park Cemetery. There are four graves, two unmarked and two marked with headstones indicating both people died in 1882, probably of an epidemic (cholera?)

Headstone of Melisa Carawon

Headstone of J.T. Campen

I backtracked to Live Oak Trail and continued to its intersection with one-mile Mallard Creek Loop Trail. As that trail turned away from the water, the wind died down, and the gnats and skeeters swarmed around me with a mission.

Mallard Creek Loop leads to the edge of Mallard Creek

An inviting dock stretching out into Mallard Creek

The rest of my hike was away from the water (and the wind) and I picked up my pace to stay ahead of the insects. I saw more Spanish moss in pretty light along this section.

If I’d had a full day, I might have hiked all the trails in Goose Creek SP, but it was time to hit the road. Some of what I missed: the Palmetto Boardwalk Trail crossing a blackwater swamp and the Tar Kiln Trail that has remains of tar kilns, used for burning long leaf pines to extract resin to produce tar for the 17th and 18th century shipbuilding industry. Next time!

I’m very grateful for North Carolina’s state park system that preserves, protects and promotes the diversity of our wild places. I’m a lucky girl exploring the corners of this amazing state. Just a few more counties and state parks to go!

“Go out in the woods, go out.

If you don’t go out in the woods,
nothing will ever happen

and your life will never begin.”

~Clarissa Pinkola Estes

North Carolina State Parks: Pettigrew State Park & Mattamuskeet & Pocosin Lakes National Wildlife Refuges

North Carolina State Parks: Pettigrew State Park & Mattamuskeet
& Pocosin Lakes National Wildlife Refuges - 6/5/24 – 2 miles

Pocosin Lakes National Wildlife Refuge

Raise your hand if you’ve ever started a small endeavor that expanded into a massive undertaking. Only everything we’ve ever done, right? Most of the time it’s a good thing.

My North Carolina state parks project has broadened to exploring the areas surrounding each park, the counties, towns, riverwalks and wildlife refuges that are so close by that it will just take a few more minutes…And the next thing you know, it’s a lot more miles, detours, diversions and discoveries.

One expedition to the far eastern part of the state was delightful in unexpected ways. The woods, the water and the people I encountered were diverse and unique. Humans and the land hold an intertwined, complex history.

I stayed at a cozy Airbnb in Bellhaven, NC that thankfully stocked Keurig coffee and cream and sugar to get me up and out early. Today my explorations took me in a huge counterclockwise circle through four counties (Beaufort, Hyde, Tyrrell and Washington).

Mattamuskeet National Wildlife Refuge, on the Albemarle-Pamlico Peninsula, was not on my original must-see list until a friend recommended it. Lake Mattamuskeet’s name comes from the local Algonquian Native American tribes, translated as “dry dust.” It is North Carolina’s largest natural lake – 5 miles wide, 14 miles long, an average depth of 1.5 feet (maximum 5 feet). Yes, you read that right. And it’s a Carolina bay lake, which I learned all about on a visit to Jones Lake in 2019.

My usual first stop in a new place is the Visitor Center, for maps, orientation, and exhibits. Here I met Connie, a volunteer for the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service. She and her husband retired, sold their home, bought an RV, and travel the U.S. while serving as volunteers. They stay two to three months in one place and explore the area on their days off. I always thought this type of volunteering meant being camp hosts, but Connie likes being inside in bad weather and chatting up visitors.

Which explains why I lost track of time and, after 30 minutes of hanging out with Connie, I had no time left for my own exploring other than driving across this intimidating body of water on Highway 94, the two-lane built-up roadway. There are few places to stop for photos, so if you’re going, pay attention and pull over for a moment of awe for a 1.5-foot-deep lake.

In Tyrrell County, about 40 miles north of Lake Mattamuskeet is Pocosin Lakes National Wildlife Refuge. One of its signature projects is the Red Wolf Recovery Program. Once prevalent along the Eastern Seaboard and as far west as Texas, the only confirmed wild red wolves in existence today live on NC’s Albemarle Peninsula, extremely endangered. The Red Wolf Center doesn’t have regular open hours and they were closed when I passed by. Cool building, huh?

Pocosin is the Algonquian word for “swamp on a hill” and today these land features are called southeastern shrub bogs or wetlands. (Actually, bogs and wetlands are not the same thing, different sources of water…but I digress.) 

The Walter B. Jones, Sr. Center for the Sounds and the Pocosin Lakes National Wildlife Refuge Headquarters (whew!) are under one roof in Columbia, NC, on the edge of the Scuppernong River. 

Here I met a husband-and-wife team with the same story of traveling the U.S. and volunteering at national wildlife refuges, working for 3 days, off for 4 days, and staying at the campgrounds for free. The universe is trying to tell me something.

The volunteers walked me through the well-curated displays, pointing out two stuffed red wolves representing the plight of the species. At the time of my visit there were only about 20 wolves tagged and monitored. BUT…they told me that the Red Wolf Center may have been closed today because staff were out in the field: a litter of 8 puppies had just been discovered!

Beside the Visitor Center is the Scuppernong River Boardwalk and I took a little stroll to see what I could see. Some sections of the boardwalk felt a little soft and mushy and I stepped carefully. No dunking in the blackwater river today! 

 Cypress knees

Continuing west along Highway 64 into Washington County, just 15 miles from Pocosin Lakes, is Pettigrew State Park. What looks like a small area on a map is packed with critical natural and human history. Of particular importance to me was visiting Somerset Place State Historic Site, one of the Upper South’s largest plantations. The extensive website topics include the group of men that first claimed the land, the people that lived there, the Civil War's impacts, and much more. 

The Collins Family Home (the Big House)

From the history page of the website: “Somerset Place is a representative state historic site offering a comprehensive and realistic view of 19th-century life on a large North Carolina plantation. Originally, this atypical plantation included more than 100,000 densely wooded, mainly swampy acres bordering the five-by-eight mile Lake Phelps, in present-day Washington County. During its 80 years as an active plantation under slavery (1785-1865), enslaved persons converted thousands of acres into high yielding fields of rice, corn, oats, wheat, beans, peas, and flax. Meanwhile, enslaved and free millwrights operated sophisticated sawmills that turned out thousands of feet of lumber. By 1860, Somerset Place was one of the Upper South's largest plantations.”

Of the 50 or so buildings on the grounds during its 19th century operations, 7 original buildings remain today. Some others have been reconstructed. During its 80 years as an active plantation, three generations of owners, more than 860 enslaved persons lived and worked at Somerset Place. Read more about the enslaved community on this page of the website. 

I joined a tour focused on the enslaved persons of Somerset Place. It was a moving experience, glimpsing the lives that I could not imagine on my own, the suffering and the strength. That this history was being acknowledged and presented by a white female employee of NC State Parks was impactful, rather than relying on a Black person to tell the painful story. I strongly recommend visiting Somerset Place. Take a tour or wander around the grounds and inside the restored buildings. Talk with the staff. Ask questions. Learn about it. Share it.

I was not expecting little ol' Pettigrew State Park to include Lake Phelps, the second largest natural lake in North Carolina. Do you remember the largest one? Scroll back to the top of this post! Like its big sister, Lake Phelps is a Carolina bay lake and its depth varies from 4.5 to 9 feet. And like other bay lakes, its only water source is rainwater. At 16,600 acres, Lake Phelps is so big that it straddles Tyrrell and Washington Counties.

The Algonquians called the lake Scuppernong, meaning “the place where the magnolias grow.” The name Phelps is attributed to Josiah Phelps, the first white man to enter the water and name it for himself while on a group hunting trip. (Why am I not surprised?)

From this website I learned something UH-mazing about Lake Phelps: Some researchers think the lake’s unique water quality may be the reason for its capacity to preserve wood. At least 30 Native American dugout canoes have been discovered on its bottom, some dating back nearly 4,400 years. One of them is 36 feet long! 

Pettigrew State Park itself is named for James Johnston Pettigrew, a Confederate general whose family home was located a mile east of Somerset off the old carriage road. (Who’s in favor of renaming it Algonquin State Park?) 

I stopped in at the Visitor Center, a small building that dates to the 1970s, and met Renee, the NC State Parks employee on duty. I think I surprised her, strolling in on a Wednesday, but she was very friendly. She suggested walking the Lakeshore Trail that leads down to a boat ramp and then circles through the small campground (13 sites, no electricity or hookups for RV’s).

As I strolled through the campground, a man with an elaborate setup (including a fishing boat) spotted me and, with a friendly smile, told me to watch out for the big rattlesnake that just passed through his site a few minutes ago. Well, that’s an invitation to chat! We talked about how he’s been camping there for many years, how much he likes it, used to be at full capacity all the time, but now most people have RV’s and want the hookups and wifi.

An incredible day exploring the uniqueness of eastern North Carolina’s natural and cultural treasures and people – and I didn’t even tell about some of my other stops! So much more to see and do…A return trip is on the list.

After making my way through the small towns of Roper and Plymouth and back to Bellhaven, I was ready for some good food. I can recommend Fish Hooks Café to send you away fuller’n a tick. 

And all the sweet tea you can drink, y’all

“Perhaps the truth depends on a walk around the lake.”
 ~Wallace Stevens

Pisgah 400: Shakedown Backpack - Day 2

Pisgah 400: Shakedown Backpack – Day 2

South Mills River Trail at Wolf Ford Campsite to Turkey Pen Trailhead

5/24/24 - 10.1 miles

Read about Day 1 here. 

We left the tent’s front entry rain fly open when we turned in last night. Despite feeling exhausted when I collapsed on my sleeping pad, my jittery, jumpy legs wouldn’t let me to rest. While my pack weight was reasonable (23 pounds), I hadn’t modified my usual dayhiking pace or habits for eating and drinking. Going slower, stopping more often would have been smarter. (And where the heck were my electrolytes?)

My thoughts turned to the Timberline Trail hike, which is much more strenuous than what we did today. Three nights, four days, 40 miles, 10,000 feet elevation gain, deep and swift glacial river crossings – could I carry all my gear and food for that? Lying there in the pitch dark Pisgah night with my twitchy legs, I began to feel doubts rising. Maybe we should focus on dayhike options in the Mount Hood area instead?

Eventually sleep overtook me and my legs and my worries.

The sky was lightening when Jim and I awoke. I could hear the babble of the river, but I must have missed the birds’ dawn chorus, which is one of my favorite things about camping. In our tent we yawned, stretched and figured out how to pack up in our small space.

More camp chores: Jim had a little trouble putting in his contacts using the tiny mirror he brought. Our hanging clothes were slightly damp as we shoved them into our backpacks. I retrieved our bear bag, undisturbed during the night, and we repacked food bags so snacks are handy. Predictably, we decided to skip lighting the stove for hot oatmeal because we’re walking out today.

At 7:00 a.m. we were ready to hit the trail. Our first task was finding where to cross South Mills River. The remains of a swinging bridge hung in tatters, destroyed in a tropical storm years ago. (You would be surprised how much damage the remnants of a Gulf hurricane can inflict upon the mountains of the Carolinas.)

A closer look shows that half the bridge has been tossed up sideways on the far bank

So we crossed at the horse ford. Jim walked through in his shoes right away. I removed my shoes and socks and waded through wearing Crocs. It wasn’t long until another crossing appeared; so much for keeping my shoes and socks dry for about 15 minutes.

Along this 5-mile trail section, the crossings were 20 to 30 feet wide and relatively flat, no rapids. If you lose your footing, you’ll get wet but you won’t get swept away. The water was enchantingly clear in slow moving areas.

In total we forded the river 11 times. The shallowest crossing was up to my calves, the deepest part reached my upper thighs. At the start we were cautious and analytical about the best way to cross, taking care not to get a foot stuck and avoiding slippery-looking rocks. (Jim had a near full immersion once.) Before long we were stepping with more confidence, knowing that there was more than one way across, we were always going to have wet feet, and we had dry shoes in the car.

Otherwise the trail was pretty flat, alternating between trenches with high sides, dog hobble and rhododendron and flat open spaces, lush ferns and wildflowers.

Wild geranium

There were many stretches of trail that were muddy and wet from recent rains, looked like they are never dry. Tricky footing there slowed us down, not to keep from getting muddy but to avoid slips and falls. I didn’t mind, but Jim wanted to make fast time to finish.

A sign of past residents

South Mills River Trail sits high above the river as it approaches the intersection with Cantrell Creek Trail. Through the trees we saw a group of people, coolers, and several tents. Party time! The thought crossed my mind to scramble down the embankment and join them, but then we would have to climb back up…

As often happens on the last section of a dayhike or a backpack trip, we went too long without a true rest break. At this point we had completed the lollipop portion of our route and faced the final 4 miles back to Turkey Pen Trailhead. My legs had begun to twitch again and my knees were shaky. Is it the pace or is it the extra weight? Most likely a combination of the two. At the Cantrell Creek Lodge clearing we stopped for 20 minutes for a sit-down rest and snacks.

The last half-mile, I knew, was a steady uphill and I knew that Jim was antsy to finish.  I did not want to hurry, so he moved on while I did my work slowly and steadily, counting my steps. Would I slow down on the Timberline Trail when needed or be anxious to finish? What can be a bail-out plan?

We arrived at our car right at noon.

We both changed clothes from the skin out and cranked up the A/C. Food first or something to quench our thirst? The sweet spot was a half hour drive to Bold Rock Mills River Cidery.

Our shakedown trip was a success – our equipment was in good condition and we worked well together. BUT…I hate carrying weight and Jim hates camp setup…tell me again why we are considering backpacking the Timberline Trail in Oregon? 

“Adopt the pace of nature: her secret is patience.”  ~Ralph Waldo Emerson