Bark Camp Lake

Today's hike was one of the easier ones we have completed.  The trail was a nearly level, clear path through the woods around the lake.  The mountain laurel blooms were past prime but still hanging on and they bordered the lake in many places.  The forest was lush green with ferns lining our path, and the sky was deep blue.  We saw evidence of beavers and saw their dam right before we got to the earthen dam.  The heat and humidity wasn't nearly as bad as we had anticipated and the predicted rain held off until we finished our hike and had our picnic lunch.   A good hike!

Pine Mountain State Park

We hiked at Pine Mountain State Park on May 30th.  I had forgotten to post about this hike.  The park has a nice lodge, and we took advantage of their restroom facilities before we headed out.  We also got some trail maps and a little firsthand information about the trails.  This park has several trails, but none are very lengthy.  Our group decided to hike the Honeymoon Falls trail, and then hike the Chained Rock trail.  The Honeymoon Falls trail wasn't too difficult.  The falls were not much more than a trickle due to the recent dry weather, but we enjoyed the mountain laurel which was in full bloom.  We got back to our vehicles and drove to the top of the mountain and headed down the Chained Rock trail.  Yes, down the trail....down many steps out to the rock.  The whole time I was thinking that I had to walk all those steps back up to the parking area.  Thankfully, it was only a short distance.  We explored the rock for a while taking in the views and taking photos, and headed back up.  The nice thing about parks are the availability of picnic spots.  We drove to a roadside, shaded picnic area and ate our lunch before we headed home.  I feel certain we will return at some point.  Next time I will remember that with short trails, I don't need to carry my hydration pack.  A cooler in the car would have been much more practical.

Honeymoon Falls

Atop Chained Rock