Carolina Beach-Freeman Park Camping

 I made a reservation online and took the first available campsite which was site 4. When I took a walk down the beach for more than a mile, I discovered there were 87 total locations.  The next camping trip I will go further down where it's less likely we will have any neighbors.

The view of our campsite from the front and back, The site were spacious enough to have room for a family size tent and two vehicles.

Aaron wanted me to bury him, so I did. He soon realized this is a vulnerable position to be in when two Sea Gulls were eyeing him.

The sandcastles you find are the best especially when you didn't have any tools to build one yourself.  

While Aaron spent most of his time in the ocean, Gypsy and I chilled out on the beach occasionally taking a dip. Gypsy dug a hole behind my chair and used that for shade. The damp sand in her hole aided in keeping her cool.

The perfect dinner. We would eat a military  Meal Ready to Eat (MRE) at 5 pm when it was too hot to cook by a campfire. Later on after the sun set at around 8:30 we roast Johnsonville sausages. In this plastic bag, there is your main course which you don't need a fire or hot water to cook. Pour an ounce of water in a heating pouch and put it back into the cardboard box for 30-minutes and it cooks itself. Included with this meal are a flavored drink mix, M&Ms, chocolate fudge bar, vegetable crackers,  coffee, creamer, sugar, salt, pepper, and a plastic spoon.

Sunrise our first morning.

  While I was packing up our campsite, Gypsy sat at the edge of our campsite boundary looking out at the ocean sunrise taking it all in. Not sure if dogs can consciously appreciate beauty, but it seemed as Gypsy was. 

I often wondered if having a 4-while drive in North Carolina was worth it, but I now know it is. No vehicles were allowed on the beach if they weren't four wheels and that was understandable. The couple SUVs who's 4-wheel drive wasn't working right became stuck. 

This camping trip was one of the most memorable. I alway dreamed of what it would be like on an ocean beach and fall to sleep by the sound of the surf, and now I know.  Camping here was our first time, but won't be our last

Fort Fisher-Basin Trail (aka The Hermit Trail)

At the South side of the Fort Fisher State Recreation Area's visitor center, you will find the trailhead of the Basin Trail.

A few hundred yards down from the trailhead we entered this canopy of yaupon and wax myrtle. The receptionist at the visitor center asked if we brought bug spray? I replied we were from Northern Michigan, and a few mosquitos weren't  going to bother us. Oh my goodness. I haven't ever encountered such a thick concentration of mosquitos as I did going through this thicket. It didn't matter if you had a shirt on they drilled their needles through your clothing to get your blood. 

We were glad to get out into the open for at least awhile. This 75-yard boardwalk took us through a salt marsh. It was low tide when we began our hike, but notice a significant amount of water on our return trip. The sun's heat and humidity were intense in the vast wide-open area  

This WWII bunker wasn't much to look at, but its mysterious history was fascinating. 

This memorial plaque of the hermit that turned this bunker into his home was just as difficult to read as it is in this picture. You can read about "The Fort Fisher Hermit" here

The end of the line is at this observation deck 1.1-mile.  A good place to set awhile to bird watch or view the container ships make their way out of the Wilmington port.

If we could do this all over again, we would do this hike in a cooler time of year. We took shade behind stunted cedar trees. 

Blue Ridge Parkway-Richland Balsam Nature Loop Trail

Richland Balsam Overlook is the highest point on the Blue Ridge Parkway at 6047 feet elevation. Just a half mile North of the overlook at milepost 431 is the Richland Balsam Nature Loop Trail. Starting at an already 6020 feet, I huffed and puffed my way up to a lofty 6410 feet!

The view from where we parked. It doesn't get much more beautiful that.

At 0.15 mile, I came to a fork in the trail with a sign that said  "3100 Feet to the Summit."

These numbered posts didn't mean a whole lot to me because I didn't have the self-guiding nature map that corresponded to descriptions of the natural features in a brochure.

The day was mostly rainy with an occasional glimpse of a ray of sunshine. Even on the brightest of days, it would have been a shadowy and cool hike. 

Other than the overlook at the beginning, this hike wasn't what I expected. You climb to the highest elevation in the Blue Ridge for no view. This hike was more about trees, moss, fallen and rotting logs. It had a rainforest feel to it.

The return trip was mostly downhill with neatly place rock steps to help you along the way.

We are taking in another Blue Ridge Parkway Overlook on our return trip back to the campsite.

 A campfire and a beer at the end of a day of hiking. Life just doesn't get any better that that!

Blue Ridge Parkway-Sam Knob Summit

For the third time Aaron and I have viewed this impressive mountain but this time, we have dedicated our hike solely to making it to the top. 

Our destination is to the top of the peak that you see to the left. The elevation gain is 620 feet, and we will be 6040 feet above sea level.

We have been here before but our first hike we went left and followed the Flat Laurel Creek Trail. Today we go right and begin our ascent.

The blackberries were just starting to become ripe.

Blueberries.

Even though many of the blueberries and blackberries were not ripe, there were still plenty that were. We could have hiked an hour and a half, but this hike turned into two and a half hours because we picked berries and ate them since we hadn't eaten our lunch.

A large white quartz rock.

About half the way up we were able to view the meadow that we had crossed. It looks tiny from this advantage point.

If you look closely, there is a small silver curve in the valley below. The only road that it could be is the Blue Ridge Parkway.

We felt as if we were on top of the world. 360 degrees of nothing but mountainous scenery!

A Parkway overlook. Location unknown.

Camping, hiking and S'mores. That's living!

At the entrance of the campground  there is a sign posted that warns campers to take cover inside a building or car whenever there is lightning. On our second night, a severe thunderstorm rolled in so fast we didn't have time to fold our chairs and put them away so that they would be dry the next day. While laying in our tent seeing the flash of lightning and hearing the clap of thunder, I asked Aaron if he wanted to take shelter in the car? He said yes, but the rain was coming down so hard we would need to make a mad dash to the Jeep.

Aaron and I decided he would go first then Gypsy, and I would go next while Aaron held a flashlight in our direction. He made it Ok then it was our turn, but Gypsy was nice and comfortable lying on a sleeping bag, and she took one look at the pouring rain and wasn't going to move. I had to pull her out of the tent, and I made a beeline to the car. Assuming she would follow me, but when I turned to help Gypsy in the vehicle, she was nowhere to be found. I ran back in the torrential rain toward the tent calling out her name. I notice the tent had collapsed, but there was a movement of something trying to get out.  Instead of Gypsy following me she turned around and tried to go back into the tent, but the door had been zipped shut. She had made the tent collapse on her.

I was dragging her by the collar to get us safely to the car. We realized sleeping in our tent was out of the equation for this night. After the rain had eased up, we retrieved our sleeping bags which by some miracle were only slightly damp for the rain fly had slid off to one side in the collapse.

After a restless night trying to sleep in a car, we assessed the damage the next morning. What we could see now in the daylight is Gypsy had caused the tent stakes to pull out of the ground making the tent fall in on itself.The rain fly had exposed part of the inside of the tent creating puddles of water on the floor. I took my all cotton hoodie jacket and soaked up the excess water and hung the sleeping mats to dry. The tent and everything dried nicely and our next nights' sleep was comfortable.

Blue Ridge Parkway-Devils Courthouse

The first time Aaron and I visited the Devils Courthouse we hiked 3/5 of the way and took a spur trail that connected us to the Little Sam Trail. By the time we made the return trip some 5 hours later, we had skipped the short climb to the top due to being utterly exhausted. Today we finish what we left undone.  We arrived at the  Mt. Pisgah Campground around 3 pm and set up our camp and then drove the 13 miles to the Devils Courthouse. This hike wasn't very long but quite the strenuous upward climb.

The view of our destination from where we parked at the pull-off along the parkway.

Just before we turned right to go into the wood and start our ascend, you get a glimpse of the Devils Courthouse Tunnel.

It would have been nice to of seen some Falcons, but on this day we didn't see any.

Just before the last small stretch to the top, we ascend some stairs. We took a rest after 20 minutes of continual upward climb.

A small rock wall circles the top and gives you a sense of safety and security on this piece of rock.

The view is looking down at where we had parked.

On the rock wall in various locations are four plaque that gives you a guide on what you see in the distance. From an elevation of 5720 feet you're able to see:

Mt. Hardy-1 mile
Richland Balsam-7 miles
Snowbird Mtn-33 mile
Sam Knob-2 miles
Toxaway Mtn-13 miles
Whiteside Mtn-20 miles
TanaseeBald-1.5 miles
Rich Mtn-8 miles
Ceasars Head SC- 20 miles
Pilot Mtn-3 miles
Rubun Bald GA- 33 miles

For the price of a little sweat and maybe sore calf muscles you will enjoy majestic mountain views.

The Devils Courthouse is the home of the giant Judaculla, according to Cherokee legend.

The trip to and from the campground we passed many overlooks, and we took the time to pull in and take a look. Behind us is Looking Glass Rock which will be one of our future hikes.