Photos for Fun 2009-2010
> May 2010Piedmont Parks 2010
Saturday Oct 9, 2010 - Day trip from Raleigh to Pilot Mt State Park, Hanging Rock State Park, Moratock Park, and Mayo River State Park. Fall colors are only just starting to come in.
Part of an old retaining wall near the Yadkin river in Pilot Mt State Park.
Pilot Mt State Park
Pilot Mt State Park, at Yadkin River
Pilot Mt State Park
The access road to the Yadkin River section of Pilot Mt State park crosses three small creeks like this one.
A small ledge upstream from the road.
The Shoals United Methodist Church was destroyed by a fire on July 3, 2010. The building was 110 years old.
Tobacco wagon on the road near Pilot Mt.
Near Pilot Mt.
As seen from a neighborhood just south of the park.
Milkweed pods
Hanging Rock State Park
A very small creek forms this fall in Hanging Rock State Park. Our last heavy rain was more than a week ago, so there isn't much to see.
2nd weekend of October is too early for good color, but there were a few trees changing.
Seen from near Lower Cascades.
Stitched from 4 frames. Hanging Rock State Park
This fall is in a basin under this huge rock overhang on the left side.
Below the main pool, there is a smaller cascade across the rocks.
This fall was very busy, with at least one family of small kids playing in the basin below the falls. I had to shoot tight from the side to keep the people out of frame. Oh well.
Below the upper cascades basin is another, perhaps nicer fall.
Tight shot of the lower fall at Upper Cascades.
Another hard shot to get thanks to the people, both kids and adults, crawling all over it. I stood ready for at least 5 minutes while two kids ran in, climbed all over the slick shelves, and threw rocks at each other right in front of my camera. The parents were off to the side oblivious. Once the kids finally left, I still had to wait for the adults climbing on the top of the fall.
Window Falls is named for this rock formation just above it.
Beautiful streaming falls.
The whole fall. The window is off-frame to the top right.
This furnace was a key supply of iron for the South in the Civil War.
Mayo River State Park
This waterfall is now located on public land, since the state purchased the area for part of the new Mayo River State Park. You can see the falls in satellite maps, which led me to the right gravel road where I could park and walk in to see the falls. This is as unspoiled as it gets: the only other tracks I saw on the trail were from deer.
Mayo River State Park
Mayo River State Park
Stitched from 5 frames. Mayo River State Park
A tiny ledge along the road upstream from Fall Creek Falls.
Just south of the northern section of Mayo River State Park.
GPS Visualizer helped me create this map of the route that I drove.