On the Occoneechee Mountain Loop Trail
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On the Occoneechee Mountain Loop Trail |
Click on any image to see a larger (1500 x 1000 pixel) version!
60% of North Carolina's land area is covered with forests; that comes to about 29,000 square miles (75,100 square kilometers), or six times the land area of Connecticut. It's no wonder, then, that there is no shortage of hikes through wooded areas! But one doesn't have to go very far: right within the Raleigh city limits or just outside the Hillsborough boundaries, one can find lovely and easy to walk trails. As we spent the year-end holidays in North Carolina in 2012 and 2013, we got to experience some of these areas in the winter; the leafless deciduous trees lend a particular charm to the woods, as do the often gray skies and resulting muted colors.
Abbots Creek Trail is part of the Neuse River Greenway Trail located in the north of Raleigh.
Photos
number 33 through 42 in this gallery show what this area looks like a couple of months earlier.
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Off the paved trail... |
...the terrain is wet... |
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...or otherwise uninviting... |
...and it sure doesn't look like Christmas! |
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Reflection |
Rivulet |
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Marshland |
Cory |
This area, too, is part of the Neuse River Greenway Trail. Additional photos of this Christmas
Eve walk
may be found in this gallery. Falls Lake was created by building a dam and is a very popular
recreational ara.
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Neuse River |
Looking upstream |
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Along Upper Neuse River Greenway |
Falls of Neuse Road Bridge |
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Into the woods |
On the way to the lake |
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First glimpse of the lake |
Falls Lake |
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By the shore |
Contre-jour tree tops |
Bark |
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Back at the Neuse, looking downstream |
On the way back to the parking lot |
Moving further west, we find the Eno river which, together with two smaller rivers, becomes
the Neuse at Falls Lake. The Occoneechee
Mountain Area is a rather small park with short
trails, perfect for a late December afternoon stroll (we didn't get there until about 3 p.m.).
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Just north of Route 85 |
Winter woods |
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Off the beaten track |
Back on the trail |
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The sun makes a timid appearance |
Going down towards the Eno |
Near the Eno River, it gets a bit muddy |
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The Eno |
Old rowboat |
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Deadwood |
The old quarry |
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Summit |
Looking down on the Eno |
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