Hanging Rock - Cooks Wall To Hanging Rock

Hanging Rock

On Cooks Wall with Mt Pilot in the distance

Hanging Rock State Park

                                Cooks Wall to Hanging Rock

Looking from Hanging Rock toward Cooks Wall

One of the hidden jewels in the North Carolina State Park System is Hanging Rock State Park in Stokes County near Danbury.  Just 40 minutes from Winston-Salem, the Park has some of the best hiking trails in the state with views that rival those found on the Blue Ridge Parkway.  We chose an ambitious 8 mile hike from the Lake to Cooks Wall to Hanging Rock....and it was well worth the effort.  

In one of the best bargains ever struck by the State of North Carolina, the land upon which Hanging Rock State Park was purchased in 1936 for $10.00!    It was then developed by the Civilian Conservation Corps.   Most folks when they visit... picnic and swim in the lake...many take a hike to Hanging Rock...others struggle up Moores Knob....my prior visits to the park bear testament to these choices...this time we wanted to get a look at a part of the Park that was less traveled.  Leaving the Lake trail we trudged a half mile up the Magnolia Loop trail until it intersected with the Cooks Wall/Wolf Rock trail.  The sign set forth....our destination...and the predicted distance we had to walk!

The trail up from the Lake was a gentle climb through the forest with one major incline.  Cooks Wall Trail is a ridge line trail that follows the ridge to a nice overlook named "House Rock"

House Rock is located approximately 1.5 miles from the Lakehouse....it provides some of the nicest views on the mountain and is a much easier hike than the 2.0 mile tourist trail to Hanging Rock

From House Rock you can get a real nice view of Hanging Rock to the North....our ultimate destination after we visit Cooks Wall which is a mile to the South!  

All the rock outcroppings at Hanging Rock State Park seem to be steep cliffs which make for fantastic views...but now I know why so many people seem to fall off the mountain every summer....that first step is a doozy!

Looking East from House Rock

As we left House Rock, the trail to Cooks Wall becomes quite steep....and while taking a few breaks to catch our breath and feel the breeze coming from the east, I spied a house in the valley which was nicely framed by the trees and the rock cliff....the picture does not do it justice but there is a half million dollar home in beneath that cliff.       

Along the trail I spied an enormous spiderweb that was so beautifully constructed, it reminded me of a "dream catcher".

We also were intrigued by stones stacked on top of one another on the side of the trail.  Another hiker spotted the stones first and was taking pictures and when asked what was the purpose of the stones, he replied: "In Native American culture, such stones were a religious altar." 

Since it was a Sunday hike, I could not help but ponder the religion of Native Americans and I recalled the observation of Apostle Paul: "For  ever since the world was created, people have seen the earth and sky. Through everything God made, they can clearly see His invisible qualities-His eternal power and divine nature."  (Romans 1:20)  

Upon trudging up the steep trail to the summit of Cooks Wall, we were rewarded with a spectacular view of Pilot Mountain and Sauratown Mountain.   Near the end of the trail to Cooks Wall is a rock cliff that was very popular with other hikers.  One nice couple was excited to learn that their photo would be on Hiking with a Fat Bald White Guy.  

This cliff proved to be a great place to take a break. Cool breeze from the East.... 

We were afforded great views of the surrounding countryside to the south and to the east.

We were also entertained by several hawks who performed an aerial waltz for us.  The most I had ever seen in one place!  I think I counted seven!

The Cooks Wall Trail ends....at Cooks Wall which faces Moores Wall to the southwest and Moores Knob to the west. You can make out the Blue Ridge in the distance.

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We hated to leave but we had a few more miles to hike....the Cooks Wall Trail was an up and back so we had about two miles to hike to get to the next stop....WOLF ROCK!  (Welcome to "Our State"!)   Wolf Rock is really about 2.5 miles from Cooks Wall...but like House Rock it is a very manageable hike from the Lake parking lot...and the views there are hard to beat.

The Wolf Rock Trail is a ridgeline trail connecting Cooks Wall with Hanging Rock.... it is a moderate trail with only a few brief steep inclines.

















I could see the faint outline of the skyline of Winston-Salem from Wolf Rock!  

You could also see the summit of Cooks Wall from Wolf Rock showing just how far we had hiked.

The sign said that "Hanging Rock" was only .8 miles away....I had read the map....I knew better....Hanging Rock "Trail" was .8 miles away.... Hanging Rock summit was about 1.75 miles away but I was not telling this to my hiking companion...who was already complaining of the "non hiker-tourist" types who were now on the trail...giving us strange looks...."why are they huffing and puffing?"  Their facial expression asked.... perhaps it was just the way we smelled....it was humid and we were working on our sixth mile....

When you hike the Hanging Rock trail from the parking lot of the visitors center, you are on a concrete paved walk for the first 3/4 mile.  It turns into a wide gravel drive.  About 1/2 mile before reaching the summit of Hanging Rock, the Wolf Rock trail intersects with his nice wide trail.... and the first thing we spot is a wooden bench!  The Hanging Rock trail has wooden benches about every quarter mile and I can assure you that the public expenditure for these benches by the State of North Carolina is well appreciated by the citizenry!

The last time I hiked this trail David was young enough for me to carry on my shoulders.  And sure enough as we sat on the first wooden  bench we spied, several fresh faced young parents breezed by us....some carrying their kids on their shoulders.  My GPS said we had hiked nearly six miles...and no way I was going to let these "tourist" hikers show me up...so up the summit we trudged.  Since I last hiked the trail the summit trail has been replaced by steps....what was once a nice mountain switchback trail has been turned into a heart attack step climb!  It was the toughest climb of the day!   But we made it and collapsed on the Hanging Rock cliff....dead tired....and sure enough the looks on the "tourist types" told us what we must have looked like!

There was a nice man and his dog whom I have featured above, a solitary soul who laid claim to the edge of the Hanging Rock and a young couple who were sunning themselves perilously close to the edge.  But there were also great views!

Note that the ridge to the left is the ridge where Wolf Rock is located and the one to the right is the rid where House Rock is located.  No wonder we were tired and smelled bad as that is a long hike!

There is a great view of Moore's Knob from the summit of Hanging Rock. Moores Knob is the tallest of the Saura Mountains(2579'). It has a nice converted forest fire tower on the summit that provides a nice view. I have been there and the lakeside trail to the summit is one of the toughest ascents I have experienced. The trail from the campground is much easier. It is supposed to be a four mile loop trail.  

Looking to the northeast I spotted an interesting solitary tree but Rene was following a solitary hawk...what a great pic!

This was a great hike!  We pushed ourselves to our limit. But in the process we got to see a part of Hanging Rock State Park in one day that some folks never see.  This park has something for everyone.  Every view that we experienced can be seen within 2 miles of the parking lot.  If I have inspired any of you to hike, try Hanging Rock Park!  

The Fat Bald White Guy rates the access a 10... the scenery an 8 and the trail an 8.....this hike is a solid 9!

Fort Fisher State Park Carolina Beach State Park

                            FORT FISHER

                            CAROLINA BEACH STATE PARK

FORT FISHER

Looking Down the Barrel of Shepherd's Battery

Taking a trip to the Wrightsville Beach did not deter the Fat Bald White Guy from finding a trail to hike.  Late Thursday afternoon we set off to explore one of the most important Civil War Sites in North Carolina-Fort Fisher. Located on a peninsula south of Wilmington, the fort guarded the Cape Fear Inlet and allowed Blockade Runners to supply Gen'l Lee via the port at Wilmington.

The Fort Fisher State Park maintains the remnants of one of the largest coastal fortifications of its time. Only about 10% of the Fort remains and there is a nice one mile tour trail that circles the sand embankments.  On the western end of the northern wall Shepherd's Battery has been restored, providing you with a glimpse of what it must have been like as Yankee troops marched up the Old Wilmington Road to attack the fort.

                       

The Fort was named for Colonel Charles Fisher from Rowan County, the commander of the 6th North Carolina who was mortally wounded at the Battle of First Manassas.



The walls were constructed of sand in order to absorb a bombardment. The seaward wall boasted 22 guns atop 12 foot walls.  The southern wall had two large gun emplacements on top of embankments over 45 feet tall.  The northern wall faced landward with 25 guns distributed among 15 sand embankments each 32 feet high. Fronting the north wall was a nine foot tall wooden palisade.  Some called Fort Fisher - "the Gibralter of the South"

Shepherd's Battery features a fully operational ten inch Columbiad which is a smooth bore cannon capable of firing a 130 pound round ball three miles.  Also a part of the restored Battery is a "bombproof" where ammunition was stored.

Fort Fisher kept open the port of Wilmington throughout the Civil War finally falling in January of 1865, just months before Lee surrendered at Appomattox.  

An obelisk was erected in 1921 on the site of fort's command post.  There in the midst of the bombardment of 58 warships, the Stars and Bars were shot down.  A new flagstaff was erected and Christopher Columbus "Kit" Bland, a teenager from Shallote, shimmied up the flag post on two occasions to replace the flag.  Observers recalled that Union ships paused their bombardment in deference to this act of bravery. 

Surpassed only by the bombardment of Normandy in 1944, Fort Fisher was subjected to the largest naval bombardment in the history of battle.

Looking South toward Battery Buchanan from atop of Shepherd's Battery

If you drive past the State Aquarium you will soon come to Federal Point.  There stood Battery Buchanan, a separate fortified sand bunker.  This was the last portion of Fort Fisher to fall.   The Battery no longer looks very menacing.  It is a tall sand mound occupied now by a single tree.

Federal Point now serves as the northern port of the North Carolina Ferry that connects Fort Fisher to Southport.  Make sure you get there in time to ride the Ferry to Southport!

From atop Battery Buchanan there is a wonderful view of the Cape Fear Inlet.

Once a battlefield where Americans fought Americans in an unnecessary bloody civil war,  Federal Point now is a recreation site.  I am not sure what you call the sport but "para-surfing" seems to be an apt description.

The point is very windy and there is a grassy marshland that separates Battery Buchanan from the Cape Fear Inlet waterway.

The path from the top of Battery Buchanan connects with an asphalt and stone jetty that seems to extend endlessly into the Cape Fear Inlet.  This is not a trail the Fat Bald White Guy needs to attempt!

        








"Eventually all things merge into one, and a river runs through it.  The river cut by the world's great flood and runs over rocks from the basement of time. On some of the rocks are timeless raindrops. Under the rocks are words, and some of the words are theirs."  Norman Maclean















CAROLINA BEACH STATE PARK

About three miles north of Fort Fisher is the 761 acre Carolina Beach State Park.  Located on land originally occupied by the Cape Fear Indians, it also served as the temporary camp for Union soldiers preparing to attack Fort Fisher.  The park contains a nice campground, marina and clubhouse.....and hiking trails.  The North Carolina State Park system has a very nice IPhone App that allows you access to a real time GPS map of State Park hiking trails....thanks to my reference of this App, we set out about 5:45 PM to hike the Sugarloaf Loop....a three mile jaunt through a coastal forest.





After struggling along rocky trails on the way to Mt. Rogers, we were thankful for trails that were sandy

We also had a chance to get some nice views of the Cape Fear River in the hour before sundown.....

The trail weaved along the coast line until it disappeared into the water....it seems the trail to Sugarloaf Dune has been washed out...but no worry....there are many interlocking trails at the Carolina Beach State Park and we took another route....

Looking across the marsh grass we could see where the Sugarloaf Dune trail used to be.....

We soon encountered a most interesting ground cover in the coastal forest.  It looked from a distance like it had snowed!....but the closer we got it looked more like the ground was covered with dryer lint....but finally we got a close up look at "Raindeer Moss" or  "Powder Puff Lichen"....the scientific name....."Caladonia Evansi"

Wouldn't you know it....even in a coastal forest....there are hills!....and this one had a trail up it of sand!....not to worry....even in 90 degree heat the Fat Bald White Guy was up to the challenge!

From the top of the hill, we rejoined the Sugarloaf trail....the trail to the dune was blocked off on this end as well....knowing what I know now I think I would have ventured out and back to the dune....but our trusty State Park GPS app directed us down the hill and further into the forest away from the Cape Fear River.....

With the sun setting in the west, we were treated with several nice spotlight views of the Old Sol peaking through the pines and oaks.

As the trail weaved its way through the forest, we also got a look at some unusual trees..... 

We also encountered grassy ponds....I am sure that these areas are prone to flooding but as dry as it has been, they were more like a meadow than a pond....also I kept my eye out for "Venus Fly Trap" plants but since I really don't know what one looks like I guess I could have seen one and not known the difference.

For the most part the trail was sand covered by pine needles....but this quarter mile stretch was like walking on beach sand....but without the sea breeze.....remember it was 90+ degrees.....can you say "calf burn"?

The last 3/4 quarter mile of the trail took us through a much more mature forest....taller, older trees....and as we were now walking westward we picked up a nice river breeze in our face....but for my hot and tired dogs, this was the best part of the hike.

In fact as the sun begin to get lower on the horizon, the interplay of its spotlight on the dry marshland provided a "green glow".

We ended the loop in the Marina parking lot.....it was getting late....we were tired, sweaty and hungry, but very satisfied  that we found an enjoyable hike....even at the beach....it was not as pretty as Linville Gorge... but I did get to see a part of our State that I had not seen before.

As I paused to take one last picture of the sunset over the Cape Fear, a lone seagull flew over and headed down the river....proving once again that the wonder of the creation that God has provided us is amazingly beautiful....if we but take time to appreciate it!