This has been a year for the history books! Meaning it will take multiple history books to incorporate everything that has happened. To send off 2020 and welcome in the new year, it was time for a new adventure: the south! For someone who's never been to the Carolinas, I seem to have been collecting friends over there. Having people to visit plus looking at grad schools in the area, I figured it was time to see what it's all about. I spent 10 days touring around North and South Carolina and that was all it took to fall in love with the place.
Day 1 - 12/29
If you want to see the state, why not see it all at once? North Carolina may not have what I'd consider mountains, but that means the views are endless.
Points of Interest: Hanging Rock State Park, Pilot Mountain State Park
Day 2 - 12/30
Defying death is always a quick way to bond. On this day I slipped on ice and slid under a railing on the edge of a waterfall, climbed up the side of a different waterfall and slipped on the mud, and walked across an ice covered suspension bridge a mile above the ground. It was a very memorable day with some of my favorite spots from the trip.
Points of Interest: Linville Falls, Grandfather Mountain, Tom's Creek Falls, Catawba Falls
Day 3 - 12/31
New year, new waterfalls! A great part about visiting places in winter and in the middle of the week, most places I went were devoid of people. With the recent winter rains, the waterfalls were all at peak flow while the people were at a lull.
Points of Interest: South Mountain State Park
Days 4 and 5 - 1/1-2/2021
In slightly more marine related news, I spent a few days catching up with my favorite fellow SASC interns, Sam and Tristan, in Wilmington, NC. We went on a haunted tour of Wilmington one day, and hopped on a ferry to Bald Head Island the next.
Points of Interest: Wilmington, Bald Head Island
Days 6 and 7 - 1/6-1/7
The next stop on my reunion portion of the tour was Latta and Florence, SC. I got the full southern experience here, eating southern fried food, hiking through the wetlands, and seeing gators at the Reptile Lagoon.
Points of Interest: South of the Border Reptile Lagoon, Latta, Florence, Defy Trampoline Park
Day 8 - 1/5
My first stop today was the top of Sassafras Mountain, the highest point in South Carolina at 3,554ft (for reference, Mt Hood is 11,249ft). I think it could technically be considered the highest half mountain in SC since the border of SC and NC goes right across the peak. I then spent the rest of the day in Nantahala National Forest stopping at every pullout, viewpoint, and waterfall. I finished the day by getting lost at Glen Falls and running up the steep path to make it back to the car before dark.
Points of Interest: Sassafras Mountain Observation Tower, Whitewater Falls, Dry Falls, Glen Falls
Day 9 - 1/6
Pisgah National Forest was another destination full of destinations. There was something to stop and look at every other mile down the road. I then swung through Dupont State Recreational Forest to check out High Falls and Triple Falls. From there I went to Chimney Rock Stat Park and climbed over 550 stairs to reach Chimney Rock and the overlooks. As I headed out of the park, I was even rewarded with my first black bear sighting (the black blob in the woods pictured below).
Points of Interest: Moore Cove Falls, Looking Glass Falls, Cullasaja Falls, Dupont State Recreational Forest, Chimney Rock State Park
Day 10 - 1/7
On my last day, I couldn't leave the east coast without seeing some history. I stopped first at Fort Dobbs which was built during the French and Indian War (1754-1763). Next was Alamance Battleground where I walked in the footsteps of the Regulators and the militia who fought in 1771 and served as another footstep leading to the American Revolution. For timeline reference, the Oregon Trail was just starting in the 1830s and Oregon didn't officially become a state until 1859, almost 100 years after this battle.
Points of Interest: Fort Dobbs, Alamance Battleground, North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences
Trip Stats
Miles Driven: 1,784mi
Waterfalls Visited: ~22
Trail Miles Hiked: 21.7mi
Parks Visited: 7