2004-01-17 DuPont State Forest, NC

“Dayhike Report
Dupont State Forest, NC
Hooker Falls, Triple Falls, High Falls, Grassy Creek Falls, Lake Imaging, Moore Cemetery, Hooker Falls again
Caesars Head, SC
Wild Cat Falls, SC
Triple Falls

Saturday, January 17, 2004
SCJack


Dupont State Forest - Hike Route and Mileage:

Start at the Hooker Falls Parking Area
Hooker Falls Trail (out and back) - 0.5 miles
Triple Falls Trail - 0.5 miles
High Falls Trail - 0.7 miles
Pipe Line Trail - 0.3 miles
Buck Forest Road - 0.7 miles
Grassy Creek Falls Trail (out and back) - 0.6 miles
Lake Imaging Trail - 1.5 miles
Holly Trail - 1.2 miles
Moore Cemetery Trail (out and back) - 0.3 miles
Hooker Falls Trail - 0.5 miles
Total Mileage = 6.8 miles

In addition, I stopped at the Caesars Head Overlook and Wildcat Falls on the way back


My main goal for today was to field test my new Digital Camera on a few of the wonderful waterfalls of Dupont State Forest, NC

First stop was Hooker Falls. Unfortunately, the sun was low in the sky and located directly above the waterfall, making it impossible to get a good photo. Not a great way for my first shot out of my new digital camera. However, I was able to get a few shots from the side that turned out OK.

Next I visited Triple Falls and High Falls. I took lots of pictures, experimenting with my new camera and the first thing I learned is that I definitely need a bigger memory card. Fortunately, one of the great things about digital photography is that you can easily view the pics and delete the ones you don’t like to make room for more pictures. And since at this point, I didn’t really know what I was doing; there were plenty that I was not the slightest bit upset to have to delete.

Hooker Falls, Triple Falls, and High Falls are some very impressive Waterfalls and you can easily visit all three of them in about two hours of easy to moderate hiking. If you haven’t visited them, I highly recommend the trip. In addition, Dupont State Forest offers about 100 miles of trails that criss-cross all over the forest making for unlimited loop hike combinations.

After High Falls, I took the Pipeline Trail and Buck Forest Road across the covered bridge at the top of High Falls. The hike I picked out on the map then included the Lake Imagining Trail and a short out-and-back on the Grassy Creek Falls Trail. In my opinion, Grassy Creek Falls is one that you can skip!

I wasn’t too impressed with the Lake Imagining Trail either, it’s a wide track that just meanders through the forest before it eventually passes Lake Imagining, which is not that impressive either. But, it was a nice peaceful and enjoyable walk through the woods and I did see about 10 white-tailed-deer. Past Lake Imaging, the trail ends at Staton Road. On the other side of the road, I took the Holly Trail to take me back to the Hooker Falls Parking Lot.

It was still early in the day, so I did the short out-and-back to Moore Cemetery, and then hit Hooker Falls again. The sun was still a little too bright for optimum waterfall photography, but at least it wasn’t directly over the Falls this time around.

On the drive back, I stopped off at the Caesars Head Overlook and then Wild Cat Falls.



Overall, an excellent day. I got a few decent pictures, considering the camera just arrived yesterday and I haven’t even made a dent in the 276-page manual. I think I was trying to do too much with the camera without any real understanding of what I was doing. My plan is to read up on a feature, experiment with it, and then move on to the next feature.


Pictures can be viewed here:
http://community.webshots.com/album/111906169SjOBCB?12

SCJack”

“Great pictures waterfalls are so cool and by the looks of things you had tons to look at.


Lucky!


8)”

“good report! great pictures.”

“Great report and pictures, I never knew the famous chemical company had a park named after them.”