Know where you're going

Don't you hate it when you accidentally click the wrong thing and close your page before you have a chance to save your work?  C'est la vie.  Lucky for me I'm at work until 0700 and have plenty of time to write it again.

Dad and I hiked another section of the Eno that we haven't been to yet. We basically did section 2 & 3.  We started at Pump Station Trail and headed east.  This brought us to the Mountain to Sea Trail/Laurel Ridge Trail.  I liked the diversity of this trail.  There were some small elevation changes, rocks, roots, wooded areas, river, creeks and soft flat areas.  It had a little bit of everything...well, except bathrooms, but we won't discuss that.

The area that surrounds the Eno River was mostly farm land back in the day.  Amazing that it has grown into such a populated area.  Section 2 had some cool remnants of the past.  This is one of three of the old fireplaces that we saw. There was also an old Mill, dams, walls and the old pump pictured below this one.

Sad it's been vandalized with graffiti

I'm guessing this wouldn't make a good water source...or any water source for that matter!  Luckily we weren't far from the river.  We tried to find a date on the pump but to no avail.  Based on the other areas I've seen along the Eno, I'm going to guess late 1800's, maybe early 1900's?

I was surprised at how much ice we saw along the trail.  I assumed it would have melted by now.  I think the high yesterday was 50.  The shaded area's must have been pretty cold because it didn't look like any of it melted from morning until our trip back.

So this is where my title of "Know where you're going" comes from.  The first two miles of our hike is on the west side of Guess Rd.  When we came to Guess Rd there were stairs leading up to the bridge.  We decided instead of trying to cross this busy road, we would bushwhack to the other side.  Luckily before we got to far we realized there wasn't a trail on the other side of the bridge.  Thanks to technology, we found the trail to be on the other side of the river and then goes under the bridge.  Ahhh the fun of learning :)  This picture is from the other side of the river.  I saw a crane but couldn't get a picture of it.  Maybe another day.

We hiked about 4.5 miles out and found an amphitheater with picnic tables.  Dad got a new stove for Christmas so we had yummy mocha's (instant coffee with hot chocolate) with our lunch.  It turned out to be an amazing day!  The temp was perfect, the skies sunny, the scenery beautiful and the company was excellent.  All in all a great 9 miles!  Oh and the great thing is that I didn't use any Alleve before the hike and my hip did great!  That reminds me, I need to go do some more squats.

Question of the day:  Has anyone ever used this http://www.backpacker.com/fall-gear-guide-2013-brunton-power-essentials-solar-kit/gear/17965.  Comments and observations would be welcomed.

Peace, love and happiness.....