Richland Creek Trail Hike

It's been a while since our family has gone on a hike without the cub scouts.  We used to go on hikes or bike rides just about every other week but for the better part of a year we haven't gotten out much.  A week or so ago I was looking at Google Maps and noticed a trail that cut through Schenck Memorial Forest and ended at the RBC Center.  The trail was called Richland Creek Trail.

I had never heard of  Richland Creek Trail  and had difficulty finding any information about it.  The trail appeared to go from Umstead State Park (state owned) into Raleigh (city trails) then into Schenck Forest (state owned) back into Raleigh (city trails) under Wade Avenue (interstate-sized road) and eventually ending at the RBC Center.  Since the trail crossed between state and city property there wasn't one definitive source for information.  I wasn't even sure if the trail crossed under Wade Avenue because I didn't remember seeing a bridge or tunnel when driving on it. I also couldn't tell from Google Maps satellite view if there was a bridge or tunnel there since the area was so heavily wooded.

We didn't have any plans this past weekend and looking to get out hiking again I suggested this trail to Aimee. She was up for it.  Prior to heading out on Sunday we did another Google search for the trail and came across a terrific blog post about the trail that was written this past Thursday.  How timely.  It had pictures,  pointed out some of the gotchas and described some of the interesting challenges.  After reading this post about the adventure ahead we were excited about the day's hike.  We were also interested in doing some geocaching so we loaded the coordinates into our GPS for some caches that were located along the beginning of the hike.  We headed out around noon stopping to grab some lunch before arriving at the trailhead.

The beginning of the trail was nice.  There was a big Capital Area Greenway sign next to a wide paved trail.  So far so good.  That ended quickly however with the paved trail ending at a fence just down the hill from the start and the trail continuing along the grass.  Good thing we didn't bring the stroller.

Shortly after making our way along the grassy trail we found our first geocache.  Andrew managed the GPS and discovered the cache.  

The boys had thought ahead and brought some items to trade.  Andrew decided to trade for a little stuffed doggie which he gave to Olivia.  She carried the doggie for the rest of the hike often telling us how much she loved him.  After re-hiding the cache and getting back onto the trail we encountered our first obstacle: a small creek. Fortunately there were many large rocks to step on to cross the creek.

Shortly after crossing the creek we found our next geocache.  This had to be the largest cache I have ever seen.  Still it was well hidden. Olivia was the keeper of the unit for this one.  That made it 2 for 2 with Andrew and Olivia each finding one.  Not far from this cache we came to our first tunnel which went under Edwards Mill Road.  For a short period we were on paved trail again.

Just after the tunnel the paved path continued onto a bridge that crossed the creek.  While this trail looked nice it was to an office complex and was not our trail.  Our trail kept going forward off of the pavement and through a clearing in the trees as you can see in the picture below.  Just before continuing though we tried to find our third geocache.  Alex was in control and unfortunately for him we didn't find it.  We tried looking for 15-20 minutes before finally giving up. 

The trail from here was nice and wide however there were occasional muddy patches.  It had rained several days earlier and I suspect the trail stays muddy for a few days after each rain.  The muddy patches were easy enough to walk around and fortunately no one fell in them.

This trail continued for another quarter mile or so before we got to the tunnel under Wade Avenue.  From a distance it didn't look so inviting.

As we got closer to it we saw that it was a cool tunnel because it had two parts: one side for the creek and one side for people.

Going under a big highway we knew the tunnel had to be long and it was.  Fortunately it was very well lit.  There were some patches of water but most of us had hiking shoes on so it was not a problem.

The other side of the tunnel was even cooler than the entrance.  The water flowed out as a small waterfall from the creek side of the tunnel.

Once we excited the tunnel we had to cross a small stream.  There were several rocks to step on so like our first obstacle, crossing this one was not a problem.

The trail on this side of the highway was just as wide as the other side which was wide enough to drive a car though.  Up to this point the trail followed Richland Creek and was probably created as an access road for getting to the storm drains.

The trail was flat and very easy to walk.  Unlike the other side which was a grassy trail this side was mostly dirt and leaves.  There were some areas of water but not many and were easily walked around.

Along the way we found the Schenck Forest welcome sign.  The notice that was printed in the largest letters, and I'm guessing is the most important, was "No Dogs Allowed."  I asked Olivia to pose for a picture in front of the sign and she pulled out her new doggie from the first geocache.  I guess we were going to break the rules today.  

Up until this point the trail went near or under roads and as a result you could hear the noises from the cars.  This latest part of the trail was especially noisy because it ran mostly parallel to Wade Avenue.  Eventually the trail turned away from the highway and became a narrower, single-track trail.  I liked this because the terrain became more interesting.  We went up and down hills (small ones), curved with the stream and crossed rocks and roots.  

We even crossed a bridge to nowhere.  This bridge was almost perpendicular to the trail.  I suspect it was moved during a storm at some point.  The kids thought it was cool.

After crossing the bridge we were getting close to our half way point.  We had planned to walk to Reedy Creek Road then turn around and go back.  So far Olivia had walked almost the whole way on our own.  This had to be a record for her.  We had tried every Jedi mind trick we could think of to convince her to walk but she was getting tired and started to drag behind.

Finally we made it to Reedy Creek Road and we could celebrate because we were half way!  We thought it was about 2 miles (from the blog post above) however Aimee's phone had it at 2.6 miles and my phone had it at 3.1 miles.

We rested a bit and then headed back.  It was going to get dark (and cold) soon so we need to get moving. Plus the boys had wanted to check out the streams along they way.  I had told them they could play for a while, time-permitting, on the way back.

The walk back was fairly quick because we carried Olivia for most of it.  This gave the boys time to cross the stream in several places.  We also tried to find one more geocache but we were unsuccessful again.  I think we figured out later where it is but that is a find for another day.  

We really enjoyed the hike on Richland Creek Trail.  For all the years that I have run in Umstead or hiked the trails in the area I didn't know this one existed.  It was a pleasant find.  The terrain was not difficult and was easy to navigate by the whole family. Since the trail mostly followed the creek there were many nice views of the water flowing over rocks and branches and around bends.   I plan to recommend it to the boys' Cub Scout pack as a future hike destination.  

The only problem with the hike was knowing how far we went.  Depending on who you believe the hike ended up being either 4 miles (blog post from above), 5 miles (Aimee's phone) or 6 miles (my phone).  I suspect the true distance is between 4 and 5 miles.  I plan to run this trail one day and will carry my Garmin along to give a fourth (and hopefully not differing) measurement.

Here are some additional pictures from the hike:

Starting point of the return trip.  The long path.

Another long path.

One of the few small bridges.

Olivia enjoyed the ride back.  

Probably the most challenging part of the hike was going around the rocks.

Olivia poses with her doggie in front of one of the many views along the creek.

Another view of the creek along the trail.

And another one.

And even another one.

Which way to go?  Straight turned out to be the answer.

Same here.  Going straight was the right answer.

Going around the log would have been too easy.

Another view of the trail along the creek.

I thought this was a cool picture of a root in the trail and since I wrote this blog here it is.

Alex and Andrew wanted to cross the creek. 

A family shot on a log (just before about 20 YMCA Princesses stormed through).

Andrew took this picture of me at the point where the wide trail turned to single-track trail.  The trail goes through the trees just behind me.

There were lots of views of rocks in the creek.

Alex crossing the creek again.

Aimee in front of the tunnel before heading back.

12 Hours of Freedom: The Best Day of My Life

I'm not talking about my freedom. I'm talking about Andrew's hamster Ocoke's freedom.  Before describing Ocoke's day I must state that I shamelessly stole the title of this post from a Facebook comment by Aimee.  So with that out of the way on to Ocoke and his freedom.

Ocoke

The boys received hamsters as Christmas gifts in 2010 and since then there have been 3 "escapes" (1 by Ocoke and 2 by Ollie - Alex's hamster).  Escape is in quotes because this last time was not actually an escape it was simply Ocoke getting lucky.  Before school Andrew took Ocoke out to play with him and then left the room assuming that Alex would watch him.  Since the TV was on there was no chance that Alex would see anything except for the TV.  When Andrew returned he realized Ocoke was gone and the hunt was on.  Unfortunately they weren't able to find him in the short time they had to search before it was time to go to school so the hunt would have to resume after school.

When I got home after work I didn't know yet that Ocoke was on the run.  Dinner was ready when I walked in the door (it was actually ready 30 minutes before but that's another story) so we first ate dinner and then afterwards I helped with the hunt.  We eventually found Ocoke hiding in our bedroom but only after looking in and under everything in the bonus room, Olivia's room and the boys' room (the rooms with the most stuff to hide under).

Ocoke was free for roughly 12 hours which is the longest any of the escapees has ever tasted freedom.  I expect Ollie to try to top that in the near future.  Perhaps they have a little competition going on now.

Ollie

Sleeping With the Fishes

It's not often that I get to spend quality time alone with just one of the kids.  I guess that's the way it is when you have three children.  This weekend was one of those rare times when I was able to spend a day with just Alex.  We went down to Wilmington with his cub scout den to spend the night at the North Carolina Aquarium at Fort Fisher as part of their "Sleeping with the Fishes" program.

We had to be at the aquarium by 6 pm so I took a half day at work, picked Alex up at school early and hit the road.  According to Google Maps the trip was going to take about 3 hours.  We stopped on the way out to grab lunch, in the middle to stretch and get a drink and then again in Wilmington to eat dinner.  I let Alex pick where we would stop to eat so he was in heaven.  He picked Chick-fil-A for lunch and Moe's for dinner.

Once we arrived at the aquarium there were only 2-3 cars in the parking lot.  My first thought was that I mixed up the days, times or possibly both.  Eventually everyone showed up and my initial fears were relieved.  We were led into the staff parking lot to park for the night.  After we parked our cars everyone brought their bags and sleeping gear into the aquarium.  The kids were so excited when they were told we would be sleeping in front of the main aquarium.

Setting up camp in front of the big aquarium.

Each family picked a spot and set up their gear.  Initially the boys tried to all wedge into the limited space just in front of the main aquarium windows however parents soon intervened and spread them out.  After everyone was situated the staff went over the rules of the evening and then started the program.

First up was a reptile demonstration.  The boys learned what makes a reptile a reptile and then were allowed to touch different ones.

Touch a turtle

Touching a corn snake

Touch a baby alligator

Next up on the program was snack #1 (pizza and soda), a movie (Gus the Alligator) and the shark demonstration.   In the shark demonstration they learned about different types of sharks and specifically the purpose of the various types of shark teeth.

One of the cool exhibits at the aquarium was a display containing megalodon jaws.

Posing in front of the megalodon jaws.

The megalodon tooth is almost as big as Alex's head.

Following the shark presentation the boys painted t-shirts.  They each selected a rubber fish or starfish, painted one side of it and then pressed it up against a blank t-shirt to transfer the paint.  The shirts were set out to dry for the night.

Painting fish for t-shirts

After finishing up with the t-shirts the boys ate snack 2 (goldfish and popcorn).  By this time it was almost 10 pm which meant bedtime.   We all went back to the sleeping area in front of the main aquarium, prepared for bed and then settled in for sleep.  The staff turned on a movie (Cara the Sea Turtle) that everyone could fall asleep to.

The next morning we woke up at 7 am, got dressed, packed up our gear and met for a quick breakfast.  After breakfast the staff led us on a tour of the aquarium before turning us loose to explore on our own.

Luna the albino alligator

Around 10 am Alex and I left the aquarium and set out to visit Fort Fisher.  Before going there we stopped at the visitor center and discovered that there was an old World War II bunker about a mile away.  He was up for it so we hiked to the bunker.  This bunker is famous locally for housing the Fort Fisher Hermit, Robert Harrill, for 17 years. Mr. Harrill died in 1972 and the bunker has been vacant since then.

WWII bunker and home of the "Fort Fisher Hermit"

A little ways past the bunker on the tip of the island was an observation deck.  This part of the island was mostly salt marsh so we had to cross a number of wooden bridges to get there.

On the trail leading from the parking lot to the bunker and observation deck Alex noticed a small skull in a tree and insisted on taking a picture of it.  By this time the battery had died on both my camera and my phone so we had to go to the car for a while to charge up the phone.  He really wanted a picture of it so here it is:

Before leaving the island we stopped to visit Fort Fisher, a confederate fort from the civil war.

It was now past lunch time and we were both hungry so we drove off the island and back into Wilmington to find lunch.  Just like the drive in I let Alex pick the restaurant and he picked another favorite, Buffalo Wild Wings.  The timing was perfect when we arrived at the restaurant because the Carolina game was just starting.  We watched the first half while having lunch.  After lunch we made a detour to Leland to visit relatives (thanks Uncle David and Aunt Beckie!) for a little while before heading home.  We ended up getting home around 7 pm after a short but fun trip.

Alex and I had a terrific time alone.  Aimee mentioned she had a similar experience with Andrew and Olivia while Alex and I were gone which goes to show we should plan events like this more often.

Here are some additional pictures from our trip: