Uwharrie Backpacking Trip

Length: Two days
Crew: Two adults, two Scouts
Trip Sheet
Day one
We arrived after one of the typical two-hour car rides that leave you straining to go. Maybe it was the energy that we had left unused in the car, but by lunch time we had knocked off almost half of our allotted 7 miles for the day. Lunch was at a location to be supplied. Rest finished, we proceeded down the trail and began to encounter one of my very favorite things: CREEKS! So, what with the creeks to cross, and, more importantly, with the diminished amount of water in our water bottles, our pace slowed somewhat. Despite the lessened momentum, we managed to make it to our camp site on time. The site, by the way, was awesome! It had a creek and a nice, flat surface that was perfect for pitching tents. Thus, effectively, end the activities of Day One.

Day two
After breakfast and packup, we began on our 2.5 mile portion for the day. Looking back, my memories of the hike are rather blurred. My strongest ones are of a grayness, a mental grayness, largely imposed on the world around. But even within it, there were always things to see. You'd find your attention being directed by a crew member to say a neat rock in the trail or maybe a bit of moss or lichen. Then we would stare at it for a while in silence and both go away with the impression that we had seen something distinctly worth while. So we continued walking down the "gray" trail, which, when you think about it, was not that gray after all, and eventually reached the car that was at that end of the trail. We all had lunch and waited while Mr. Hock got the other car, and afterwards went home. In summary, this trip, like every other trip had its ups and downs, but overall I would give it an A!

Wilson Creek Backpacking Trip

Length: Three days, Friday through Sunday
Crew: Two adults, three Scouts
Trip Sheet
Pictures
Day 1

The group drove in one car from Chapel Hill to the Wilson Creek Visitors Center, but found it was not open yet. We continued up to FR 464 to try to enter the Harper Creek area from the north side, but the FR 464 was blocked by a landside. So we had to backtrack to the Harper Creek trailhead on Brown Mountain Road. The car was parked on the road by the trailhead and we hiked in. Lunch was at the campsite near the confluence of Hunter Camp Creek and Harper Creek, where the Mountains-to-Sea trail changes from the Hunter Camp Creek Trail to the Harper Creek Trail. We took the deadend trail to Harper Creek Falls by mistake, had to backtrack to where the main trail turned uphill. The falls were worth the visit, but we should have dropped the packs at the trail split. After a somewhat treacherous trail over the falls area, we found an excelled campsite with a firepit and benches on a rise overlooking the trail, the creek and some waterfalls.

Day 2

We left the campsite with dayhike packs and continued up Harper Creek Trail with the intention of having lunch at the South Harper Creek Falls and then deciding whether to come back down by backtracking on the Harper Creek Trail, taking Hunter Camp Creek Trail, which is a little longer, but has more ridge hiking and less creek hiking or by Persimmon Ridge, which is much longer with more ridge hiking.
It took twice as long to get to South Harper Creek Falls as expected. There were three major creek crossings (where you had to wade through current) before branch off for the Persimmon Ridge Trail, and many ( we stopped counting after six ) more major creek crossings before we got to the Harpers Creek gorge. We did see a beaver dam, freshly built from mountain laurel and met some fishermen at the last major creek crossing before the gorge.
The climb up the gorge to South Harper Creek Falls is very steep, but well worth the visit. We had lunch on a huge rock ledge, which the waterfall crossed after coming down a fifty foot drop and before dropping another hundred foot drop. It is spectacular. The total drop of the falls is two hundred feet. Above the falls, there is another major creek crossing and a climb through a poorly marked set of trails up to a campsite with a beautiful overlook of the falls and the gorge.
From the top of the mountain, we took the Hunter Camp Creek Trail, because it is obvious that there would be many fewer creek crossing and an easier trail. It turned out to be much easier than we expected. There is one major creek crossing just before the intersection with Harper Creek Trail, where we had lunch the day before. After a short revisit to Harper Creek Falls, we rehiked the short trail to the campsite.

Day 3

We hiked back to the car, which was covered with road dust, had lunch at the Visitors Center and drove home. At the visitors center, we asked about leaving cars at the parking lot. They said to let the center know if we were leaving cars overnight. The phone number for the Visitor Center is 828-759-0005.