What we did in 2022 - A Look Back

 James and I have realized that we did not publish that many posts this past year.  We've been planning some new adventures for 2023 and we have a few posts from 2022 to catch up on, but that doesn't mean we haven't been out exploring!  We had numerous opportunities to bike, hike and kayak this past year - many of our miles were on some of our close to home trails, and some others we traveled we've already reviewed on Bikes, Boots and Boats.  We also have explored some shorter trails that aren't enough to warrant a whole post.  So I thought I'd share some photos of where we did trek this past year.  

In January we started the year off doing some biking and some hiking along some game lands trails around Jordan Lake.  

This area should be full of herons when we return in the spring! (it was not)

Following an old railroad bed.  

We returned to the game lands in the spring and were wowed by the lushness of green and the wildflowers.

Follow the Yellow Wildflower Road!

We did a lot of walking on the Riverwalk here in town.  Some evenings we are surrounded by a herd of deer.  We get excited when the train rolls through during our walks too.

Rainy Riverwalk reflections

In the spring we met up with our friends Hope and Danny in Greenville, SC and rode the Swamp Rabbit trail on Saturday and the Thermal Belt Rail Trail in Spindale, NC on Sunday.  We always enjoy sharing the trails with them!

Swamp Rabbit Trail:  Heading towards Traveler's Rest   

Posing at the Gold Mine on the Thermal Belt

For contrast in weather, Hope and Danny came to town in July and we showed off our "home trail" of the American Tobacco Trail.  It was so hot that day!  But we had a great time riding together.

I really think we are about to melt in this picture!

Speaking of the American Tobacco Trail.  We ride there a lot!  Here are some random shots from the year:  

You know we weren't going to make a post without a snake!  Juvenile rat snake chilling on the trail

We'd been watching the construction of the beaver dam for a while.  We were so excited to see them!  Of course, we didn't have the camera with the zoom on it, so the phone camera did what it could.

Two beavers on the log!  Sadly, a couple of months later the Army Corps of Engineers destroyed the dam.

Many sunset (and some sunrise) rides to this part of the trail.  We've seen beavers and muskrats here too.

Our yearly photo of our reflection in an ornament from one of the festively decorated trees

We also spend a many a weekend riding on the Neuse River Greenway in Raleigh.

Summer flowers at Anderson Point Park

Stunning fall color on this damp ride

And beautiful cosmos planted along the trail.  Taken the same damp fall ride too...such a contrast in color.

Trying to get that perfect selfie

More biking with Hope and Danny!  We re-cycled the Spanish Moss Trail in Beaufort, SC when we were in the area for our yearly Pledge the Pink Breast Cancer walk.

The evening sun was shining perfectly through the windows of this abandoned cannery

On our way back from Nashville, we spent a whole day driving down the Blue Ridge Parkway.  I think we stopped at every single overlook.  We also spent time hiking too.

More biking!  We returned to High Bridge State Park in Farmville, VA for another ranger led sunset ride. We rolled into 2022 with the same ride on New Year's Eve and had a lot of fun.  On this later summer trip, we stopped and rode a small section of the Tobacco Heritage Trail in South Boston, VA.  Watch for a post about that ride soon.  

Sunset from the bridge

We took the ferry to Shackleford Banks off of Beaufort, NC and saw some wild horses.  There will be an upcoming post about kayaking with the horses.

It wasn't all wheels and feet!  We had some wonderful kayak outings.  Some paddles were just me and James, and for some other paddles we were joined by his sisters, brother-in-law and niece.    

The water was a bit shallow this summer at Falls Lake

And another chance to paddle on Lake Moultrie in South Carolina.  Such a beautiful spot!  

Reflections

Snack Break

We returned to the lake after dinner for a sunset paddle.  Such beauty.

Whew!  That doesn't include the places we went that we'll tell you about in some future posts.  So stay tuned for that post about the Tobacco Heritage Trail and the kayak with horses.  Oh, and there's a hike to the Green Swamp where we finally found some Venus fly traps, a non-flooded ride on the Danville, VA greenway, and a spectacular group paddle on the Black River in eastern NC to look forward to.  Until then, we'll leave you here with this heron contemplating lunch.  

Best Kayaking Photos of 2020

If I were going to name a single activity that we would never have guessed would be impacted by Covid this year, it would be kayaking. It's probably the most socially distanced thing we do. On hiking trails and greenways, you're passing people sometimes only a few feet away, but out on a river you're seldom close enough to anyone to even shout "Hi!" But, for some reason one of the things that many states and localities shut down were boat ramps, and sometimes entire lakes, all through spring and summer, the prime kayaking window. The ramps and waters that did remain open could be insanely crowded. We'd go to spots we'd launched from in the past and find cars parked along the road in both directions for a quarter mile. The result was less time on the water, and more repeat trips to the same few spots we were confident we could launch from. So, this year's kayak photo edition is a bit light, and is actually punched up with a lot of aquatic wildlife photos that we actually encountered biking. That said, we still got some great photos, and even better memories on the water this year. 

Cheryl heads into an oxbow on the Waccamaw.

A gator on the Waccamaw! It's pretty rare for a swimming gator to stay at the surface if a kayak is anywhere in photographing distance. 

More Waccamaw. This is a shallow channel around an island that motorboats avoid. Very peaceful. 

This is from Fripp, where didn't actually kayak this year, though we have kayaked there before, so it counts!

Waterlily on the Waccamaw. This is a pleasant photo, but it was actually taken in a busy section of the river where racing motorboats turned crossing the river into a game of Frogger.  

Launching from the Oyster Shell beach at Murrell's Inlet. 

A kingfisher on Falls Lake. 

A tiny, tiny turtle on Jordan Lake. 

A water snake on the hunt on the Waccamaw.

My sister Joy made us these gator masks. We launched for a trip to Bull Island, but had to turn back because of high winds and an oncoming storm. 

Boat ramps were so crowded during the day that we eventually decided to try launching onto Jordan Lake at night. It was still crowded!

A wood stork takes to the sky at Murrell's Inlet. 

More wood storks. This is also a photo from biking, but we've paddled over the spot their feeding in on other trips. 

We first spotted spoonbills a few years ago at Murrell's Inlet, but hadn't seen them since. This year we saw maybe a dozen. What amazing colors! 

Another biking photo, this one on the Spanish Moss Trail. But, it was next to some very kayak friendly looking waters around Beaufort, so hopefully we'll get back there for a water expedition some day. 

This was again taken from a bike, on Pinckney Island. He looks very happy in his element. 

Another one taken from a bike, at Huntington Beach State Park. Its' funny, but when we kayak there, we never spot gators. I guess they hear us coming in the water and dive before we ever get near. 

Once more, the Waccamaw. 

A starfish on Pawley's Island.