Hanging Rock State Park

Jon here for another guest blog! Last Thursday (June 3oth) I took a 15+ mile hike up and down the mountains at Hanging Rock State Park, located about 20 miles from Winston-Salem. The water fall you see above is one of 3 or 4 waterfalls you can discover, however this is the only one I saw. This is called Tory's falls. Right next to Tory's falls is Tory's Den.

I think this is a small cave. I'm not sure if it goes any deeper then you can see here, I was too tired (scared) to find out.



I was brave enough to go this far in so you can get a view from the inside of the cave- out. This is apparently the sight of a revolutionary war skirmish between the revolutionaries and those loyal to the English crown.





Look carefully and you can see one of my friends I met on the trail. On top of the stump you can see Mr. Lizard. I also ran into Mr. Toad, Mr. Deer and Mr. Snake. However Mr. Snake didn't stay very long. Snakes are not very social creatures, they're actually quite rude.

Here I am at my most tired. The trail leading to Tory's Den and falls was the most strenuous. The trip to Tory's Den was mostly downhill. You might think that makes it easier, but it doesn't. When your hiking downhill you move slower or else you'll trip and fall and roll down the hill. No fun at all. I actually move faster going up hill. The trip back from Tory's Den was at least 1 mile of straight up hill. 3/4 of the way up I had to stop and catch my breath. It was exhausting!

I had no idea this look out tower was here. It worked out well that it was the last place I visited for the day. The view was breath taking....although it might have been the 13 miles of strenuous hiking I did right before this picture was taken. Look out for the human sized flies though. (ok I'm exaggerating but those suckers were big!)

Here's a few pictures of the view.

That's Pilot mountain in the distance- a local landmark.

When I got back to civilization I had a half mile walk back to the van. That's where I saw Mr. Deer.

Ok so Mr. Deer was probably a doe but I was on a roll so leave me alone.

That was my day of hiking followed by 3 days of intense soreness. It was worth it though, whenever I climb a mountain like this, I really feel like I've accomplished something. It's great to be out in nature, to exert myself. It feels good to complete a 3 mile trail, look at a 5 mile trail and say "I can do that."