A day of hiking and caching along the Haw River, near Swepsonville, just south of Graham, NC. Here you see here the The Horror of Haw — a rather tubby lizard basking on a rock near the riverside, clearly well-fed on hikers and campers. I risked everything to get a fairly close shot of the monster; happily, I survived to hike another day.
Apparently, Cinqo de Mayo is the day of the Haw River Paddle, which includes a number of canoeing and kayaking events through Alamance and Chatham Counties, from Ossippee to Pittsboro. There were folks aplenty gathered at the river access points, and I passed several campsites teeming with happy-looking campers along on my hike. I must say I enjoyed the festive atmosphere, even though, for the most part, the trail itself was empty — perfect for hunting caches. The horror, however, became evident after I came off the trail: it's freakin' tick heaven out there.
Though there was little action in this area during the War Between the States, in 1865, General Jumpin' Joe Johnston passed through on his retreat from General William T. Sherman's northward advance from Savannah. There's a historical marker — unfortunately, in poor condition — on the riverbank detailing events at the area known as Ruffin Mills. The foundations of some of the old buildings can still be seen in the woods here.
Click on the photos to enlarge.
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