A Couple of Walks at DuPont State Recreational Forest

Yesterday we walked at DuPont Forest, about a 40 minute drive from our house. Though relatively close by, I think this is only the second time we have been to DuPont Forest, though we have taken numerous walks and hikes in the nearby Pisgah Forest and the Holmes Educational State Forest. All of these beautiful areas are in adjoining Transylvania County which is often referred to as "Land of Waterfalls."

DuPont Forest was used for some of the wilderness scenes in the original "Hunger Games" movie and before that, one of the waterfalls was in "The Last of the Mohicans." So, it's an area that is somewhat of a "movie star" and well worth experiencing.

It was "dumb luck," but we happened to visit on a beautiful late May day when the native mountain laurel was probably at it's peak bloom.

The volunteer at the visitor center mapped out a route for us, sending us first toward High Falls with a slight detour to the covered bridge.

From the bridge you could look in one direction and see the water flowing over High Falls.

From the other side, the river looked serene.

The paths were well maintained and wide.

We paused and took photos of each other in front of one of the nice laurels.

The first of the three waterfalls we visited was High Falls.

We are getting a little better at taking selfies, so here's one we took, again with the laurels behind us.

Along the way we also saw a few of the native flame azaleas, which are favorites of ours.

The second falls is Triple Falls and since I stayed at this vantage point while Russ went down to the rocks at the base of the falls, here are a couple shots of that pretty cascade.

Russ wanted to post a picture on Face Book, so I obliged by crouching inside a pretty laurel bush.

You can continue on a trail to Hooker Falls, but the volunteer at the visitor center suggested that we instead drive to another parking area about a half mile away and take the trail to Hooker Falls from there. Besides being the "Land of Waterfalls," the Brevard area is almost considered a rain forest because of the amount of precipitation it receives. The trail from Triple Falls toward Hooker Falls is quite steep and she was concerned that it might be a little muddy and treacherous because there was a heavy rain the day before. Really, we didn't see much evidence of rain puddles or mud, but we took her expert advice anyway.

Once at the other parking area, the trail to Hooker Falls was still probably a half a mile. From an overlook on the trail you can see this view.

From the bottom, you can see that it is a very heavily used recreation area. In addition to the swimmers, just behind us there were people practicing fly fishing and others putting in their kayaks.

There are two other waterfalls in the DuPont Forest, but they are a little further off the beaten path. Perhaps next time we will try to find them.

The waterfalls were very pretty sights, but I think I was most impressed with how beautiful the native laurel is.

A Walk at the Biltmore

Yesterday we walked at the Biltmore Estate, doing the loop from the Garden Shop parking lot through the azalea gardens, around the Bass Pond to the waterfall, and back along the water's edge til we got to the Azalea Garden again and finally the formal walled garden. The app on my iPhone said that it was about a 2 mile walk.

 There was still some brilliant color to be seen in the Azalea Garden, but to be honest a week or 10 days ago there would have been much more to catch the eye.

 We had a nice blue sky with some fluffy clouds and the day was maybe 60 degrees, a bit chillier than we have had recently and a bit below what we would expect this time of year. But it was a comfortable temperature for walking.

 There were several fringe trees in full bloom. If I had a bigger yard, I would plant one of these.

 And there were several blazes of flame azaleas, which are a personal favorite with
their brilliant orange blossoms.
And there were still several large clusters of several shades of pink...

 And rhodies, which I always think follow a little later than the azaleas.

Once out of the Azalea Garden, there are plenty of pretty vistas around the Bass Pond.

There was quite a lot of water flowing over the waterfall, which we looked at from below and above. Here I am on the bridge.

Russ joined me on the bridge and we continued on around the pond.

 We're getting better at taking selfies!

Back at the formal walled garden, some of the earlier roses could be found... in another couple of weeks every bush will be covered!

 Lots of iris and other perennials were in bloom. Here are a couple of photos.

 And the garden areas which formerly held thousands of tulips and daffodils are now planted in the summer flowering plants which will provide a carpet of color all summer.

The garden doesn't look very crowded with people in this shot, but it was busy as usual. Our walk was done at a relaxed pace and the warm sunshine and cooler air temperatures made it very pleasant. As I sat on the wall, people-watching for a while, I noticed how tired many of the tourists looked, as apparently they had expended a lot of energy walking through the house before they came to the garden.