Ice Magic

I'm not really sure I can call this an adventure. We only walked about a quarter of a mile through the ice covered snow in our neighborhood. But in North Carolina, this is a rare treat. It was quite magical and I'm glad Ally and I both got to stay home to enjoy it today!

 I think this looks like it belongs at the Chihuly Glass Museum

 Not quite spring

 Grass Icicles!

 Ice patterns on our wrought iron outdoor furniture

Ship Peak Hike on Orcas Island

Hike: Ship Peak Loop in Turtleback Mountain Preserve

Hike Difficulty: Moderate 

Hike Distance (Round Trip): about 3 miles

Time (Round Trip): 1.5-2 hours

Elevation: Ship Peak 931 feet

In previous posts, I gushed about Turtleback Mountain Preserve and how incredible it is. We went on two hikes in the preserve when we were on Orcas Island in December. Details about our hike in the north section of the park can be found here. We enjoyed Turtlehead Hike in the north section of the park so much that we made sure we had time to go on another hike before leaving on the ferry at 12:15pm on our last day. I honestly couldn't tell you which one to go on if you had to pick one. Both were awesome, so either do both or know that you won't be disappointed with either one!

I realize this photo is not terrific because of the condensation on the trailhead map; however, it can still help you in visualizing the trail and planning your hike. 

We started out on the South Trail from the Wildrose Lane trailhead, and then veered off the wide trail to the left for the single track Lost Oak Trail. And then we hiked up and up and up. The forest in this section of the park is very different from the forest on the Turtlehead hike, and I was glad we got to check out all of the park's diversity. 

 I just can't get over how GREEN it was on Orcas. I was so thankful for this trip, since it is incredibly brown and bare in North Carolina right now. 

 There were many vista points along this trail, not just at Ship Peak. And the views seemed to change before our eyes because the fog continued to move. 

Considering a Madrona tree tattoo and this one looks like the perfect one!

At this sign, we turned right towards Ship Peak. 

 This section of the trail didn't seem to exactly match what the map indicates. We just kept following signs for Ship Peak and continued on the trail after Ship Peak to meet back up with loop trail. In other words, there is no need to go out and back to the vista point. The trail loops back to the main trail.

This actually reminds me of the spanish moss in South Carolina.

Once we met back up with the main trail, we followed it down with a short stop at West Overlook (760 feet). We could see all of Crow Valley out to the north side of the island and south towards West Sound. It was beautiful to see the fog hanging over several of the farms perfectly placed throughout Crow Valley. Can you tell how much I love this place? 

 Yes, it looks like sunset, but it's actually 11am. Welcome to the Pacific Northwest in winter. 

 Crow Valley

 It was really this green. I did not do a thing to this picture. 

We made it back down the trail quickly (too quickly for my taste) and drove the 10 minutes to the ferry. Our visit was too short, but it always is. I am just thankful we know of this place and will come back to visit again and again. In the meantime, I'm glad I got some good pictures to remind me of the feeling I have on Orcas. 

 Quick stop on the side of the road on our way back to the ferry. 

The sun lighting up the Madrona trees

Directions to Wildrose Trailhead from Eastsound: 

Head south on Orcas Road for 1.2 miles. 

At Y, turn right on Crow Valley Road.
In 5.3 miles, turn right on Deer Harbor Road.
Turn right on Wildrose Lane. Parking area will be on your right. Enjoy!

Low Country Adventures

This will be a brief post because I could not do my typical adventuring on our trip to "Low Country" last week. Two weeks ago, I was out on a 6 mile trail run at Umstead State Park and badly sprained my ankle and foot. Our trip to Edisto Island was scheduled for the following week, so I was in no shape to even walk, let alone run, like I normally would on my beach vacation.

This is the fourth winter in a row we have spent some time on Edisto Island. It's a super laid back island without a resort and with a great campground right on the beach. Much of the island is marshland, which means the bird watching is incredible. We always see a ton of pelicans, egrets, and herons. There are alligators too, but we never see them in January when we are there.

On my 250 yard walk on the beach. Crutches on the beach were not super enjoyable!

Lovely sun rays from the car

Edisto Island is not super easy to get to. It's about an hour off of I-95 on back roads that I highly advise you stay off of at night. It's about an hour south of Charleston and two hours north of Savannah. It's a perfect spot to feel disconnected from the hustle and bustle of "real life" and connected with nature. And if you are needing something more than reading, walking, or running on the beach, then there are plenty of options for day trips.

Because I sprained my ankle, we didn't do much. However, we did adventure out one day to the cute town of Beaufort, South Carolina (pronounced bew-fert). I've read just about every Pat Conroy book since moving to the South, so was excited to check out the town he has lived in and written about. Also, several movies, including Forrest Gump, The Big Chill and The Great Santini were filmed in this cute historic town. I just wish I could've walked more, because it is full of incredible antebellum homes and tons of great photo opportunities. I was limited to taking pictures from the car and on the couple of blocks of Bay Street that I hobbled around.

 Spanish Moss covers low country

 A crazy thunderstorm came in while we were there. Was kind of fun to watch it from under an awning on Bay Street. 

 So many cool homes! I wish we could've walked around all afternoon. We'll have to make a trip back someday!

On previous trips to Edisto, we've done quite a bit right on Edisto Island. Botany Bay is one of my favorite spots for a walk on the beach. We've also rented kayaks and explored the marshes for an afternoon.

Boneyard at Botany Bay

For eating, I recommend getting some locally caught fish from the Edisto Seafood Market and cooking it at your place. If you feel like driving, The Old Firehouse Restaurant has some great southern food (make sure you get a side of cabbage. Seriously, you won't regret it.) I've also heard the Old Post Office Restaurant in Edisto is great, but we've never been because they are always closed for the month of January. On our way home this trip, we stopped and ate lunch at Hominy Grill, which was recently written up in Food & Wine as having some of the best biscuits in the country (and I love biscuits!!!) These biscuits did not disappoint and they had a great veggie plate with really unique and southern options, like mashed sweet potatoes, grits, braised cabbage, and squash casserole.