Setting up!

And then we laid out a bunch of food.

Food!

Then we checked out the waterfall.  There was a grist mill at the park and I learned that the water came down a chute to turn a giant water wheel.  This turned a big stone inside the very old building that ground grains, like wheat and corn, into flour and meal.

McGalliard Falls

We saw a historical marker on our way in, so we checked it out on the way out.  It turns out that Valdese was settled by 427 people from the French Alps.  They were Waldenses, a Christian sect that started in the Middle Ages (1170).  They believed in (1) a literal interpretation of the Bible, (2) genuine poverty, and (3) preaching.  The Roman Catholic church eventually considered them heretics and were punished by the Inquisition.  Later, they became part of the Protestant reformation.

the church at the historical marker

From Valdese, we drove to South Mountain State Park to hike to the Chestnut Knob Overlook.  The start of the trail was quite steep.  Mom was only a little ahead of us but many feet higher in elevation.

Mom

The overlook was very cool.  We climbed onto an outcropping of rocks and you could see the whole valley.  (I think I can see the yellow of our house in Concord!)

view from Chestnut Knob Overlook

Look!  I am the Lorax!

Lorax pose

I had a great day.  I hiked 4.2 miles in South Mountain State Park (a personal best in terms of length).  The elevation was 2,291 feet.

Directions

coming soon!

Flat Stanley

We began the week by hopping in the car to go shopping for groceries and gardening stuff.

Then we typically go home and cook our food.  Dad likes to make several meals at once and then we eat them all week.

cooking

I have a cool bunk bed with a star canopy and a nightlight.  This is me playing in my room.

my room

On Sunday, we went to church.  Stanley went with us.

church

church

Monday through Friday I go to a STEM (Science-Technology-Engineering-Mathematics) magnet elementary school.

my school

On the weekends, we like to go places.  This time we went to Hanging Rock State Park. The goal was to visit a few places and then scout out a path to Moore’s Wall to see if we could come back do some rock climbing.  (Directions at the end.)

First, we took a short hike.  During the Revolutionary War, this part of North Carolina was considered the “western frontier”.  Some settlers, called Tories, were sympathetic to the King of England while others, called the Whigs, wanted independence.

Along the hike, there was a small waterfall.  Stanley liked it.

The Tories would raid the Whig settlers and then hide.  Below is a cave where a bunch of Tories were found after a Whig settler saw their campfire.

Next, we moved to another trail so we could find Moore’s Wall.  This is a popular rock climbing place but today we were just checking it out.

at the base of rock face

Stanley wanted to walk about a little, too.

To get to Hanging Rock, first get to Winston-Salem and take US-52 north towards Mount Airy for about 13 miles.  Take exit 122 (Moore-RJR Rd) and go east (a left turn).  Fortunately, there are signs to Hanging Rock from here.  But basically, you take a left on NC 66 and a right Moore’s Spring Rd.  The trail and Moore’s Wall are on this side of the park while the main entrance is farther down Moore’s Spring Rd.  For directions to the main entrance click here.

The Tory’s Den hike and Moore’s Wall are located here in the park.

blue is Tory's Den and red is Moore's Wall

end

We start here and hike south.  It is a very gentle trail that descends slowly.  In the summer, the whole trail is a dense green path but we are here in February which reveals some interesting little streams.  This is one you’ll see right away.

stream

Continuing on, I found a log with some interesting fungus.  Pretty cool, eh?

the fungus among us!

Here’s a picture of me and my Dad with the Big Laurel Creek in the background.

Joseph, Ron, and Big Laurel Creek

On the way back, we noticed that someone stuck two train cars up on the hill! How crazy is that?

a very pleasant return to our car

It was a great hike!

It's raining leaves!

And

… and another …

Directions:

Across the street

-Joseph

Daddy! Daddy! [finger pointing to socket

– Joseph

–Joseph

What's this?!?

–Joseph

Mommy

partheon

This is me on top of the acropolis.

on top of the acropolis

Here’s another view of on old building on top of the acropolis.

another temple on acropolis

They even have ruins in the subway station!

And one last touristy thing to show you.  This is the changing of the guards.  (This is also where lots of people protest — which was a little scary for us because it almost prevented us from catching our flight home.)

One more of me!

–Joseph

–Joseph