Roanoke River 7-31-11

We got an early start to a day of canoeing the Roanoke River near Williamston today. Heavy downpours on the way didnt deter us. It hasnt rained for more than an hour a week in MONTHS so to be sure the rain would pass relatively quickly. It did, but it came back later with a vengeance! Kim and I got about an hour and a half up the river when it started to sprinkle bringing the "should we turn around debate". And after a minute or two we decided that though we hadnt obtained our goal of reaching the Conine Creek the darkening skies and ever increasing rain were leaving us no choice but to turn back. Then the rain really started to fall. A few minutes of panic then simple acceptance. We had to stop several times when the rain got too hard to bear and to bail out the canoe. Pretty cool! Previous to the rain we spotted a pair of bald eagles and slowly chased them down river for a while.One of the videos is of one of the bald eagles. Great trip! Kudos to Martin county for the clean and very nice wilderness river access and for their amazing and beautiful roanoke wilderness.
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Raven Rock State Park 7-16-11

Took a day trip to Raven Rock State Park this Saturday.Almost record low temps had us in a great mood for some hiking. We took the Campbell Creek loop (5 mi) that goes to the Cape Fear River. There were surprisingly few people there so the walk was nice and peaceful.Had some wildlife encounters, big creek fish, snakes and lizards mostly. Spoke with the ranger about the canoe trails and we will be on that river SOON!
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Beaufort County Weekend

We spent a lot of time over in Beaufort County this weekend. We started Saturday at goose creek state park. The dragonflies were everywhere. Got a video of a swarm of hummingbirds. We saw deer also. Sunday we put our canoe into Tranters Creek again. Look for an owl in one of the pictures. Its sitting on the top of a rotten tree and its natural camouflage makes it kind of hard to see. Most birds fly off when we get close but the owl didnt budge. It just sat there yelling and hissing at us. Awesome!!!!!
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Tar River 7-2-11

A minute and a half trip to Port Terminal Wildlife river access here in Greenville and we were canoeing up the ol' Tar River. We went from Port Terminal to the Greenville Town Commons and somehow the wind was in our face both ways. Saw a lot of folks walking the new section of the Greenway by the river. Though it pains me a little to have a formerly private place that Ive been going to since I was little open to the public it is nice for the town.
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