Closer to home - Eno River

So, in my Geocaching post, I mentioned snake identification...  Yes, I did.  Stop and go back, you should read that!  You didn't?  Really???  Well, at least promise you will read it when you are done here.  Geocahing if fun...  But those of you that did read that...this is where we got to have not one not two not three etc etc but 7 opportunities to identify snakes!  Woo hoo lucky us!  Not only that but six of them were copperheads.  Going hiking?  Take us along!  We will identify the heck out of those poisonous, oops, venomous snakes!  So where you ask, did we have such a fabulous opportunity to commune with nature???  The Eno River State Park.

The Eno River State park is located in northern Durham county in NC.  It is a small but sprawling park that protects much of the land around the Eno River which in my opinion is one of the prettiest ones in the area.  you can take a look at all the offerings here: http://www.ncparks.gov/Visit/parks/enri/main.php  Our favorite hiking area right now is the Cole Mill trail and the Bobbit's hole.  Although both hikes are loops we prefer to hike out and back because we really enjoy being on the river.  There are plenty of spots along the trail to climb on rocks and teeter out into the river.  There are also a number of good little swimming holes so in the summer wear a bathing suit and bring a towel. 

You would think after that particular visit back in July of last year that we would never want to go there again.  In actuallity, this is one of our favorite parks in the area.  The hiking is well marked and offers a variety of difficulty.  Most of the trails are along the river and for those of you that haven't done much hiking, there is something really soothing about hiking along the water.  The day of our 7 snake sightings was unusual and even a ranger mentioned that there were an uncommon number of snakes out that day.  That said we did hike the full trail and we were just much more careful than usual about where we stepped and sat.  Eeek! 

We also had the opportunity to look up copperhead snakes when we got home from the park and discovered that NC has the most copperhead bites in the country and that these bites are rarely fatal.  We will be heading back out to the Eno when the weathr warms up some more!