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Raven Rock State Park is about an hour south of the Triangle. It sits along the banks of the Cape Fear River where piedmont gives way to coastal plain. Running every single trail at this park involves covering 36+ miles with 4,000' climb and crossing the river at least once.
This was my first trip to the park. I checked the Lillington gage before heading down: it was just over 2 ft. I decided to start/finish at Avents Creek, the bridle trailhead north of the river. That's because there's no potable water there and it's a bit shorter of a drive from Durham.
Even at a relatively low gage height, I anticipated that getting across the Cape Fear would be more challenging than the Yadkin (see Pilot Mtn Postman). What's more, I'd have to do it twice to get back to my car. There'd also be a 15 mile gap between potable water.
Starting at 7:02 am I knocked out most of the bridle trails north of the river, then it was time to follow Avents Creek downstream through grassy floodplain to the big beautiful river at Fish Traps. It took me a while to locate where to cross, the water was up to my waist.
Speaking of fish, there were tons of fearless big bass(?) swimming around my legs as I crossed. Many were about two feet long, big enough to get my hackles up, an amazing sight. Once across Fish Traps I faced about a marathon of trails on the south side of the river.
The laurel and ferns helped to keep my mind off the realization that I didn't feel the pep in my step today. My left hamstring reminded me there are no free refills from the fountain of youth. I popped some vitamin I and downed homemade banana, maple syrup and sea salt gel.
I was pleased to find an official trail (not shown on park map) called the Campground Trail that linked to the bike trails. This is how I got to/from this long, dry meandering network. I can't disparage the trails too much, they're well maintained. I was just really ready for a refill afterwards.
Back to the main hiker parking area 25 miles and around 4:30 in, I doused my head and chugged a couple bottles from the water fountain. I knocked out the small loops and moved on to Campbell Creek and Lanier Falls. The trails were starting to get populated on this sunny Sunday.
After reconnecting at the Avents Creek crossing, I brought it home in 6:51:06, almost an hour over my target time. Going unsupported on unfamiliar trails with a couple formidable river fords thrown in added to the difficulty of this route. But a tired body is also to blame.
NC state park postal runs:
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