DuPont State Forest

Pictured at High Falls in DuPont State Forest

By Laurie Bower Epps

My girls and I have an annual tradition of taking a Valentines Day hike. This year was especially appealing because we had a false spring like day. You see, it rained for many months straight with no break until late March for more than a day. If there was a sunny day, you were grabbing your stuff and figuring a way to be outside. My dear friend Edie has been taking fabulous pictures of DuPont State Forest, and I decided on this sunny, February day that this would be the year to make the trip up to North Carolina. Let's just say, mistakes were made. So from a parenting perspective, here's a list of what not to do.

For starters, we got a late start and not being able to go anywhere for months, it baited us to go anyway. We overestimated the weather app. According to the weather app, we should expect a drop in temperature of about 15 degrees. We brought thin jackets, but arrived to find it about 35 degrees colder. At least we brought money for the vending machine of water, right? Well, poor Chloe and I were locked out of the ranger station with no sign of water except flowing in the nearby streams. 

But we decided to make the best of things, and looked at a map to choose the closest waterfall. At least if we could make it to one, then it wouldn't feel like a wasted trip. Getting to High Falls was fairly easy, everything was downhill. I knew we had roughly an hour and a half before sunset, and I set my phone to alert us when we'd been gone 45 minutes to signal for us to double-time it back.

The trail was fairly easy. You've probably noticed, I'm a BBW and out of shape, but handled it easily. Chloe is also asthmatic, and did well enough to whine the whole way back up the hill. You can hear the waterfalls and rushing water about a third of a mile into the hike. The symphony of moving water just propels you to stick with it. By the half mile point, there is a lookout which is great for pictures, and it was my first picture for this blog. Personally, I was content at the overlook, but a sign directing you down the hill to the bottom of the falls, sent Chloe off running for the next point of our adventure.

The view at the base of the falls didn't disappoint. I even took a short video to share with my friends on social media the wonderful sound of the rushing water. The ranger, however, strategically placed a sign reminding us that our fun water adventure could turn dangerous rather quickly. Not to mention, that there was snow water run-off which would make it an awfully cold fight for your life.

Not only was there this route to the base of the falls, but there's another trail that leads to the top of the falls. A covered bridge helps you cross the river above the falls, and from the map it looks like it leads to Rainbow Falls.

Ultimately, I'd wanted to make it to a waterfall system called Triple Falls. At the intersection of Triple Falls, it's said to have a platform with rushing water all around you, and that sounded like a real thrill. The trails are well maintained and there is a camping area with bike trails.

Due to the cold temps of the day, this was all we had time for. It was so beautiful, that I do hope to go back.... when it's warmer. Perhaps in summer.

My daughter thought it looked like fun to ride down the waterfall even though there were ranger signs everywhere that basically states it's suicide. So if you do have that adventurous spirit, you could head to a place called Sliding Rock about a 40 minute drive north.

As we climbed uphill to our car, I did have Chloe stop before we reached the overlook. It was just such a pretty location. Even with Chloe's aversion to exercise, she asked to come back. Why yes, I think we will be back. But next time, we'll be much better prepared.

Parenting Checklist:

• Bring lots of layers/types of clothes,
• Bring your own water,
• Provide a small backpack even for the kids,
• Have snacks or maybe a small lunch on hand,
• Bring a flashlight, and
• Sunscreen and/or bug repellent.

This adventure left us starving, but we were lucky enough to have noticed a restaurant near the fire station in Cedar Falls. We did eat there, and the food was quite good, but a bit on the pricey side. If you come from Greenville on a Tuesday-Saturday, you could stop at a sandwich/ice cream/fudge shop near Pretty Place and Raven Cliff Falls that has much simpler fare. However, if memory serves me correctly, you do need to have cash at the sandwich shop. Our pricier option did take all major credit cards which may be a consideration.

Chloe and I have a thing for bears. I'm the momma bear, and she's my Chloe bear. So we had to get a picture of the little totem that attracted me to the restaurant in the first place. We will be having more bear adventures late this spring, so stay tuned......

For My Fashion-Love's:
Chloe's tye-dye shirt and jeans, you can find them at JCPenney, while my entire outfit is LulaRoe and my consultant is Lori Powell.

Our waitress read the dessert menu, and neither one of us had ever tasted a tuxedo cake before. We were chilly as a couple of penguins, but it was a tasty, and beautiful end to our Valentines Day Hike. Our mother and daughter date just got sweeter.