Guus Bosman

This afternoon I went for a long walk in the Eno River State Park.

The park is very close to us, maybe a 15 minute drive. The river Eno floats north of Durham, and the banks of the river are a State Park for a number of miles. I've been in the park before, that was on the west side of the river.

Today was notably colder than it has been in the last months. I was still in my shorts and a T-shirt but I could feel that the fall is slowly starting.

I started at Cole Mill Road, but I noticed that the trails on that side of the river are pretty short. I started the trail and took a car bridge to the other side, and walked about 30 minutes outside the part to get to the trails on the other side that are longer. I encountered a guard dog there and I wasn't really looking forward to go back the same way.

When I was on this second trail I saw that in fact there is a crossing in the river and on my way back I used that crossing. With some athletic jumps I made it safe & dry to the other side. The trail runs mainly through woods and there's a variety of wild life in the park. I saw a tiny frog, but the nicest was a close encounter with four deer near the end of my hike.

Entrance of the park (Cole Mill Road).

The trail through the woods.

A tiny little frog. I only noticed it because it was moving.

Walking outside the park. My encounter with a guard dog earlier was a surprise and I was glad it decided not to attack me.

I went back into the park, this time on the other side of the river. Geese on the river.

Ruins of an old house.

On the way back I crossed the river the exciting way.

On my way back I saw a group of four deer. They were staring at me for about a minute before they ran off. Beautiful creatures.