End of 2025 Update

I haven’t been posting as much as I have in the past. I got a little sidetracked. Since my last post, we’ve had significant rainfall, I have been improving my zip line, I’ve been on a couple overnight camping trips, and I’ve photographed some unique plants, fungi, etc. in the Croatan. I’ve also been exploring some other parts of the Croatan; mostly east of highway 58.

For most of 2025, I have been experimenting with using a 2 inch (5 cm) wide, nylon strap as a makeshift zip line. It worked okay if you had a steep enough angle and the strap was wet, but they don’t make pulleys that ride nice on a wide strap. I did find a couple places in the forest where it would work, but it was limited and didn’t provide a very smooth ride.

Recently I purchased a steel cable and a traditional trolley pulley which was a huge improvement. The zip line works at a much lower angle, so I don’t need as much elevation. That opens up many more possibilities. Now the only challenge is finding a stretch where you can travel in a straight line for 100 feet (30.5 meters) without crashing into anything. That can be challenging in the forest. So far, I’ve found three places that check all the boxes.

I still use the straps on both ends to avoid damage to the trees and so I can use the winches to tighten the cable. The entire system can be carried by one person and doesn’t take long to set up, once you find a suitable location.

I didn’t get a lot of photos from my hikes in December because the sun is only up for 3 hours a day 😉 and I generally hike after sunset during deer hunting season to avoid conflicts with hunters. The exception is Sundays, when hunting is not allowed on federal lands. I am looking forward to longer daylight hours. The sun is above the horizon for 9 hours and 51 minutes, now. That’s 14 hours and 9 minutes of no sun … not acceptable!

The month of December brought significant, much-needed rainfall to the Croatan. You can see, in the photo (on the right), that Holsten Creek is flowing nicely. The forest was getting dangerously dry after a dry summer and fall. We could still use more rain.

One of my hiking friends took me on a hike in the Savannah that is east of HW58, down around Pettiford Creek. I was very excited to see Venus Flytraps in the wild. It turns out, they are quite common out there. I’ve probably walked right past them in the past and didn’t see them.

Here are some more photos from late November and December 2025. We had a lot of unseasonably cold weather, but it was a pretty good fall for hiking and I tried to get out as much as I could, to keep my spirits up. Blood flow is good and nature is therapy.