Los Flemings

Sandwiched between the exploding populations of Raleigh, Durham and Cary is William B. Umstead State Park. Running through the middle of the park is Crabtree Creek. And the put-in is only about 10 minutes from our house.

Saturday conditions were finally right to satisfy my curiosity. The creek had enough water, the forecast was for sun and mild temperatures and Mame was caught up enough to join us. (That's her in the shadows to the left - about to pass under I-40)

For a quick escape and natural beauty it was a great day, but for ease of canoeing it was a bear. We lost count of the the number of downed trees that we had to pull over. In the end it took us 5 hours to travel 5.3 miles (our usual canoe pace is 2-3 mph depending on current).

We did see lots more wildlife than we expected including ducks, geese, herons, turtles and muskrats. There were even a few small rapids to negotiate. These kept Sam interested along with the regular stops to go over trees and the occassional exploration of some small island for him to claim as his own.