The weather was fantastic (mid-70s and sunny) all weekend, so we drove up to north Durham and wandered through the woods at the Eno River State Park. Several wildflowers were in bloom (including these violet wood sorrels and blue-eyed grass), but most were very tiny, so we had to keep our eyes open.

The pump house trail (accessed from the Nancy Rhodes Creek bridge off Rivermont Road in the east side of the park) follows the Eno river for a time and passes by the old pump house (of course).

It hadn’t rained for a few days, so the water was pretty clear.

Amazingly, we had the place almost entirely to ourselves—we only saw two other people the entire time, a father and son pair fishing on the river.

We took pup with us for the 1.5 mile hike and she very much enjoyed the new smells of the forest floor. At one point, while Eric was traipsing through the forest litter to get a better vantage point of the river, pup and I stayed behind. She had some leaves stuck to her, and when I looked closer, I noticed a tick on her paw. Good thing I had given her the monthly dose of Frontline that morning.

This is the first time we’ve had a problem with ticks on her even though we have a wooded backyard and take her to a dog park regularly. I guess it’s that time of year. All told, we removed a total of four by the end of the day.

All along our hike, the leaves were rustling, tell-tale signs various things skittering about. Riesling spotted a few critters, but we prevented her from tasting anything (much to her dismay, I imagine).

This american toad hopped out of our way then stayed perfectly still when pup walked over, but the bess beetle just kept right on walking across the center of the trail!

Overall a good, easy hike, just beware the insects who want to come home with you.