The West Bank (Gully Madness)

Today, I hiked the other (west) side of the drainage gully that comprises the Herman I. Little, Jr. Memorial Channel III-F Hike & Bike Trails.  This hike is a follow-on to my hike of the east side trail I did on November 3, 2013.  You can read my log of that hike here.

The thing about gully hikes is that they seem to go on forever and the scenery changes very little.  So, they're good to get some mileage in, but they tend to be a little boring.

I started my hike at Rayford Road and hiked south until I got to the junction of the drainage creek and Spring Creek.  At this point, the trail ended, but I was able to hike into the Spring Creek Bend Preserve.  The trails in the preserve were primitive and sometimes closer to animal trails.  There were no direction signs or printed maps, so I did some exploratory hiking.  The trails were very muddy and some trails were impassable due to ponds of water covering the trail, so I exited the preserve and walked around the perimeter until I could find a more passable trail.

After finishing the hike through the preserve, I turned back and hiked north, past my start point at Rayford Road, until the drainage gully took a west turn.  I decided to hike as far as I could go.  I got close to I-45, but was forced to turn back because private property boundaries/fences cut off the trail along the bank.

I decided to cross over to the other side of the gully for a change and, on my way back, I hiked around the completed portion of the Steven Gardner Detention Pond.  I crossed back over to the west bank at Caraquet Road and then hiked back to my car at Rayford Road.