A Cookie is just a Cookie: June Bike & Hike Combo

We decided to go for a bike ride in Bahama today. Bahama is a small unincorporated community in north Durham. It's not pronounced like the tropical island destination. When we first moved to Durham 7 years ago, we thought it was, and boy did we get a few weird stares from people when we'd tell them where we rode our bikes to! It's pronounced "buh-hay-muh", in case you were wondering. :) Bahama is 13.7 miles away from our house, so we drove there. We parked at the Bahama Road Veterinary Hospital, which I've heard good things about from other local North Durham people. We unloaded our bikes and the bike trailer.

The weather was gorgeous. For late June, a high temp in the low 80's is awesome! There was even a little breeze to help cool down and evaporate the sweat which is ever-present when bike riding in the summer in NC. We rode our bikes from the Vet Hospital to Spruce Pine Lodge, which was about 3 miles down Bahama Road. Spruce Pine Lodge is a Durham Parks and Recreation "Special Facility" site that's available for private rental or just for general recreation use. There's hiking trails, a campground, a small playground and lots of open lawn space for just running around and playing. Anyway, the bike ride up Bahama Road was very nice and mellow. We rode slow and just enjoyed the scenery. Here's a couple views of the beautiful farm land scenery:

Spruce Pine Lodge sits right next to Lake Michie, which is Durham's primary reservoir. Apparently it is a hot spot for fishing largemouth bass. Someday we'll get out there to rent a paddle boat and try to get catch some fish!

As you enter off of Bahama Road, you will go downhill for a bit (wheeee!) but then you will climb up a very big hill. Towing a 28 pound toddler in a bike trailer ain't easy! Here's a view of the last bit of the hill climb (you can see the Lodge in the distance):

Finally, when we arrived at the Lodge, we were out of breath (pant, pant, pant...) but this was our rewarding view:

What a beautiful landscape, huh? "Lunch Time!" We'd packed a small picnic lunch - sandwiches, fruit, yogurt and water/milk to drink. We set up our picnic blanket near the playground area.

Yummy! Eliza liked her lunch.

After lunch, we locked up our bikes and bike trailer. Even though this is in a very safe area of Durham, we couldn't risk just leaving our bikes unlocked. Since we use them for transportation, they're kinda important! Here we are, all locked up and ready to go for a hike.

Uh oh! It was Rob's day off from work, but when you're the store manager, you never really get a day off work. Someone from his job called and needed some help, and cell phone reception is a little iffy up in these parts of Durham.

Rob ends his phone call and we begin our hike.

We hike down to the small waterfall, which in late June isn't really flowing much - but we've been there before after times of high rainfall and it was a little more "wow" than it was today. So, these pictures aren't going to "wow" you readers out there, but we assure you, it's very nice out here and worth a trip if you've never been here.

See that little pool of water? A couple years ago, Danielle climbed into it, wondering how deep it was. It went up to the middle of her thigh. So maybe 2.5 to 3 feet deep. She was hoping it was deep enough to jump into! Oh well... When we arrived at the waterfall, we were greeted by a couple standing on the opposite side. The man had a very nice camera and the woman was standing there wearing a towel. It wasn't until after we exchanged pleasantries with each other (hi, how ya doing? Nice weather, huh?) that we realized she was NAKED under that towel. Okay, you can laugh at us now! So, we said goodbye to them and continued on the trail, which at this point makes a sharp left turn, almost 180 degrees. Here's some views of the trail and the creek that becomes the waterfall:

Water Falls Trail ends at the entrance road, and you hike back up that big hill we rode earlier. Walk past the playground and past the camping areas. When you see the amphitheater at the end of the group camping area, you know where the next trail picks up:

This trail has no official name, but is signed "Nature Trail". Way to go DPR on choosing a creative trail name! At least "Water Fall Trail" has some kind of oooh factor to it! People see a sign that says "nature trail" and they will think it's boring. But not us. We know it's not boring. So away we go:

This trail needs some maintenance. A few downed trees crossed our trail and it was a little difficult to navigate with Rob carrying Eliza on his back.

This nature trail paralleled Lake Michie for a little bit.

This nature trail finishes up a hill that drops you off behind the Lodge. You walk through a breezeway in between the garage and the Lodge itself. Here's Rob and Eliza at the finish of our hike, saying "Hi!"