Took some time off this week and headed out to Eastern North Carolina to see how the other half lives. Actually, I had some big plans but they fell through at the last possible moment. I was traveling with my friend John Geanangel, and we decided we’d make the best of the situation as long as we were already out there, so we toured around some. Our original plans were centered on trees so we kept that as the theme of the road trip. What follows are a sampling of the images I made along the way.

(Author’s note: This entry is being put together at the last possible minute because I only returned from traveling last night. Please check back in the next day or two and there should be some written description of what is being shown in the photographs. Update 1/6: I shouldn’t have promised to have this done in a day or two, but I’m still working on it!)

Jones Lake State Park, Bladen County

Jones Lake State Park features two bodies of water - Jones Lake and nearby Salters Lake - that are known as Carolina Bays. These formations are something of a mystery, but they are shallow and placid, the water stained dark like tea from tannin. Pondcypress (Taxodium ascendens) are found around the periphery of the lakes, with longleaf pines (Pinus palustrus) the dominant tree species in the surrounding forest. A special feature of Jones Lake is swamp with large old Atlantic whitecedars (Chamaecyparis thyoides) and loblolly bays (Gordonia lasianthus). None of these tree species are native to Western North Carolina.

(Click on any image for full view)

Lumber River at Lumberton, Robeson County

The Lumber River is designated a National Wild and Scenic River. It runs through the city of Lumberton, as does Interstate 95, and the the waterway and the highway travel for a short while right next to each other. We didn’t spend much time here, but the most interesting aspect of our visit was seeing for the first time the trunks and knees of baldcypress (Taxodium distichum) trees poking up out of ice.

(Click on any image for full view)