Section 7 of the MST / Falls Lake Trail is in some ways the toughest section so far. You can tell it's less traveled than the previous sections -- it's the end of January, and the leaves that fell 4 months ago lie thick and undisturbed, so you need to pay close attention to the white blazes. On parts of the trail you're on a narrow edge of a hillside that slopes precipitously down to the lake. There are a couple of creek crossings that in previous sections would have had a footbridge. But the worst part is that there's a really muddy, difficult section underneath some power lines. However, there are some really awesome views of the main section of the lake which make this worthwhile.
This section, also known as the Upper Barton Creek section, starts at a gravel pull-out on Six Forks Road, just north of the Upper Barton Creek causeway. The trail goes mostly east and slightly north along the shores of Upper Barton Creek. After 2.3 miles, it ends at route NC-98.
To start with, you enter a pine forest, zigging and zagging around some large trees and a lot of rippled ground, that must be drainage into the lake during rainstorms. This doesn't last long, because at 0.1 mile, you arrive at the Overflow Parking Lot for Barton Creek Boat Access area. There weren't any cars parked there when I passed through (this being a Thursday afternoon in January, although nice with temp around 60). Walk directly across the gravel parking area, and re-enter the woods at a sign-board.
You're still in a pine forest, with lots of nice soft pine needles covering the trail. You drop down to a crossing of a creek, then rise again, and turn left onto an old roadbed, which continues through a young pine forest. Soon, I saw ahead of me a clearing (which is a power-line clearcut), and a small pond. You cross the power-lines at 0.4 mile. From here, look at the power-line tower across the water. That will be your second crossing of the power-line.
Continue back into the forest, turn left, and follow the power-lines on your left, and a cove of the lake on your right. At 0.5 mile, you cross an L-shaped bridge, and then a second one, which looks like it has a relatively new ramp attached. You start climbing a steep hill, and see a handful of homes at a distance.
At 0.7 mile, you cross a (usually) dry creek-bed. At 0.8 mile, you pass a narrow roadbed, and soon start following a creek away from the lake. You cross a branch of the creek at a small metal conduit (no bridge), and shortly take a right across a larger branch of the creek (again, no bridge). This right turn is easy to miss. I did miss it, and so continued to follow the creek until I saw an old footbridge across it. At this point, you're within sight of a house, so perhaps it is their bridge.
Once you cross the creek, you start uphill again (of course). At 1.0 mile, you cross the power-line again.
Soon, though, you get to a section I really hated. At 1.2 miles, you come back to the power-line again. But instead of crossing it, you are using it as a way of going around a creek at the end of a cove. So, you are routed left up a muddy steep hill, which has been denuded of vegetation (except for quick-growing grasses and thorny briars around you). Then, you turn right on a dirt road heading steeply downhill. It's very steep and eroded and muddy (You can really tell how much damage to the topsoil takes place when you pull out all the trees). You quickly take another right across a low spot that is extremely muddy. Someone has placed a dozen large branches lengthwise in the mud. It helps, but walking on wet branches is tricky. There really needs to be a boardwalk here. Yuck -- I hope you're not planning to wear white sneakers here. Finally, you climb steeply uphill to go back into the woods, along a narrow ledge at the edge of the water, so be careful.
It's actually worth the hassle, because the next section of the trail follows closely to the shore of the lake, and has some really great views. Boats frequently go by this section, and planes seem to frequently fly overhead. If you look behind you, you can see the Six Forks Road bridge near where you started this section.
At 1.5 miles, you drop down to a low area, and climb back uphill for more views. I thought I was miles from civilization at this point, but you do see another few homes on your left. You turn away from the lake again, and at 1.9 miles, you cross a creek. It's a steep descent to the creek, and no bridge across it. After the creek, you're walking along a narrow ledge above the creek, so be careful here also.
At 2.1 miles, you cross another creek, this time on a footbridge. You can hear traffic on NC-98 from here on. You start up a hill, and shortly reach the "old 98" roadbed. You turn right here, and follow this unused paved section of road, that was the original 98 before Falls Lake was constructed.
It's eerie to walk along this old road. You get the feeling this is what will happen to all roads when mankind is gone. Trees have grown in very close to the edges of the road, and there is very little pavement left. It looks as if the forest is taking over the road. I thought to myself, when will it disappear entirely?
At 2.3 miles, the trail turns left, away from the road (which continues its march down to the lake), and climbs up to a bluff overlooking the new NC-98. Because of the height, it feels like this would have been a wonderful place for a house. And there must have been a house here in the past, since you pass an unusually large double-trunk oak (or maple?) tree, and nearby, what appears to be a large magnolia. These trees generally would be planted near a home-site.
The trail ends shortly afterward, dropping rather ignominiously down a muddy slope to NC-98. There's no gravel pull-off here. Although it seems out of place, directly across NC-98 is the steeply rising Falls Glen Court, a new home development. From my vantage point at the end of the trail, I don't see any homes. Perhaps I'll see some on the next section, which starts across NC-98 at a gravel pull-off just a few hundred feet to the east.
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