By Ben |

Today was cold and drizzly and generally unpleasant.  The hotel owner wouldn't let me bring my bike inside, so I didn't get to do some routine maintenance I would normally have done after a day of rain.

North Carolina has actual bicycle highways that are not only signed on the road but are also shown on my maps!  I had planned to follow one of these east along the coast to Wilmington, then pick up another one and follow it into Durham.  However, this morning I decided I didn't want to go an extra 40 miles or so east after all, especially since there was a state park due  north.

The hotel owner warned me that there wasn't much at Lake Waccamaw State Park, but I was unprepared for how remote it is!  It's on the south side of the lake, but the only road in comes from the north -- you have to go all the way around.  By the time I got to the campground the sun was setting ... and I saw that it's a primitive group camp, and I was the only person around.  I decided to go ahead and make camp anyway... the worst they could do would be to give me a free ride to a warm night in jail!  But when a ranger came by, he informed me that they do actually let individuals camp, and he registered me without further ado.

47.9 mi