November 13 American Tobacco Trail

It was a great day for a bicycle ride and to celebrate your 60th, not mine but one of the older women in the group.

We've been riding this route for a bit over a year. It is a 27 mile out and back. Some is paved, some is gravel but most is packed cinder. It was a very nice afternoon and the locals were taking advantage of it.

Next year at this time we may have a longer ride. Bids for the bridge over I-40 are opened Dec 15 and if it within the Triangle trails budget, it'll be contracted.

Patti rides on her Craigslist bike.

Nov 11 Occoneechee Mountain State Natural Area

A state natural area administered by Eno River State Park and located adjacent to I-85 in the vicinity of the I-85 and I-40 split. Beginning in the parking area, walking the loop trail right next to the interstate did diminish the experience. It was about 20 minutes before we turned the corner far enough from the road that we heard only the distant highway noise. Occoneechee Mountain, at 867' is the highest point in Orange County. It is unusual that the summit is just a couple hundred yards from the Eno River, the main drainage in the area. The entire side of the mountain facing the Eno is carved out having once been a quarry. 

Here I am crossing the Eno on a fallen Beech tree. Beech trees are found along the river. Most of the rest of the property is dominated by Chestnut Oaks. Also riverside were Catawba Rhododendron, Mountain Laurel and Galax. Those are not plants found in man nearby locations. The Brown Elfin Butterfly is also found here, although we didn't see any on this chilly November day. Brown Elfins are not seen anywhere else nearby until you get 100 miles away in the foothills of the Blue Ridge.

There are still some colorful leaves along this section of the loop trail next to the Eno River.

Here you can see the upper slops of the mountain and the scarred remains of the quarry. It appears the rock is unstable on these quarry slopes and thus closed to any type climbing.

We enjoyed the short walk, less than 3 miles in this natural area. It definitely seems out of place for its surroundings.

The People Who Dig Holes

The people who dig holes is the translation of Hammonasset, the Indians who populated the area near Hammonasset State Park in Connecticut. Connecticut, by the way, means "upon the long river" from the Indian word quinatucquet. Why these people dug holes is a mystery to me. Most Indians lived near fresh water sources in woodlands, although they probably hunted shores and salt meadows.

This Ringbill Gull was spotted on our wanderings in Hammonasset, specifically Meigs Point, the easternmost portion of the state park. The rocky beach in this section is littered with small slipper shells. The part of the beach is also a moraine. Moraines are spots where glaciers either end or stop and begin the melt, depositing rock usually in a east-west direction. Long Island is a grand example of a major moraine. When the glacier was warmed by the ocean, it melted as fast as it advanced, leaving Long Island. Smaller moraines can be seen as islands in Long Island Sound and the Connecticut coast.

Looking at Connecticut's salt meadows using aerial photos or google earth, shows there have been attempts to drain them. I don't know if this particular salt meadow was trenched for drainage. Now there are attempts to preserve the salt meadows. 

An old road at the edge of a salt meadow is preserved but crumbling. It appears this rea may have been an fruit orchard at one time.

MEIGS POINT

Tomorrow will be a good day

to return to Meigs Point

If you come with me

let it be at a time

where the tide is dead low

That is the best

for viewing the distant

hills and cliffs of Long Island

Most people will turn west to stroll

the boardwalk on Hammonasset Beach

We won't do that Instead

we will take the narrow easterly path

through the remaining

beach roses mostly rose hips now

We will stop to savor the last vestiges

of late summer evening primrose

mullein wild cucumber Note that

the staghorn sumac berries are ripening

Be aware that the poison ivy

wants to slip into something

more comfortable a seductive red

which says touch me if you dare

Soon we will arrive at a small

curved beach stony little sand

The beach will be deserted except

for a show of sea lavender

There we will look out onto the Sound

at sailboats riding the wind slicing

the waves Salt air will fill our lungs

and intoxicate our minds

When I return come with me

Tomorrow will be a good day

Poem: Gordy Whiteman (2011)