The Friends of Sauratown Mountains met for a covered dish supper near the summit of Pilot Mountain. After supper and fellowship, we heard some comments from President Jay Young. He mentioned our group may be close to receiving approval to operate Vade Mecum on an interim basis. He also mentioned we had received a $2500 grant (coupled with $1500 from FSM) from the Friends of State Parks to build a walkway in the Lake picnic area at Hanging Rock.
Pilot Mountain superintendent, Matt Windsor then updated us on his park. He was happy to report a 70 acre addition to the park, referred to as Pilot Creek access. The kids' fishing derby will be moved to this property. It also will have a milkweed field for the benefit of Monarch butterflies. It appears another addition to the park will provide Ararat and Yadkin river frontage, making it possible to have another paddle access to the Yadkin. There are some projects planned by local colleges and universities. Surry Community College will conduct a dendrochronology study of trees to determine historically, how frequent fires were in the park. Wake Forest will put 20 motion detecting cameras throughout the park for a year to document all the wildlife passing by. They also will fly a drone overhead with infrared detection to count the deer population after the rut.
Finally, the long wait for a Pilot Mountain Visitors Center may be coming to an end. The project is a priority among all the State Park projects listed in the recent bond referendum. The design is supposed to be completed this year and bid out next year. Matt commented, that would be a land speed record but we could endure a bit more. Of course that is exciting news. Matt added, although the Visitors Center is needed, of equal importance is a transportation system. If I could interject my greenmon observation here: A Visitors Center will increase traffic as will the new interstate adjacent to the park. Pilot Mountain's visitation is growing without those factors and looks to continue to ramp up in the future. The current traffic situation is a result of the popularity of the summit area and its limited parking. On many weekends, park staff is relegated to traffic control all day. In my opinion, that is a terrible waste of resources. Pilot Mountain Park Rangers are highly trained and knowledgeable in so many areas. Having them direct traffic keeps them from enhancing the visitor experience. Visitors must endure a long wait or park outside the park and walk up, making the road a walkway, something it was not designed for. I am dismayed when I visit the park and see this situation. It can be improved.
Getting back to Matt's comments. He feels this is the best and maybe only, time to get a shuttle system funded and operational. If it is not done along with the construction of the Visitors Center, it may possibly be years more of traffic duty. Matt has investigated other shuttle systems, like the one at Kennesaw Mountain. These systems work well. The short ride to the top of Pilot Mountain on a shuttle with either canned or live commentary, would orient the visitor to the park better. Everyone would have an opportunity to get to the top, something not happening now. Matt feels very strongly this system needs to be in place to serve the public on their visits to Pilot Mountain for the next half century. I fully support this.
Another project at the park involves propagating Bear Oak and transplanting them in the park. Right now only about 100 are in the park and about 500 are needed to make it a sustainable population.
What a clear and gorgeous night it was for a sunset hike around the big pinnacle. The sun had just set as we set out. The clarity of the western mountains was as good as I have ever them it.
Grandfather Mountain in the evening sky
Matt explains how the rock was formed. It is metamorphic rock created by pressure when the area was 2000 feet undersea. Some spots have black layers which would have been black sand congregating together, heavier than other sand. He also mentioned some rock became superheated due to pressure. Those areas formed quartz. Often they would not be a horizontal layer of sediment but diagonal lines.
The lights of the surrounding countries were all on. Matt calls it the Mercury Vaper phenomenon.
I have done this sunset hike 3 times and always enjoy it. Matt can be so informative and incorporates his wonderful style of humor into the commentary.
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