Jun 22 Dryden Kuser Natural Area

 

Is it a bog or a swamp? I kept hearing it described both ways. After reading much I came to the conclusion that the swamp is within the bog. The Natural area is 1451 acres all within the Hight Point State Park. It is named for the family that donated the land to the state, Colonel Anthony R and Susie Dryden Kuser. 

The bog has formed since the last glaciation (Wisconsin). The glacier's retreat left a fresh water lake at 1500' elevation. Over time the lake filled in with decaying moss which created a peat bog. The bog has within it different types of forest. Two hundred year old Atlantic white cedars make up one of those forests. Atlantic white cedar normally grows in low coastal areas. Here at 1500', it is quite unusual and rare, so rare, this may be the only population of Atlantic White cedars at this elevation or higher.

My hike began above the bog, following a ridge for about a mile before dropping down to the bog. It was a humid and hot morning. There is an old two track road that encircles the bog with a boardwalk passing through the middle. You could make out what appeared to be the contour of the ancient lake. A hardwood forest transitioned into a leafy bog with mosses, ferns and forest. There was much standing water as well. Almost immediately I was surrounded by Deer flies. 

I walked the perimeter and the boardwalk. My pace was quick to try to stay one step ahead of the flies. There was Blue flag iris in water along the boardwalk. There were Rhododendron, Azalea, Mountain laurel, Blueberry and other heath family shrubs. 

The rarer plants eluded me. I have read wild cala, pitcher plants and sundew grow here. I would have spent more time but the Deer flies were driving me out. 

Blue Flag Iris

Atlantic White Cedar

After my bog tour, I left the bog and Deer flies, back into the surrounding hardwoods. It was a rocky trail with some up and down. My hike ended on pavement for the last mile. The heat and humidity coupled with the fast pace, did me in. I needed a 10 minute recovery period before feeling ok to drive off. 

An eft scurries away

Jun 22 High Point - the one in New Jersey

 

This stone obelisk was modeled after the Bunker Hill Monument. It commemorates New Jersey's veterans past and future. Built from 1928 to 1930, it stands 220 feet high. The Washington monument is 555 feet. It is built at the highest point (1803') in New Jersey and has commanding views. 

The monument is located within High Point State Park. Who built it? It was privately funded ($500,000) in 1928 by Colonel Anthony R and Susie Dryden Kuser. "The Colonel" was a successful business man in New Jersey. He was quite well off but nothing compared to his wife Susie, daughter of Prudential Insurance founder John Dryden. The couple owned homes in nearby Branchville, West Palm Beach, South Carolina and more. They purchased an estate of over 10,000 acres here in 1910 and renovated a manor house which they rarely stayed in. The couple were the victims of a famous jewelry robbery in 1921 in which $20,000 of jewelry was taken and all 18 occupants of their home were knocked out in their sleep with chloroform. 

In 1923 he couple donated the land to the state for a state park. One stipulation of the gift was the land not be used to shoot or trap birds. Several years later they offered to build the monument and state accepted. 

Morrows Honeysuckle

Vipers Bugloss

Gold Moss Stonecrop

Jun 21 Hawksbill - the one in Virginia

 

Hawksbill Mountain at 4050' is the highest point in Shenandoah National Park. A myriad of hiking options are available. Just below the peak is a fenced off area which has significant botanical interest. The Appalachian Trail passes nearby 500' in elevation lower. 

The trail up passes many blooming Fly Poison plants. All parts of the plant are poisonous with the bulb being the most potent. Colonists crushed the bulb and mixed it with sugar as a fly poison. 

A few columbine were along the trail

Byrd Shelter #2

Senator Harry Byrd funded a number of rock shelters in the 1930s throughout the park. It is not open for camping. Inside, the fireplace has been stoned up. Despite that, someone had started a fire in the shelter. That must have been a smoky event. The shelter's front side opens to a terrace and stone wall with a stunning western view. This is considered one of the best viewpoints in the park.

Jun 20 Blackrock Mountain

 

Located in Shenandoah National Park along the Skyline Drive is this large talus field flowing downward from the top of Blackrock Mountain. Is it a talus field of scree field? I believe this falls into the "larger rock" talus category. The views are to the west. 

The Skyline Drive runs the length of the park along a ridge with a few gaps that have crossing roads. As a result, there are many short trails to the top of the ridge. This part of the park seems to have a number of talus fields on the west facing slopes. 

The Appalachian Trail runs parallel to the road, crossing it many many times. This allows for many different approaches of varying lengths. Blackrock is no exception. 

Talus fields are the result of a very long weathering process reducing mountains to smaller debris. 

Jun 15 Crystal Lake Paddle

 

Another paddle organized by Crystal Cockman and Three Rivers Land Trust. Once again, I have used Crystal's photos here.

Pickleweed

Crystal Lake is a 57 acre lake in Moore County near Lakeview and Vass. Is it named for Crystal our leader? No. In 1830 Duncan Blue dammed Mill Creek for a gristmill. The smaller pond was know as Blues Lake. In the 1880s when the the railroad opened up the area, Reverend Martin McQueen bought the property. The pond was renamed McQueen's Mill Pond. Later in 1902, Boston businessman Harvey Holleman bought the property and enlarged the pond to its current size. He renamed it Crystal Lake and began developing it into a resort like many of the other towns in the area had been developed since the 1880s. Property was going for $1.50 an acre and Holleman bought 1000 acres surrounding the lake. At the time is was the largest lake in Moore County. Lakeview was developed and thrived as a resort for some time. The railroad runs by the east side of the lake so that became the hub of the resort.

After paddling across the lake, we entered a Black Gum swamp. The temperature seemed to drop 10 degrees. The paddle trail is marked with some survey tape here and there. We bumped along several submerged logs. Charles, above, helped everyone through a log jam. The few paddleboards with keels had a time getting through. A bit further we encountered a couple downed trees which we could not get through. 

American white water-lily

The swamp was dotted with very small islands which supported single Black gum trees. On one of these islands, Will spotted a Water Moccasin snake which we observed from a good distance. It was very well camouflaged. 

I suspect our paddle was in the order of 2.5 miles. The swamp was very relaxing to float through. With more than a dozen boats, single file through the narrow passage meant a lot of standing still listening to birds and the traffic on nearby Rt 1. 

Jun 8 Little River Paddle to Capelsie and back

 

Today's paddle is on the Little River near Troy. We are in the backwater of a dam, paddling upstream a couple miles to another dam. There was a very slight flow so paddling upstream was about the same as downstream. 

This paddle was organized by Crystal Cockman of Three Rivers Land Trust. I have used her photos here.

The river narrowed and we needed to paddle hard and maneuver around rocks as we approached the dam. Hidden in the foliage on the the left of this photo are the remains of the Capelsie Mill which the dam provided the power for. It dates to 1898 when A W Capel began spinning cotton into yarn. That business did not survive the Great Depression, closing in 1931. Several years later in 1935, AW's son A Leon Capel bought the mill to make braided rugs. He had started the business as a teenager back in 1917 making braided rugs with second quality and closeout yarns. His father's business had been the source for some of his yarn needs. This was the first manufactured braided rugs. Braided rugs had been around for a long time but they were handmade with scrap cloth. The business thrived and is still in around today. Capel Rugs no longer are made in the mill. It has been abandoned for some time now.

Prothonotary Warbler

Here is an interesting piece about the bird copied from Wikipedia:

The prothonotary warbler became known to a wider audience in the 1940s as the bird that established a connection between Whittaker Chambers and Alger Hiss in front of the House Un-American Activities Committee.

On August 3, 1948, in a hearing before the committee, Chambers accused Hiss of being a communist spy who sought to infiltrate the U.S. government. Two days later, Hiss testified before the committee and claimed, among other things, that Chambers' allegations were false and that he did not know Chambers.

However, future U.S. president, Richard Nixon, who was then a freshman congressman on the committee, became convinced that Hiss had committed perjury at the hearing. To verify this suspicion, the committee had Chambers appear before it again on August 7, 1948, to testify about his relationship with Hiss. At that hearing, Chambers testified that Hiss enjoyed bird-watching, and once bragged to Chambers about seeing a prothonotary warbler along the Potomac River. When Hiss appeared before the committee again, he haphazardly confirmed spotting a prothonotary warbler on the Potomac, causing many members of the committee to become convinced of the pair's acquaintance. Ultimately, the Hiss-Chambers hearing led, in part, to Nixon's political rise.

The star of the show today is this Green Heron. It fled into the foliage on our upstream paddle but posed nicely on our return visit. Often you see them with the neck all scrunched into the body looking as if they don't have much of a neck. Green Herons, like some other herons, can use bait, like a twig dropped in the water to lure fish. 

Jun 1 National Trails Day Hikes

 

Trailblazers hobnob on Little Long Mountain

I am starting the day off at Joe Moffitt Trailhead to hike with Three Rivers Land Trust up Little Long Mountain. The Land Trust was instrumental in acquiring the land and transferring it to the National Forest Service. Prior to the transfer, the Uwharrie Trailblazers helped build the Uwharrie Trail through here. The shelter was an Eagle Scout project of Hampton Routh back in 2015.

Nuttals Sensitive Briar

Eagles Nest Shelter atop Little Long Mtn

Lots of Bee Balm here

After leaving Little Long Mountain I headed to Ridges Mountain State Natural Area where the NC Zoo was having an open house. There were so many cars here, they were parked all the way out to the paved road. I walked up to the zoo's tent to find it manned by Bob and Betsy and soon after I ran into Mary Joan and walked the preserve with her.

MJ squeezes into the rock

Now, I try to squeeze my way through.

MJ told me that Ben Crotts, the former owner of the big rocks, had given her a list of names for the rocks. Apparently, he had names for them all. MJ says that document is with the zoo. 

The cave mentioned here has never been found. MJ told me that during the original purchase (Kenan not Crotts), Glenn Kenan motioned in a direction and said, that is where the cave is.

There is Charles on top

Brand new kiosk at Ridges Mtn