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.
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