NOTES FROM THE ROAD


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Pee Dee National Wildlife Refuge …


Exploring the Uwharries…


21 July 2020: Back to the woods today where we picked up some trails through the Pee Dee National Wildlife Refuge and visited Morrow Mountain State Park for an overview of the Uwharries …



Exploring the Barrier Island …


Driving to the tip of Cape Lookout…


20 July 2020: Went wheeling and exploring this morning, making it down to the lighthouse and the very tip of the barrier island where the Jeep could play in the sand as waves crashed rhythmically on to the shore …



Cape Lookout …


Camping on a wilderness beach…


19 July 2020: Made it to Cape Lookout today, and experienced the unparalleled freedom of wilderness camping on an empty beach at the tip of a barrier island. An incredible moment…



Forest Camping …


A quiet night at camp…


18 July 2020: The air was very still and it was hot and humid at camp, but the site itself was beautiful, cut into the forest with great privacy…



North Carolina: Croatan NF …


Oyster Point and the Neuse River…


18 July 2020: Hit some rain en route but it was dry when we arrived to Oyster Point on the Neuse River in the Croatan National Forest…



The Chesapeake Bay …


Crossed the bay via the Bridge-Tunnel…


18 July 2020: Left Chicoteague Island in the morning and took the coastal route which includes the always impressive Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel as we made our way south, towards the Carolinas…



Virginia: Chincoteague …


Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge…


17 July 2020: Transitioned to the coastal landscapes as we made our way to the Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge and the barrier islands…



Morning on the Pocomoke River …


Sunrise at the river…


17 July 2020: Got up early to catch the sunrise before departing Pocomoke to continue our way southbound towards the barrier islands and the Atlantic…



A Short Hike in the Swamplands …


Hiking the swamp trail…


16 July 2020: Spent the whole day at Pocomoke, still searching for the remnants of the old swamp, and found a bit of it on the short “discovery” trail that winds along the edge of some true swamp terrain. Later on took a ramble in the Pocomoke State Forest which is supposed to be haunted, but didn’t see any ghosts…



Maryland: Pocomoke River State Park …


Arrived to the Pocomoke River…


15 July 2020: Made it to the Pocomoke River State Park in the late afternoon and had plenty of time to set up my tent and establish camp. This is a location we had been at before even our Great American Roadtrip 2010, and I tried to find some of the familiar spots…



Maryland: Blackwater Wildlife Refuge …


A loop through the wetlands…


15 July 2020: From the old swamp to the marshlands, the habitat remains a familiar wetlands zone, and we take some time for a short drive along the loop trail through the marshes where we got to observe some osprey as well as other marsh inhabitants …



Farm Country …


On the road from Delaware to Maryland…


15 July 2020: The old swamp had been drained and leveled for farm land and everywhere around we can see fields of corn growing tall along the drive from Delaware into Maryland…



First Night at Camp …


Camping at Trap Pond…


14 July 2020: Arrived just after sunset and quickly got the tent set up and the fire started for a first night under the stars…



Delaware: Trap Pond …


Remnants of the Great Cypress Swamp…


14 July 2020: In search of the remains of the Great Cypress Swamp, our first stop is the Trap Pond State Park in Delaware which is on the edge of the limits of the old swamp and where a few of the Bald Cypress trees still stand, though the park itself is definitely not swampy…



Leaving New York …


Back on the road…


14 July 2020: The roadtrip begins with the “escape from New York” — that is the ritual crossing of the Verrazano bridge off Long Island heading to “the mainland” where the first leg of the journey takes us from New York southbound through New Jersey and into Delaware…


PREVIOUS NOTES FROM THE ROAD >

THIS MONTH:

Time for an impromptu summer road trip post-pandemic style. Given the current situation, this means planning a journey to keep away from the crowds–so into the wilderness we go. Heading down the east coast on the coastal route then turning inland and looping back up via the mountains with some fun camping and wheeling along the way…


COMING UP SOON:

The 5th Annual 2020 Ladies Offroad Challenge starts on May 4th. Ladies will participate in a series of challenge tasks that are built to educate and encourage stepping into some unknown territories. The Challenge goes on over ten weeks with participants striving to “Do the Best They Can” at each of the tasks. Ten Participants from the Challenge will be invited to the very special Top 10 Weekend hosted by Charlene Bower…


For the moment the August LON Convention remains on the schedule, as we are hopeful that the situation will be such that the event can go on. So as of now the plan remains heading to Michigan for the Ladies Offroad Convention, an action-packed, interactive 4-day weekend educating, motivating, and guiding for offroad ladies. The 4th Annual Convention will be held in Grand Blanc, Michigan from July 30th to August 2nd. Ladies will have many hands-on opportunities to gain all types of offroading skills, learn and engage with others as they share their stories with plenty of laughs along the way…


Looking ahead to a return to Paris as soon as possible to reconnect with friends and some favorite places in the city of light. Timing is still uncertain due to the pandemic, but the trip is back on the calendar for late summer/early fall…


CHINCOTEAGUE


Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge is part of the Assateague Island National Seashore managed by the National Park Service. The Assateague Island NS stretches for 37 miles along the Atlantic coasts of Maryland and Virginia and is part of a vast chain of barrier islands extending from Maine to Texas. Barrier islands form when offshore sand deposits accumulate sufficiently to break the water surface or when sea level rise causes inland dunes to become separated from the mainland. These islands are highly dynamic constantly reshaped by storms and currents that transport sand south along the coast throughout the year. On a seasonal basis, harsh winter weather pulls sand from dunes and upper beaches, depositing it into offshore sand bars and reducing beach width. This process is reversed during milder summer weather, as gentler wave action acts to restore the shoreline. Assateague is also moving westward as a result of sea-level rise and the force of the surf through a process called “island rollover.” During severe storm events, sand is eroded from the ocean beaches and carried across the island by flood waters and re-deposited in marshes along the western shore, steadily narrowing the bay that separates the island from the mainland. These events can break through dunes, spilling sand in fanlike deposits or even carving inlets, such as the one that has separated Assateague and Ocean City since 1933. Long shore currents will eventually deposit sediments and close these gaps unless, like the Ocean City inlet, it is maintained with jetties and dredging. Chincoteague’s terrain includes sandy beaches, salt marshes, maritime forests and coastal bays connected via a series of small bridges and causeways. The 14,000-acre Wildlife Refuge is operated by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service and is most famous for the Chincoteague Wild Ponies. Local legend has it that the ponies escaped from a shipwrecked Spanish galleon and swam to shore. However, historians believe that in the 17th century, settlers used the island for livestock to avoid fencing regulations and taxation. Even though no one is certain how the ponies got to the island, their descendants still live there today …


POCOMOKE

The Pocomoke River State Park in Worcester County, Maryland, comprises two areas within the larger Pocomoke State Forest–Shad Landing on the south bank of the river and Milburn Landing on the north bank. The park’s combination of freshwater swamp and upland, as well as its location between northern and southern physiographic regions, allows for a great diversity of plant and animal life. Cypress swamps border the Pocomoke River which itself originates in the Great Cypress Swamp and flows southwesterly 45 miles to the Chesapeake Bay. The park provides a base for a vast array of outdoor and tourist activities including fishing, biking, birding, boating, hiking and more. The Pocomoke State Forest includes 17,676 acres of woodlands and is famous for its stands of loblolly pine and cypress swamps. Five areas in the forest, including the swamp, are designated wildlands areas. The forest’s combination of swamp and upland offers a great variety of plant and animal life, including white dogwood and pink laurel in the spring, bald cypress, river otters, and bald eagles. Before the establishment of the State Forest much of the land had been cleared for farming or used as farm woodlots. When the depression era hit many of the farmers fell on hard times, resulting in the acquisition of large amounts of land by the Federal Government. In the mid to late 1930s, two Civilian Conservation Camps were located on the Forest. The camp workers did considerable road and trail work, established boundary lines, provided for fire protection and suppression, planted trees and performed recreation improvements. The Pocomoke State Forest is considered “the Most Haunted Forest in Maryland” with tales that include severed heads, hitchhikers and ladies in white…


BLACKWATER NWR

The Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge was established in 1933 as a waterfowl sanctuary for birds migrating along the critical migration highway called the Atlantic Flyway. The refuge is located on Maryland’s Eastern Shore and consists of over 28,000 acres of freshwater impoundments, brackish tidal wetlands, open fields, and mixed evergreen and deciduous forests. The name “blackwater” comes from the tea-colored waters of the local rivers, which are darkened by the tannin that is picked up as the water drains through peat soil in the marshes. The heart of Blackwater Refuge can be accessed via the Wildlife Drive, which is a paved road, approximately 3 1/2 miles in length, that takes visitors along the Blackwater River and offers excellent views of the local wildlife. Visitors can drive, bike, or walk the length of the Drive. Blackwater Refuge also offers three paddling trails, four hiking trails, and hunting, fishing, and crabbing opportunities. About half of the refuge is designated the Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad National Monument. Harriet Tubman was raised on the land that now makes up the refuge. Born in 1822, Tubman spent her childhood as a slave working on farms that abut or are included within the boundary of the refuge. As a young adult she worked as a timber laborer on the north side of the Blackwater River. Tubman’s early experiences here gave her a familiarity and understanding of the natural landscape that she was able to draw on as she guided escaping slaves along the Underground Railroad routes…


TRAP POND

Trap Pond State Park is a 3,653 acre state park located near Laurel, Delaware. It is one of the largest surviving fragments of what was once an extensive wetland. The state park features an extensive patch of bald cypress trees. Many birds flock to stands of bald cypress, including great blue herons, owls, warblers, and pileated woodpeckers. The rot-resistant wood of Trap Pond’s bald cypress trees was extensively harvested starting in the 18th century. The lumbermen extensively altered the morphology of the wetland, damming its outflow to create power for a small sawmill to cut the timbers. This dam helped to create what is now Trap Pond, named after the Trap Mills, which were known by that name as early as the 1860s. The pond was enlarged in later years as nearby farmers laid down drainage tiles to de-water their wetlands for agriculture. After the old-growth cypress timber had been harvested, the pond and adjacent surviving wetlands were re-used as the drainage sump for the surrounding farmers of Sussex County. In the 1930s, the federal Civilian Conservation Corps listed the pond as a place of recreation development. The Delaware legislature took over the land and named it as a state park on June 22, 1951, becoming the first state park in Delaware. …


THE GREAT CYPRESS SWAMP

The Great Cypress Swamp is a forested freshwater swamp located on the Delmarva Peninsula in south Delaware and southeastern Maryland. As of 2000, it was the largest contiguous forest on the Delmarva Peninsula. The northern most bald cypress swamp in the USA, it once stretched across some 50,000-plus acres but hundreds of years of ditching and draining for agriculture threatened to obliterate it until the Delaware Wild Lands organization consolidated 10,000 acres protecting what remains of this once vast swamp. Remnants of the swamp can also be seen at Trap Pond State Park in Delaware and Pocomoke River State Park in Maryland. The swamp’s geology of sandy ridges and shallow depressions reflects its ice-age origins when the Delmarva Peninsula was a desert of windswept sand dunes. The surviving swaths of the old Cypress Swamp haven’t changed very much over the centuries. They can be quite spooky as true cypress swamps never really see the full light of day—it’s always somewhere between dark and semi-dark. The bald cypress looks like a pine tree, but it thrives in flood-prone places where most other trees would drown and die. The main trunk is often surrounded by cypress knees, a distinctive structure forming above the roots of the tree. Knees are woody projections sent above the normal water level, roughly vertically from the roots, with a near-right-angle bend taking them vertically upward through water. Their function is unknown, but some hypotheses state that they might help to aerate the tree’s roots, create a barrier to catch sediment and reduce erosion, assist in anchoring the tree in the soft and muddy soil, or any combination thereof. The Great Cypress Swamp once yielded much timber, but overharvesting and a disastrous peat fire in 1930, permanently destroyed much of its vegetation. One of the fires (supposedly started when a moonshiner’s still exploded) burned for eight months, leading it to be deemed the “Burnt Swamp” by local residents…




Nesconset | Paris | Belgrade | Laurel | Pocomoke | Chincoteague | Cape Lookout | Albermarle | Gatlinburg | Catoosa | Harrisonburg | Stroudsburg



MORE NOTES FROM THE ROAD:
1-13 July – Long Island
16-30 June – Long Island
1-15 June – Bald Eagle
16-31 May – Central PA
1-15 May – Re-opening Trails
April – Lockdown NY
16-31 March – Lockdown NY
9-15 March – Roadtrip Home
1-8 March – Moab
23-29 February – Vegas to Anza Borrego
15-22 February – Southwest Roadtrip
8-14 February – Southwest Roadtrip
1-7 February – Glamis to Vegas
27-31 January – Yuma to Glamis
15-26 January – Nevada to Arizona
1-14 January – Starting the New Year
24-31 December – Holidays on the Road
16-23 December – Cross-Country Drive
9-15 December – New York
1-8 December – Paris
16-30 November – Paris & Rennes
1-15 November – New York
14-31 October – Arizona
8-13 October – LON TOP TEN
1-7 October – Girl Gang Garage
16-30 September – Women’s Wheeling
1-15 September – Long Island
9-31 August – Serbia
1-8 August – #LONCON2019
16-31 July – Roadtrip to Atlanta
1-15 July – Cape Cod
Archive


REFLECTIONS

EGYPT: CAIRO REFLECTIONS

A quick overview of impressions from a stop in Cairo during our recent scouting mission in Egypt and Sudan … [read]


SPECIAL REPORT

ALGERIA SCOUTING

A look into south-eastern Algeria on the border with Libya and Niger: overlanding with the Tuareg in one of the most remote corners of the Sahara … [read]


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