Blue Goose ~ Day 114

September 21, 2014 ~ Williamston, NC to Virginia Beach, VA

The specific plan for my days begins starts early as I've been waking up between 5 and 6 in the morning. I am feeling the need to slow down for a few days and will head back to Virginia Beach. It's not much out of the way since I'm heading north anyway. I will get to stay in my favorite parking lot again and who could resist that inducement...

It was still drizzling in Williamston, but I found a nearby McDonalds, got breakfast and free coffee, read awhile and watched the customers, mostly African Americans, many dressed for church, the middle-aged and elderly ladies very proper and elegant with dresses and purses. Excuse the gross over-simplication, but older white men in the south are either handsome with a full head of white hair, often wearing jeans and not that overweight....or they look like Rush Limbaugh. The black men of those ages are gentle, quiet-spoken men. I love eavesdropping and hearing the cadence of their voices and their frequent laughter. Blacks laugh more than whites....  The employees are nearly all African-American.

The Roanoke River NWR is just north of Williamston, but it is mostly river bottom. The highway passes through a part of the refuge, and there was a turn off. I checked it out and found wet weeds and un-mown grasses around the information kiosk. The trail was closed for "Permitted Deer Hunts" at various times from September to November. (It actually was open today as it was  Sunday, but I declined to venture into this weedy, wet, dark, dank, snake habitat.)  It was not inviting to the public, but perhaps very different on a sunny day, and it certainly should be marvelous in spring migration. I need to get over my petulance about whether or not a refuge is 100% welcoming to the public and, admittedly, I often see only one access point or investigate just a small portion of the larger refuges. Besides, what would I expect of a southern swamp / riparian habitat? Another limiting factor at Roanoke River was the mosquitos...clouds of them, eager to get in the car and find bare skin. I would have had to really prepare with repellent and clothing were I to hike here. It was like the North Woods of the upper Midwest earlier this summer.

For most of my adult life, the name Great Dismal Swamp has had a romantic appeal...and today I went there.

Great Dismal Swamp NWR - VA

EN.WIKIPEDIA.ORG

The Great Dismal Swamp is in southeastern Virginia and northeastern North Carolina between theJames River (Norfolk, Virginia) and the Albemarle Sound...^[1] The original swamp was estimated to be over 1,000,000 acres (400,000 ha);^[1] however, human encroachment has destroyed up to 90% of the original swampland.^[2][3][4]

 Beginning in the 1660s, an established community of escaped slaves known as the Great Dismal Swamp maroons lived freely within the Great Dismal Swamp.^[3][5] Most maroons settled in mesic islands, the high and dry parts of the swamp. Maroons were not the only people who lived inside the swamp— some residents had bought their freedom, others were still slaves who lived semi-independently.^[6] In addition, some escaped slaves used the swamp as a stop on the Underground Railroad as they made their way further north.^[5] Nearby whites often left the maroons alone so long as they paid a quota in logs or shingles.^[6]After centuries of logging and other human activities which were devastating to the swamp's ecosystems, in 1973, the Union Camp Corporation donated 49,100 acres of land; the Great Dismal Swamp National Wildlife Refuge was officially established by the U.S. Congress through The Dismal Swamp Act of 1974. Today, the Great Dismal Swamp National Wildlife Refuge is now just over 112,000 acres (45,000 ha) in size.

It is heartening to read that a lumber company donated nearly half of this land.

Management of this refuge includes prescribed burning for "fire-dependent habitat" which is done 35 days a year. The websites constantly put this information out for the public as prescribed burning is controversial for the uninformed. As always, for anyone interested, there is so much interesting historical information about Great Dismal online.

Great Dismal Swamp NWR - VA

Great Dismal Swamp NWR - VA

I thought of slaves moving through, hiding and living in the swamp as I drove several roads. Perhaps because it has such a frankly descriptive name and because it is relatively close to large cities, it didn't feel so remote or Deliverancy or oppressive. The sky was beginning to clear, and I could see how mysterious and lovely this place can be. I read that the entire swamp had been logged at one time. (Maybe that's why Union Camp donated the land.) There is a wonderful photo at epod.usra.edu. (Add Lake Drummond in the search somewhere also.) Because of the logging, there are huge ditches for drainage and old logging roads throughout the swamp. I debated walking the boardwalk at the Washington Ditch area, but, again, there were too many mosquitoes and it was still dark and wet and a bit spooky.  I also drove to the Jericho Ditch access point so at least was IN this refuge / swamp for several miles.

I laughed at one of the web sites which stated people would not be drawn here because of its name, but that is exactly why I always remembered it as a place I wanted to check out someday.  It has a perfect name. What stories it holds, and I intend to research what has been written about the people who found this a refuge...and maybe still do.

Great Dismal Swamp NWR - VA

The sun finally broke through completely, and it got hot as I drove to a nice motel in Virginia Beach and worked. Sundays are good days for deals on motels. This was a Crowne Plaza for less than $80.