Two RVA Trails

Once again, I am well behind posting about hikes.  I now have six undocumented hikes, although I may not post them all.  Two that I will post occurred several Tuesdays ago, 3/19 and 4/2.  One of my hiking groups, the Old Dominion Appalachian Trail Club, does a fast hike every Tuesday in the spring for about six or eight weeks.  They are downtown along the trails by the James River.  We hike from 8-10, and do about six miles.  Lisa does a great job organizing and leading these hikes.  Don't be late, as we step off at 8:00 promptly.  On the 19th, we hiked the Buttermilk Springs Trail, and on the 2nd, we hiked to Texas Beach. for a total of 12.5 miles for the two hikes.

Here is the track of each hike, Buttermilk Springs (purple arrow) on the south side of the James, and Texas Beach (orange arrow) on the north side:

We had a group of seven for the hike.

This map shows some of the trails in the James River Park System.  The James, specifically the fall line in the river, is why there is a big city at this location, so it's appropriate that people value and enjoy the river, and also treat it more kindly than in years past, when it was an open industrial and residential sewer.

Here, a couple of the crew cross a bridge over a creek.

There is a bit of up and down along this trail, although no long climbs or descents.

One guy called this "Whale Rock," and you can see why - massive and shaped like a whale.  I am keeping it from tumbling down the ravine here.

When we reached the Nickel Bridge, we descended and returned on a trail closer to the river.  One could also cross the bridge and return on the North Bank Trail, making about a 7 mile loop.

We didn't see a Sasquatch, but after seeing this sign, we were on high alert for the rest of the hike.

Rapids in a side branch of the river's main channel.

Just before getting back, we had a nice overview of the river.

For the Texas Beach hike, we crossed the Potterfield Bridge and headed up the North Bank Trail, then branched onto the Texas Beach Trail, turning around at the Nickel Bridge and returning on the same trails.  I only took a few photos.

Most of the hike had river views.

Texas Beach - no idea how the name came about.

Violets are a sure sign of spring in these parts!

Heading back into the urban zone of the hike.

These Tuesday hikes are a great way to get the day started, get the blood pumping, and hang out with a good bunch of folks while seeing a bit of nature.

Westmoreland's "Woodpecker Woods"

On Friday, December 16 - a very cold day - I did a four mile hike in Westmoreland State Park, mostly along the Turkey Neck Trail.  But I am going to call it "Woodpecker Woods," because I saw five different kinds of woodpecker - downy, pileated, red-bellied, red-headed, and flicker.  I like hiking in almost any kind of weather, including the cold, although I could have used an extra layer at times.  The high temperature there was about 27 F.

Here is the route of my hike, starting and ending at the blue triangle, and hiking counter-clockwise:

And here is a satellite view of the area, along with my route.  Note the forested wetland along the eastern-most part of the hike.

Most of the park is fairly mature hardwood forest, with lots of beech.

This looks like a field but is actually a wetland of some type.  It was not real wet at this particular time.

This part had some standing water.

The park borders the Potomac River, and for part of it, has dramatic sandy cliffs.  Fossil shark teeth are often found here.  The area was closed because of the risk of the cliffs collapsing.  Getting buried alive was not in my plans for the day, so I chose to follow the rules on the sign.

I saw this little group of buffleheads (a type of duck) in the river near the cliffs.

This was a fun hike and I saw a lot of birds, and even a couple of mammals, enough to write a "What am I?" post or two later.  It's been over a decade since I hiked here, but I'll be back for sure, next time with a better camera to get animal photos.

Hiking in Caledon Natural Area SP

Yesterday, I had the day off from work and planned a hike.  My original plans had been to go for a one night backpacking trip in the rugged Laurel Forks area on the West Virginia border.  But given the snows we have been having lately, especially in the mountains, that seemed ill-advised, so I have put that trip on hold.  Instead, I headed to Caledon Natural Area State Park in Northern Virginia on the Potomac River.  See the red star below for the location:

Caledon Natural Area is mostly mature hardwood forest along the river, which is an important nesting area for bald eagles.  In addition to five bald eagles, I saw a great horned owl, a number of white-tailed deer, osprey, kingfisher, tufted titmice, chickadees, and juncos, among other birds.  Below is the route for my 7.2 mile hike, which was a loop with some out and back portions.  I started and ended at the star, and the red arrows show my travel direction.

Most of the hike was fairly easy, but there is some terrain, and especially the western most portions had a lot of short and steep uphill and downhill.

I am big fan of taking a topo map on my hikes, especially into the more remote areas.  But the state parks do a great job of marking their trails, and the trail maps that they provide was adequate for my travels yesterday.

There are a number of streams flowing through the park, heading to the Potomac River and eventually to the Chesapeake Bay.  Soon after I started hiking, it began to rain steadily, and I put my binoculars away.

The photo below is very typical of the area, with some terrain and large hardwoods, generally 1-2 feet in diameter, with some much larger trees.

A footbridge crosses the swamp at this point, and this is where I saw the great horned owl.  I dug my binoculars out of my pack in the rain to get a better view.  That was a very cool sighting.

This is Caledon Marsh, on the edge of the river.  It was at this point, about three miles into my hike, that the rain stopped, and the sun even came partially out.  It was just in time for ....

... lunch by the Potomac River.  It was here that I saw the eagles and the ospreys, as well as the belted kingfisher.

This was the best photo I could get of a bald eagle.  This one was immature, but I saw several others mature ones with their striking white heads.

Late in the hike, I came upon this large hollowed-out tree.

It was hollow all the way to the bottom, and I imagine that animals sometimes den it it.

You can see that some of the trees area really large.  I leaned my trekking poles up against this one for a look at the scale.

I had a fun day hiking around and exploring the Caledon Natural Area.  It is a fascinating place, and sure beat being at work for the day.

Short Pony Pasture Walk

Friday being a day off for me, I had hoped to go for a nice hike, but stuff around the house interfered.  I did, however, take the time to go for a nice winter walk around the Pony Pasture, a few miles upriver from downtown.  One would never know that there is a large city just a few miles away.  Here are some photos from my walk.

This is a great spot to see buffleheads.  If I could have gotten a better close up, this duck would have been the subject of a "What am I?"

Here is a panoramic view of the James River at the Pony Pasture Rapids.

The trails here are flat and civilized.  It was a typical winter day here, kind of bleak and in the mid-40's F.

I liked this tree.  The bark reminded me of military camouflage.

This is a view of a little backwater leading out to the river.

I loved the shape of this big red cedar!

We have had a lot of rain lately, and there were many sections of the trail that were muddy and wet.

Other than the buffleheads at the start of the walk in the river, I saw very little wildlife on my hour of walking - a couple of gray squirrels, a cardinal or two, a pair of mallards, and a sparrow.  But it was good to get out and stretch my legs on a winter's day, and think about grander hikes to come!

High Bridge Trail State Park

When I woke up yesterday, the miracles of chiropractic care and ice had my back feeling almost normal, so I decided on a hike on a nice late fall day.  I didn't want to drive all the way to the mountains and do something rugged until I test the back out.  So I went to High Bridge Trail State Park, a converted rails to trails project, near Farmville.  The trail is 31 miles long and ideal for walking and bike riding.  I don't think that the state park encompasses the entire trail length, but it has the part with the High Bridge, which looms 125 feet over the Appomattox River and is nearly a half mile long.  And that is the high point, literally and figuratively, of this hike.

The map below shows my route, just over three miles out and three back.  It also shows thumb nails of three of the photos later on.

The current bridge was built in 1914, the one before that in 1853.  It must have been an engineering and construction marvel.  The original bridge was involved in military action just days before Lee's surrender of his army in April, 1865.

Here is a view back after I had crossed about a third of the bridge.

The Appomattox River far below is little more than a wide stream at this point in its journey to meet the James River at City Point in Hopewell.  From there, it will have a date with the Chesapeake Bay.

Here is a view back showing some of the outside of the bridge.

If you click on the photo, you will see the bridge on the left the river right of center.  You can see that peak foliage is well past here.

Here is the gravel trail looking back from the south.

This nice field was one of the open views along my hike.

 If you look at the topo map above, you might notice a short branch on my hike.  I saw a narrow and rutted gravel road climbing through the woods and decided to see where it went.  After maybe 0.2 miles, I came to two parked trucks and several guys.  I asked them if it would be disturbing to any hunters if I continued.  The oldest said to me, "You shouldn't be walking back this way.  Stick to the trail.  There are people hunting in here."  We chatted for a minute or so and then I turned back.  I didn't want to disturb anyone, nor did I want to be mistaken for a deer.

Fall Friday Lunch Walk

Because of my work last weekend, the same work that required me to cancel my four day backpacking trip, my boss told me to take a couple of hours off yesterday, so I used the time to take a three hour lunch break and get in a downtown hike on a brisk but lovely fall day.  I decided to use my time to walk near the James River, heading first to Belle Isle - my favorite spot in the city - and from there through James River Park.

I walked a total of 7.25 miles, taking the route marked in purple below, and starting and ending at the star where my office is.  I crossed the river on footbridges, having not quite acquired the ability to walk on water!  You can see where I did the loop trail on Belle Isle as part of my walk.  The route marked in red is the Richmond Liberty Trail that I walked this past spring.

My first stop was for lunch on the rocks by the Hollywood Rapids.  Here is a panoramic view of the James at this point.

And here is a close-up of part of the rapids.

After (reluctantly) leaving the rapids and doing the Belle Isle loop, I headed over to the southside of the river and picked up a path through the city's James River Park.  A good many years back, this was supposedly a pretty rough spot, frequented by drug users and associated ilk, and a good place to get mugged or robbed at gunpoint.  The city has done a great job turning this into a much-loved urban park.  I eventually was on the Buttermilk Spring Trail, which I have hiked the length of before.

After a while, I ended up in Forest Hills Park, where I have never been.  I walked about a mile in the park, and can see that I will need to get back to explore some more.  Along the way, I ran into this fellow.

Is there any time of year better than fall?

I had to turn around at the lake in Forest Hill Park to get back to work, and once I left that park and re-entered the James River Park, I got back on the Buttermilk Spring Trail.  You can see how it got its name.  I wonder how many modern day Americans can imagine not having a refrigerator?

As I crossed the utility footbridge back to Belle Isle, still maybe 1.5 miles from work, I saw this great blue heron catching some rays along the quiet backwater portion of the James.  I had to zoom my camera to its digital maximum to get this close.