http://www.cvillepublicmedia.org/rambler stories of landscapes, conservation, and people in and beyond the Rivanna Watershed Tue, 03 Feb 2009 16:11:58 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.5 en hourly 1 © lmiddleton@embarqmail.com () lmiddleton@embarqmail.com() stories of landscapes, conservation, and people in and beyond the Rivanna Watershed lmiddleton@embarqmail.com No no http://www.cvillepublicmedia.org/rambler/wp-content/plugins/podpress/images/powered_by_podpress.jpg http://www.cvillepublicmedia.org/rambler 144 144 http://www.cvillepublicmedia.org/rambler/2009/02/03/119-fernbrook-natural-area-hosts-winter-landscapes-and-much-more/ http://www.cvillepublicmedia.org/rambler/2009/02/03/119-fernbrook-natural-area-hosts-winter-landscapes-and-much-more/#comments Tue, 03 Feb 2009 15:53:12 +0000 admin http://www.cvillepublicmedia.org/rambler/?p=176 http://www.cvillepublicmedia.org/rambler/2009/02/03/119-fernbrook-natural-area-hosts-winter-landscapes-and-much-more/feed/ 0 4:49 January 15, 2009 Fernbrook Natural Area in northern Albemarle County near Stony Brook is host of images of death, decay, and resurrection in the flora and ... January 15, 2009 Fernbrook Natural Area in northern Albemarle County near Stony Brook is host of images of death, decay, and resurrection in the flora and fauna of the Piedmont woods. The January cold spell has arrived ndash; always a harsh reminder, especially here in Virginia ndash; of the intractability of winter.nbsp; Being from New England, it feels welcome, like a patch of remnant habitat ndash; familiar and necessary for my survival.nbsp;nbsp; The bite of cold when I first leave the house for my walk, the peeling back of layers as heat of my body meets morning chill. The knowledge of light that has come with experiencing over half a decade of Januarys, as the skies are brighter, the days are longer, but still, somehow, muted by the cold.nbsp; My need to be outside is greater at this time of year than others --against the inertia that a warm house foster, an urgency tugs at me as the voices of the winter landscape are calling. I went to feed this winter hunger last weekend at Fernbook Natural Area, thenbsp; 63-acre preserve owned by The Nature Conservancy in northern Albemarle County near Stony Point.nbsp; This time of year, it is a palette of earth tones, rich with every shade of brown, red, yellow, orange, and black.nbsp; Green pokes up here and there: running cedar emerging from the layer of leaves, the rhododendron on the northern slopes; and the ever-reliable, Christmas fern, though sagging from the weight of wingter, it is still standing, ready to be counted. The trail slopes down through a tall stand of red oak, hickory and yellow poplar towards a small stream that drains the ridge.nbsp; Only the beech trees and few oaks still hold their leaves, browned now, quaking in the slight wind.nbsp; The late afternoon light is mediated by clouds, occasional patches of blue lingering before a darkening sky. This winter in particular, I am attuned to disintegration and death, and a forest like the one at Fernbrook is as good a place as any to find it.nbsp; Decay is everywhere:nbsp; dense downed logs along the trail are scuffed by travelers' boots into light tufts.nbsp; The bark of Virginia pine still standing, is pocked by holes that spiral round the trunk marking the drill of the downy woodpecker.nbsp; A cavity higher up could be home to a pileated.nbsp; These are some of the larger agents of change in the forest, foraging for a meal beneath the bark of host trees giving way slowly to insects. Still on the branches of beech trees, are black clumps of sooty mold.nbsp; A hunk the size of my fist has dropped to the ground at the base of a beech, and I pick it up ndash; light as a sponge, this is final stage for the mold that is unique to the beech tree.nbsp; Scorias spongiosa, as a species of sooty mold that grows below colonies of beech woolly aphids, whose honeydew ndash; or excrement ndash; provides nourishment through its life stages.nbsp; In January, these aphids are long gone, but when I pry the mold apart, I find shiny black ants feasting on the spores. Cleared in colonial days for timber, Fernbrook was abandoned sometime after the Civil War.nbsp; But here and there, the pencil-sharp snags of Virginia cedar point skyward, and from time to time, the slope is anchored by a mound of rocks that marked perhaps the corner of an old field.nbsp; The small stream has the characteristic steep banks of our Piedmont streams that have been cut vertically during the years of high erosion when no protective measures stemmed the flow of topsoil from newly logged acres. Just as surely as I am looking at death and decay, I am also witness to rebirth, in everything from the defiant fist-like buds of the dogwoods in understudy, to the delicate, cigar-shaped twist of the beech bud.nbsp; Each soggy, rotten log hosts its own ecosystem of fungi, bacteria, and insects, thriving in dark spaces, drunk on the nutrients they release back to the cycle of life. Through the bare trees I can see upward to the sky, anoth... Albemarle,County,,Climate,,Ecology,,History,,Natural,History,,North,Fork,Rivanna,,Sediment,,Trails,and,Footpaths lmiddleton@embarqmail.com no No http://www.cvillepublicmedia.org/rambler/2008/06/12/91-scenic-river-trip/ http://www.cvillepublicmedia.org/rambler/2008/06/12/91-scenic-river-trip/#comments Thu, 12 Jun 2008 20:30:53 +0000 admin http://www.cvillepublicmedia.org/rambler/2008/06/12/91-scenic-river-trip/ http://www.cvillepublicmedia.org/rambler/2008/06/12/91-scenic-river-trip/feed/ 0 00:01:01 June 12, 2008 This show originally aired on June 12, 2008 on ldquo;The Rivanna Rambler,rdquo; a weekly public affairs show airing every Thursday at 11:55 a.m. ... June 12, 2008 This show originally aired on June 12, 2008 on ldquo;The Rivanna Rambler,rdquo; a weekly public affairs show airing every Thursday at 11:55 a.m. on WTJU 91.1 FM or wtju.net It could be any spring day on the river. True, the weather is especially cooperative: May morning temperature just rising from the low 60's as we approached the water. Cumulus and blue above, the green fully leafed out over the river. You might say that it was as scenic as a perfect Virginia morn, as you put your boat in the water amongst cattails and the fresh mist from the sheets of water tumbling over the dam at the South Fork Rivanna River Reservoir. Or, you might, as we were, be launching your kayaks and canoes for a trip with the specific task of evaluating just how scenic our fair Rivanna River is -- according to a formula that the Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation established with the state Scenic River program in 1970. This program's goal is to enhance the protection of rivers and their corridors by providing tools for local authorities to help protect waterways that offer special scenic, recreational, historic, and natural values of significance. There are over 500 river miles comprised of 25 river segments in Virginia that have achieved this special status. The Rivanna between Woolen Mills and its confluence with the James in Columbia is already designated as a state scenic river. The stretch from Palmyra downstream was one of the first, in 1975. In 1988, from Palmyra to the Woolen Mills dam was also named a State Scenic River. So today we are traveling from the next dam upriver --- on the South Fork from just below the reservoir down nine and half miles to the place where the Woolen Mills dam used to cross the river, this section now eligible precisely because the dam has been removed. We are a mixed group: five from the state agency, five of us locals, a pack of canoes and kayaks, guided by Dan Mahon, Blueways and Greenways coordinator for Albemarle County who alternately paddles ahead to scout obstructions and falls back amongst us with offerings of local knowledge of the river and the greenways that flank its banks. Today, we have our share of blue heron, geese, a red tail, turtles of all sizes sunning themselves on smooth logs protruding like commas from the side of the river and angling from the dusky water. These sightings are important, but we're also looking for other things: power line crossings, short and long range vistas, residential houses that we can see, bridge crossings, historic structures, changes in vegetation, geological features. The roads, houses, and powerlines detract from the scenic formula, as do sparse or non-existent buffers, stands of bamboo or multiflora rose, slumping earthen banks. There's a tally sheet. We record our observations and we take pictures. But as we go, we point out the things to DCR that they may not know about our river: on our left, Monnasopegenau where the Monacans lived and thrived on the river for hundred of years; the old carriage road on river left that runs to Gordonsville, said to have been built to transport sulpher from the mines materials from Key West. Some of the gentle rapids are actually historic structures: Broad Mossing Ford, wing dams for batteau. So these all get counted, along with restoration work we know is underway, tree buffers being planted. As we come into Charlottesville, signs of civilization detract from the scenic score: powerline crossings, the Free Bridge, the apartments at Pantops we can see through the trees. But the long view down the last section above Woolen Mills shows Montalto rising in the distance, one of the few real vistas the Rivanna along this stretch has to offer. At the end of the trip, we sit in the shadow of box elder and sycamore overlooking the remains of the Woolen Mills dam, offering up our observations and hearing how the Rivanna compares to other piedmont rivers the D... Albemarle,County,,Charlottesville,,Education,,Rivanna,River,,Rivanna,mainstem,,South,Fork,,Trails,and,Footpaths lmiddleton@embarqmail.com no No http://www.cvillepublicmedia.org/rambler/2008/05/01/87-legacy-sediment/ http://www.cvillepublicmedia.org/rambler/2008/05/01/87-legacy-sediment/#comments Thu, 01 May 2008 23:35:31 +0000 admin http://www.cvillepublicmedia.org/rambler/2008/05/16/87-legacy-sediment/ http://www.cvillepublicmedia.org/rambler/2008/05/01/87-legacy-sediment/feed/ 0 00:01:01 May 1, 2008 This show originally aired on March 7, 2007 and then again on May 1, 2008 on ldquo;The Rivanna Rambler,rdquo; a weekly public affairs ... May 1, 2008 This show originally aired on March 7, 2007 and then again on May 1, 2008 on ldquo;The Rivanna Rambler,rdquo; a weekly public affairs show airing every Thursday at 11:55 a.m. on WTJU 91.1 FM or wtju.net. Itrsquo;s the time of the year when rivers run high and brown here in Albemarle County. Some well-placed rain events, brought water levels to seasonal highs. Sediment from surrounding floodplains and other sources colored the water various shades of brown, from slick and bubbling chocolate during the first flush, to a steely brown that mirrored the gray March skies. I find myself wondering, again, where does all that dirt come from? It turns out that here in the Rivanna Watershed, as elsewhere, the answer to that question is not as obvious as it might seem. It is clear that some of the earth is washed into the river from adjacent lands ndash; sheet flow traveling over fields, lawns and parking lots picks up soil that is not firmly rooted. Construction sites, whose bare earthen slopes are theoretically protected by black and orange plastic woven silt fences, are another source especially in severe rainfall, no matter how conscientious the contractor. But there is another source of sediment in the rivers that scientists are just starting to quantify ndash; and this is called legacy sediment. Legacy sediment has its origins in the earliest days of European settlement of the colonies. With few restrictions save the terms of the Land Grants, settlers immediately set to work clearing the Piedmont hills to make way for pasture, row crops, and especially, tobacco. At the same time, rivers and creeks of all sizes were dammed to provide hydropower and to aid in navigation. The Rivanna River was, by 1840, a series of long flat impoundments between dams built in key locations: coming up from the James, a traveler would come first to Rivanna Mills, then Palmyra Mills. There were mills at Bernardsburg, now called, Crofton , at Stump Island , and at Shadwell, to name a few. The present day dams at the Woolen Mills and on the North Fork at Advance Mills are remnants of that time gone by. US Census figures reveal that by 1840 there were 65,000 water-powered mills operating in the eastern United States. That this happened at the same time as widespread removal of trees meant that massive amounts of sediment from hillsides cut bare washed down, across fields and into the rivers. And much of that sediment was trapped behind the dams, occasionally washing downstream in floods. And though a good many of these dams have been removed, their legacy is layers of sediment, sometimes 2 to 4 feet thick spread out across the floodplains above the site of the dam. Now a riverrsquo;s job, some would say, actually is to move dirt. If you take the long view ndash; the one over centuries and eons ndash; we can thank water and its erosional power on the landscape for the layers of sand and clay that ultimately form sandstones and other sedimentary rocks. And it is the river bursting out of its channel in high water and rain that spreads sediments, fine and rough, downstream to build floodplains, wetlands, and marshes on out to the deltas of rivers as they reach into the ocean. And it is precisely when we disturb this normal flow by damming the river or by forcing it into concrete channels and between floodwalls in our cities, that the river becomes disconnected from its floodplain. And lacking the floodplain to absorb the excess volume of water in peak flows, the river cuts stronger and deeper into its channel. Itrsquo;s a vicious cycle and one that is now being studied to learn whether sediments layered across floodplains in colonial times are actually the source of much of the sediment in our now unbridled rivers as they slice through steep river banks such as we find here in the Rivanna Watershed. Add to the equation, stronger flows, augmented by high velocity runoff from our urban and suburban developments, ... Greene,County,,History,,James,River,,Rivanna,River,,Sediment,,Trails,and,Footpaths,,Tributaries,,Water,Quality lmiddleton@embarqmail.com no No http://www.cvillepublicmedia.org/rambler/2008/01/10/72-from-my-house-to-yours-travelling-as-the-crow-flies/ http://www.cvillepublicmedia.org/rambler/2008/01/10/72-from-my-house-to-yours-travelling-as-the-crow-flies/#comments Thu, 10 Jan 2008 16:43:26 +0000 admin http://www.cvillepublicmedia.org/rambler/2008/01/10/72-from-my-house-to-yours-travelling-as-the-crow-flies/ http://www.cvillepublicmedia.org/rambler/2008/01/10/72-from-my-house-to-yours-travelling-as-the-crow-flies/feed/ 0 00:01:01 Walking the back trails between the two houses of friends who live in Charlottesville is a fine way to really see the stories in the ... Walking the back trails between the two houses of friends who live in Charlottesville is a fine way to really see the stories in the land as well as clues to the changes to come. This show originally aired on January 10, 2008 on ldquo;The Rivanna Rambler,rdquo; a weekly public affairs show airing every Thursday at 11:55 a.m. on WTJU 91.1 FM or wtju.net. One of my New Years resolutions is to daily substitute a trip I would have made by car, with one by foot, bicycle, bus, or carpool. Or even ndash; radical thought! ndash; not make the trip at all! I started on New Years Day with a trip by foot to visit some friends whorsquo;ve recently moved to Jamestown Road next to Greenbrier Park. If I were to travel by car or bike from where I live on Oxford Road, it would be about a mile travel by road, punctuated by stops and right-angled turns all along the way. We strike out from Oxford Road in the early afternoon, hoping to walk as directly as possible and minimize our time on asphalt. Crossing under the By-Pass and along the backside of the ball fields in McIntire Park, we reach a steep valley at the far end, cut by the unnamed tributary of Meadowcreek between the park and Charlottesville High. To our left is the swath of land that may someday become the new YMCA. Irsquo;ve not been back here for a couple of years and am grateful to find the concrete rounds to step me across the creek. Using Melbourne Road to cross the railroad tracks, we look for a way to maintain our northerly direction ndash; and knowing that where there is a fence, there is likely to be a path on at least one side ndash; sure enough we find a well-worn trail that cuts behind the soccer field. At the far end, a lone, majestic white pine marks the top of another trail that zigs down the slope to a wooden bridge that crossing another creek where we are faced with a choice: to the right, wersquo;ll end up on the main RTF trail, but therersquo;s a footpath to the left that leads alluringly up the hill into a stand of cedar and pine and more in the direction we want. So we take it, up through a forest whose quiet is all the more magical by its proximity to houses and roads. Our steps are muffled by the soft needles on the path, but we see strips of pink surveyor tape that seem to shout out the alarm: somethingrsquo;s going to happen here soon. We wonder what it is. As we emerge from the trees, we see a long straight rise that tends in the direction wersquo;re heading. Scrambling up the tangled bank, we brave a thicket of briars to the flat topped roadway where stone ballast emerges from pockets in the earth confirms that it is an old railway bed. We follow the track until it intersects Meadowcreek where it emerges through a large box culvert under the newer rail line. Back on the official RTF trail, we walk through the opening into the echoing darkness under the tracks, balancing on the 24 inch sewer line that keeps our toes dry from the scant flow of the creek. I put my right hand on the cool concrete wall to steady myself when I can no longer see my feet in the dizzying half-light, half-reflection at the center of the culvert. We emerge on the other side into Greenbrier Park, and itrsquo;s a known and easy walk to our friendsrsquo; house from here. Irsquo;d hesitate to say that this was the shortest route between two points, but we all know that ldquo;as the crow fliesrdquo; does not account for the diversions a curious bird is known to take along the way. We figure it was also about a mile, including the switchbacks and the places where we investigated the signs in the land. And, except where we encountered asphalt, there were few right-angled turns, only the curves and arcs made by trails through the woods. If every trip substitution I make this coming year is like todayrsquo;s, I will come out way ahead: cheeks flushed, curiosity excited, and spirit nourished in only the way that the cover of trees and the feel of ear... Charlottesville,,Meadowcreek,,Trails,and,Footpaths lmiddleton@embarqmail.com no No http://www.cvillepublicmedia.org/rambler/2008/01/03/71-learning-trees-at-icna/ http://www.cvillepublicmedia.org/rambler/2008/01/03/71-learning-trees-at-icna/#comments Thu, 03 Jan 2008 15:51:36 +0000 admin http://www.cvillepublicmedia.org/rambler/2008/01/03/71-learning-trees-at-icna/ http://www.cvillepublicmedia.org/rambler/2008/01/03/71-learning-trees-at-icna/feed/ 2 00:01:01 Learning the names of trees and plants at the Ivy Creek Natural Area provides the beginning of a lifetime of naming the things we see ... Learning the names of trees and plants at the Ivy Creek Natural Area provides the beginning of a lifetime of naming the things we see and may eventually hold dear. This show originally aired on January 3, 2008 on "The Rivanna Rambler," a weekly public affairs show airing every Thursday at 11:55 a.m. on WTJU 91.1 FM or wtju.net. The School Trail at Ivy Creek Natural Area got its name because itrsquo;s just right for taking a group of kids on a 45-minute guided walk in the woods, something the Ivy Creek Foundation guides have been doing free of charge since 1980. Itrsquo;s three-tenths of a mile long, traverses both field and forest, and ends up at the Barn for a closer look at natural history artifacts and exhibits. On a sunny fall morning, Irsquo;m with a some kindergarteners from Free Union Country Day School, so young, and so very small compared to their teacher, myself, and Tom Walsh, our guide for the day. Though Tom claims hersquo;s not very experienced, I know hersquo;s been around the trail with kids before when he stops at the row of trees in the middle of the parking area and asks, ldquo;Now, who is the leader here?rdquo; in a firm but kindly way letting them know the rules of the trail. Follow the leader, donrsquo;t take anything from the Natural Area, and stop and listen when he has something to show. And from this moment on, it is all show and tell, starting with an inspection of the dogwoodrsquo;s red berries. ldquo;And what happens to the berries after the birds eat them?rdquo; They all look at him, silent, until he says, ldquo;Well, the seed inside the berry gets pooped out, and this is where a new tree grows.rdquo; The word ldquo;pooprdquo; gets their attention, and suddenly they are all making noises and thinking this adult is OK after all. We start down the mowed trail through the native grasses stopping at clump of thistle, thigh high with seeds scattered from their brown heads. Tom bends one down so the kids can inspect it, telling them that just a month ago, goldfinches had built their late summer nests here and raised and fed their young. Empty of both nest and food, we use our imaginations. We enter the woods where the School Trail veers off to the right and begin to learn about some of the 20 most common trees in Virginia. You can get your own guide from the Ivy Creek website and with the signs marking the trees, this could be a self-guided tour. But today, we have Tom introducing the holly tree with its pointy green leaves. Musclewood, its sinewy trunk easy to identify. High as the sky, we look up to see seed pods on tulip poplars. Stopping in front of another tree, its smooth gray bark scarred by initials cut by a knife, Tom tells the kids that itrsquo;s just like cutting the skin of the tree, and asks ldquo;You wouldnrsquo;t like someone to do that to you, would you?rdquo; We traverse the hillside, making plenty of healthy noise pushing through the dry leaves, our learning stops getting shorter as attention spans wane. By now, each child has picked up a small branch to use as walking stick, or to rake leaves or tap the trees. ldquo;Will we see any animals?rdquo; Tom shakes his head slowly, not wanting to diminish their joy of being outside in the woods which is, along with the learning, the point of our being here today. It is difficult for me recall exactly what I knew, or was taught, when I was the age of these kids. Blessed with an abundance of outdoor time, did I know the names of the trees and plants I encountered? Though naming something is not the same as truly knowing it ndash; this requires understanding habits and ecology -- without names, we cannot learn or converse about what we see, nor be specific about that which we hope to protect. ldquo;Now, whatrsquo;s this one called?rdquo; Tom asks in front of a tree wersquo;ve seen before. ldquo;Hollywood!rdquo; shouts one of the kids, which seems as good a mnemonic as any for a tree that is ... Education,,Ivy,Creek,,Rivanna,River,,South,Fork,,Trails,and,Footpaths lmiddleton@embarqmail.com no No http://www.cvillepublicmedia.org/rambler/2007/12/20/69-wind-and-trees/ http://www.cvillepublicmedia.org/rambler/2007/12/20/69-wind-and-trees/#comments Thu, 20 Dec 2007 21:38:50 +0000 admin http://www.cvillepublicmedia.org/rambler/2008/01/11/69-wind-and-trees/ http://www.cvillepublicmedia.org/rambler/2007/12/20/69-wind-and-trees/feed/ 0 http://www.cvillepublicmedia.org/rambler/2007/12/13/68-old-mill-trail-below-pantops-is-for-everyone/ http://www.cvillepublicmedia.org/rambler/2007/12/13/68-old-mill-trail-below-pantops-is-for-everyone/#comments Thu, 13 Dec 2007 14:47:00 +0000 admin http://www.cvillepublicmedia.org/rambler/?p=19 http://www.cvillepublicmedia.org/rambler/2007/12/13/68-old-mill-trail-below-pantops-is-for-everyone/feed/ 0 00:01:01 Photo credit: Hank Hellman This show is a repeat of the show originally aired on December 13, 2006 on "The Rivanna Rambler," a public affairs ... Photo credit: Hank Hellman This show is a repeat of the show originally aired on December 13, 2006 on "The Rivanna Rambler," a public affairs show on heard every Thursday at 11:55 a.m. on WTJU 91.1 FM or wtju.net. It is an early December afternoon, unseasonably warm. The slant of sun at two orsquo;clock conveys the certain message that within a couple of hours, the sun will fall off the edge of the earth, leaving us in the cold and darkness of another winter night. I am on the County side of the river, below Pantops, on the Old Mill Trail, named with a nod to the grain mills that once lined this stretch of the Rivanna in the 17 and early 1800rsquo;s. When completed, it will terminate at Milton, but here it is a wide ldquo;Class Ardquo; trail, suitable for wheelchairs, bikes, and older folks who need a firm and clear footing. The path has been bush-hogged clear of excess brush and bramble, and a thin layer of rock-duct paving shows boot prints and various scuff marks left behind by human and non-human travelers along the river corridor. Here and there, semi-translucent tree tubes, four feet high and staked in place, reveal where young cedars and oak trees have been planted to help restore what was removed to make way for the trail. This swath of green is what is called a ldquo;riparian bufferrdquo; hellip; ldquo;riparianrdquo; for river; buffer for the fact that it is a protective transition zone between civilization and the river in its normal flow within its banks. The riverrsquo;s buffer is often the same as its floodplain, as it ishere, a broad expanse of sand deposited in the slow curve of the river. Federal and state regulations and county code all protect this buffer and ensure that there is little or no disturbance in what is called the floodplain overlay district. But recreational uses are allowed, and therersquo;s no keeping out the animals. Every hundred yards or so, placed neatly at the edge of the path, is a desiccated clump of scat, full of berries, left behind by fox or raccoon. And everywhere, the sign of beaver hellip; here, a series of tree stumps scraped to points like pencils, ragged with teeth marks and accompanied by piles of fresh wood chips on the ground. There are some random scrapes in the rock dust, where a beaver has pulled the trunk across the walking path towards the river making its own trail through bramble and woods and eventually to a steep earthen slide down to the water. One unlucky animal was forced to leave its quarry behind, the trunk left dangling a foot off the ground gripped by thorny greenbrier and bittersweet. Apartment complexes have sprouted up all along the hillside overlooking the river in this part of the county, but today there is no one on the trail, so as I cross the simple bridges that ford the creeks flowing into the Rivanna along this stretch, I am left to a quiet that is punctuated only now and again by the sounds of hikers on the other side of the river at Riverview Park and the faint gush of the river itself tumbling on down towards the Bay. Well before I reach the remains of the Woolen Mills dam, I turn back, watching for more signs. Bicycle tracks weaving figure eights in the soft gravel. A series long lines and crooked hieroglyphics dug into the rock dust have me mystified until I come upon a perfect circle, made by a kid ndash; or young at heart ndash; with a stick and the desire to leave a mark. Against a tree, therersquo;s a stack of trash bags bulging with soda cans, fast food wrappers, plastic toys, leftover from a river clean-up, I suppose. Though the urban trail system along the river is relatively tame, it still touches some deep and primal places within, where I can exercise my tracking sense, however dim and unskilled it may be, and where I can watch each season fold ever so gracefully into the next. 2007 Copyright by Leslie B. Middleton Trails,and,Footpaths lmiddleton@embarqmail.com no No http://www.cvillepublicmedia.org/rambler/2007/11/22/66-encounter-along-the-south-fork-moormans-river/ http://www.cvillepublicmedia.org/rambler/2007/11/22/66-encounter-along-the-south-fork-moormans-river/#comments Thu, 22 Nov 2007 17:00:00 +0000 admin http://www.cvillepublicmedia.org/rambler/?p=16 http://www.cvillepublicmedia.org/rambler/2007/11/22/66-encounter-along-the-south-fork-moormans-river/feed/ 0 http://www.cvillepublicmedia.org/rambler/2007/10/18/63-hiking-smith-roach-gap-who-owns-this-land/ http://www.cvillepublicmedia.org/rambler/2007/10/18/63-hiking-smith-roach-gap-who-owns-this-land/#comments Thu, 18 Oct 2007 17:11:07 +0000 admin http://www.cvillepublicmedia.org/rambler/2008/01/13/63-hiking-smith-roach-gap-who-owns-this-land/ http://www.cvillepublicmedia.org/rambler/2007/10/18/63-hiking-smith-roach-gap-who-owns-this-land/feed/ 0 00:01:01 A walk along the trail at Smith Roach Gap in Shenandoah National Park in Greene County provides food for thought about who really owns this ... A walk along the trail at Smith Roach Gap in Shenandoah National Park in Greene County provides food for thought about who really owns this corner of high country in the Rivanna watershed. This show originally aired on October 18, 2007 on ldquo;The Rivanna Rambler,rdquo; a weekly public affairs show airing every Thursday at 11:55 a.m. on WTJU 91.1 FM or wtju.net. It is a golden warm October day ndash; one in which I would be inclined to take to the river, but cannot due to water levels that are impossibly low. So instead, I head out with my husband for a high point in the watershed as if, perhaps to get closer to the clouds that hold the moisture hostage high above us. We drive up to Greene County and follow Route 33 ndash; the Spotswood Highway ndash; west following the crest of the divide between the Rapidan and the Rivanna. From Ruckersville towards the mountains, the ridge defines the head of the watersheds of Welsh Run, Deep Run, Blue Run, and then Long Run. At Lydia where Route 634 ends in the highway, we meet Swift Run which tracks right along Route 33 as it tumbles from its headwaters at Swift Run Gap, elevation almost 2400 feet. We trace the curves in the mountain on a route that has changed little since it was traveled by Governor Alexander Spotswood and his famous Knights of the Golden Horseshoe, the 1716 exploratory party that crossed into the Shenandoah Valley through the pass here. Where we can see it, Swift Run itself is dry, its bones exposed between scant flow and small, still pools of wet. Once on Skyline Drive, we head south a few miles to the parking lot at Smith Roach Gap ndash; at 2600 feet, itrsquo;s the next crossing over the mountains. Named for an early settler , last name Roach, first name Smith, it marks the headwaters of the Roach River which falls from the mountains eastward into Bacon Hollow, Deep Hollow, and Waterfall Hollow. We hike north in quiet on the trail towards the summit of Hightop Mountain, the leaves so dry they barely rustle. Everything is yellow and brown, like a summer in California, where water goes underground only to emerge in the rivers again during the rains of winter. Here, too, it feels like the water is absent, but in a season of record high temperatures and record low rainfall, I feel unsure of its return. Fall wildflowers are in show: purple and white asters, yellow goldenrod and milkweed pods in various stages of undress. Grass beds along the path glisten in the afternoon sun. I am calmed by this walk in the woods, but I also know that this part of the piedmont is known for its rough and tumble ways. Though itrsquo;s been 80 years since landowners were evicted from the Blue Ridge to establish Shenandoah National Park, the memory is still nursed ndash; and I am aware that this is a country where I need to cultivate understanding. Tucked into these hills are homesteads, orchards, and graveyards: grown over, reclaimed by the succession of cedar given way now to hickory and oak. We see little of this on our walk, but when the trail opens into flat stretches between granite outcrops and ferns, it is not hard to imagine pasture, croplands, and the hardscrabble life of the mountains. In my own life, I have felt the loss of landscapes special to me -- places that have been paved, graded, or filled and planted with houses, shopping centers, roads and marinas. Though truly incomprehensible, this helps me feel compassion for the Monacans and other Native Americans displaced from the land during the so-called era of contact. And centuries later, in these hills, it is a similar displacement, but the opposite has happened ndash; where the dead are buried, the cemetery markers are overgrown with honeysuckle; where the barns and houses once stood, the foundations are crumbling under lichen and wind. And the springs nursed forth from the folds of the hills are secrets only the locals know. As we walk, two ravens traverse the ridge overhead, annou... Greene,County,,Headwaters,,Trails,and,Footpaths lmiddleton@embarqmail.com no No