Merchants Mill Pond 2-8-11

Bitter cold. Nasty wind. Dark clouds. Threatening precipitation of some sort. That could easily describe a mid-winter day in Tidewater. Gorgeous. Splendillyferous. Lollyloptious. These, however, are all good words to describe the day fifteen Tuesday bipeds and two indefatigable quadrupeds gathered in the picnic area parking lot at Merchants Millpond State Park. Our mission, which we decided to accept, was to hike the Lassiter Trail. The day started in the low to mid thirties, slowly rising to near, or slightly above, fifty. The sky above was a blue, blue, azure blue, with occasional fair weather stratocumulus clouds for accent.

Of wildlife there was little, just a vulture or two overhead. As the body and day warmed, a break not long after we started saw folks peeling a layer. The trail showed us a few dampish spots from rain in recent days, but nothing worth a detour. In fact, the recent rain wetted the leaves and made our progress less noisy. Breaks were taken here and there just to enjoy surrounding scenes as we strolled. A long, relaxing, conversational pause was enjoyed at the backcountry campsite where certain indefatigable quadrupeds tried their best to wear out their leash holders.

Father on, where a bench, a perfect sitting log, and trees to lean against offered themselves, we doffed our packs and assumed recumbent positions of one sort and another. The bright sun warmed us all as we relaxed, chatted, and charged our batteries. Morsels came forth and were dispatched with gusto, as were brownies passed around by a generous member of the gathering. The view down into Lassiter Swamp, and tree reflections on the placid water, drew some down to water=s edge whilst yon alligators snoozed away their hibernation time. A certain blue ball bounced hither and thither, followed by the equally bouncing, energy filled, >Golden.=

After lunch, as during the morning, Mr. Shepherd carried sticks and pine cones - fully exercising his leash holder. A short stop at the family canoe camping area >necessary= was followed by the sight of a tall dead tree where kids, or possibly a bear, had stripped most of the wood away from the trunk=s core. Hatchet, or ax marks, seemed to rule out the bear as the perpetrator of this mischief.

All too soon we were back at the parking lot. Many stopped by the interesting Visitor Center. Afterwards, some headed for Nutty Buddies at a local convenience store while two went to explore the new dock and boat ramp on the south side of the pond, and another trail where turkeys, wood ducks, a great blue heron, and a mink were seen.

The day=s hike followed a night of rain, and preceded a forecast including that >white stuff.= Such a beautiful day we experienced!!!

Bill R

Bill R's Picture link: https://picasaweb.google.com/m.malabad/MMPond2811?authkey=Gv1sRgCJ-GhJGkhsbW1gE#

Marti's pictures for you: https://picasaweb.google.com/m.malabad/2811?authkey=Gv1sRgCP--3NHHjY2UsgE#