The Great Dismal Swamp Hike-1/24/2012

The swamp is as dismal as it ever has been, but that didn’t stop 24 Tuesday Groupers from hiking 11 miles, give or take a mile, more like give, on a beautiful day in January. We all met at the Jericho Lane parking lot around 9:30 A.M. to start our hike. As we stood in the parking lot in a circle or a bent strait line, whichever you call it. Everyone called out his or her name in order for some of our new people to get better acquainted. This trip we had Brian, his friend Bruce (another Bruce?), Maureen, Vic & Margaret, Phyllis, Dottie, Bob M., Ellis & Marti, Carl, Jim, Bob S., Angela, Sandra, Judy, Brooke, Bruce & Margaret, Jane, Bob A., Diana, Juliet and the fantastic Dewey. The man would never stop if we younger people didn’t make him. He just keeps on going like that “Energizer Bunny”. Don’t know what Carol is feeding him, but yours truly would like some.

We left the parking lot at 10:05 A.M. and headed east on the Hudnell Ditch Trail. Not knowing about the new gravel they had put on the trail, it was just a little harder to hike on, but it was nothing like the mud that we in encountered on the New Ditch Trail. At least the sun was shining and as we reached the Williamson Ditch Trail with about 3 miles hiked. Soon the mud wasn’t as bad and we picked up the pace and the going got easier. As we made it to the end of this trail, we reached the East Ditch Trail. We stopped for our third break and some stories were told to the group by Jim, and Ellis. It’s funny how hiking bring out these great stories, it must be all the fresh air.

Jim’s story was about a JapaneseCommander that had good new and bad news, The good new is we have 10,000 ships coming to our island, Banzai ! Banzai ! Banzai ! bad news, they are not ours. Then he went on to say to our group that he also had good news and bad news for them. Good news we had hike 5.5 miles, bad news as he said it, we have 15 miles left, Not !

Ellis, told of my first trip planned with the Tuesday Group back in 2003 here at the wildlife refuge. The trail we hiked that day, about 4 miles in, had little water on it, but as we hiked on, it reached my knee cap. I have never been able to live this trip down. Thanks Ellis !

Lunch time we reached the railroad tracks, which crosses the East Ditch Trail here in the Great Dismal Swamp. Three trains passed by. I brought a large piece of plastic for us to sit on and there we had our lunch. Sitting in the sunshine and eating PB&J’s some of us could have stayed there all day, or at least till the sun went down and the temperatures drop below 40 degrees. This was our half way point 6 miles and all we had to do was make it back to the parking lot before the wildlife refuge closed their new electric gate.

We gathered up our gear and hikers and started back, first down the East Ditch, then the Williamson Ditch all the way to Jericho, “Jericho Ditch Trail that is“. It was about 5 miles heading west with only 1 mile south on the Jericho, and we arrived back to the parking lot, although some not as fast as others. For Margaret J. and Marti we wished them a “Happy Birthday” and everyone ate well deserved birthday cake, thanks to Jane & Phyllis.

Well, it was about 4:30 P.M., but the day for some of us was not over yet. Thirteen of the group decided to head for the Amici’s Pizza Restaurant in Suffolk where we ate everything from lasagna to eggplant parmesan, to meatball sandwiches, to good old Italian pizza finishing up the day about 6:00 P.M. I am sure this will go down in history as the longest Tuesday group outing ever. Thanks to all that hiked on this lovely day in the Swamp.

Bruce J.

View Phyllis' photos: https://picasaweb.google.com/crashneumann/GreatDismalSwampHike?authuser=0&authkey=Gv1sRgCI3krsHmiNCqKw&feat=directlink

Dottie's Pictures: https://picasaweb.google.com/105914828772447442006/124DismalSwampHike12Miles?feat=email