The Nor'easter that dumped volumes of snow on the northeast also threatened to ruin our hike today. Many folks put too much faith in the forecast and dropped out. And the meteorologists did not give us much hope for a good weather day so I cannot blame those folks for bailing. So, as it were, 14 hardcore, "keep the faith baby" Tuesday Groupers showed up at the Chippokes Plantation State Park Visitor Center for a hike on this cold (highs in the 30s), windy (25-35mph winds out of the NE) and potentially wet (20-30%) blustery day. Bundled up in fleece, down and waterproof rain pants were Christopher (and Oscar), Steve Ros, Carol, Gwyn, Sue, Jim, Bruce & Margaret J, Ellis & Marti, Diane, Mark Ber, Bill, and yours truly Phyllis (and Aubrey). After a brief talk and name exchange we headed down the park road soon taking a quick detour onto the beach where we were hit with the full force of the onshore wind. The white caps on the James were impressive and Aubrey took full advantage of this chance to take a swim and play in the water. We trooped along admiring the river, the clouds in the sky (but no precipitation) and the myriad fossilized shells on the beach. To our dismay, we came upon a raging creek, too wide to cross, making its way down to the river from the highlands to our right. This had been a dry sandy wash only a couple of weeks before but the night's rain had changed that. Some felt retreat was the best option turning to retrace steps back up the beach. But wait, Ellis always says THE TUESDAY GROUP NEVER RETREATS! So, Sergeant Bruce donned his bush-wacking recon cap and led us on a cross-country adventure over high ridges, down into deep valleys, across log bridges over creeks, through muddy cypress kneed expanses as we navigated giant blowdowns and dangerous slippery ravines. Our goal was to try and skirt the flooded area and make it back to the beach but the undulating terrain seemed to thwart our efforts with every acquired ridge. The good news is that we were out of the wind, it was not raining and we were warm from our exertions. Still, some expressed dismay (and perhaps a little anxiety) with the perceived lack of progress and wanted to head towards some buildings (civilization) seen in the distance. They thought we were lost! We were not lost. We merely had not yet reached our destination. And civilization is way over-rated. We continued our overland march when Sergeant Bruce (or maybe it was Margaret) declared we were near deer stand one and suddenly we were back out on the trail! We celebrated our victory with some cookies provided by Diane and then continued our hike (much less exciting) towards lower Chippokes Creek. The landing proved to be a perfect lunch spot as it was peaceful, quiet and out of the wind. We ate our lunches while enjoying each other's company and the serenity of the creek and surrounding marsh. After lunch we made a straight line back to the mansion. We were walking straight into the wind but the effort kept us warm. At the mansion we took a short rest break and as we started to walk again, it began to lightly flurry though that didn't last long. We stopped to visit with the farm animals who entertained us with some husbandry basics. Then we toured the barns with all the farming equipment. Aubrey and Oscar didn't think much of the hardware but they sure enjoyed visiting with Peter rabbit in his hutch. We then continued our walk back along the farm road eventually ending up back at the visitor center. And yes, the sun came out!
A perfect hike. A perfect day. Long live the Tuesday Group!
Phyllis
Special Thanks to Bill Billings for sharing his photo album with us. To view his pictures click on the link: https://photos.google.com/share/AF1QipOfgXD9E1xv0Ei0pbExBsLDjzC2NApn42BqYsOaFce91E8XXiV_zlg4CFtx-IGXkw?key=M1dYaklsVFI2b0NRX2x6R2s1YTdlTGNtM1hEUE5B