Carolina Thread Trail: Girl Scouts, Hornets’ Nest Council, Dale
Earnhardt Environmental Leadership Campus at Camp Oak Springs – 11/17/18 – 4.4
miles
I’ve been away from home for several Saturdays in a row.
The coziness of my couch is calling me, but today is National Take A Hike Day!
It’s been raining most of the week and now the skies are blue. Don’t want regrets in my memoirs, so let’s
check out another segment of the awesomeness that is the Carolina Thread Trail.
This one is especially close to my heart.
My history with Girl Scouts, Hornets’ Nest Council, goes
back over 25 years when my oldest daughter became a Brownie Girl Scout. Her
troop was active in the outdoors and in volunteering with them I realized how
much I loved the outdoors too. Both of my daughters continued in Girl Scouts until
they graduated from high school. In addition to their opportunities,
Girl Scouts mentored me to become an outdoor leader [I taught 8-year-olds how
to light fires!] and trainer of other adults, touching a wide circle of women
who, in turn, introduced and encouraged hundreds of girls to outdoor skills and
leadership empowerment. I am forever grateful for what Girl Scouting did for my
girls and for me. Hornets’ Nest Council was the genesis for this blog.
Those 25+ years centered around Camp Occoneechee near Lake
Lure, NC, a 210-acre resident camp where adults become kids again and where
girls grow up. On many weekends the roosters woke us up in our sleeping bags.
Sadly, but inevitably, civilization crept closer and the camp was sold. Land
was purchased in a new location and Camp Oak Springs was created on 673 acres with
capacity for 1000+ people. It continues to grow as the resident camp experience
for the next 100 years of Girl Scouting. Change is hard but envisioning the
future is what Girl Scouts do so well. And yes, I have slept a few
nights at Camp Oak Springs too.
Speaking of envisioning the future, the partnership between
Girl Scouts, Hornets’ Nest Council and Carolina Thread Trail is a great fit and
I’m happy that they found each other! Read more here.
Brrrr…a cold start, 32 degrees. Pretty sure I’ll have
the place to myself this morning, a chance to listen to the woods and quiet
my mind.
The South Fork of the Yadkin River is the natural southern
boundary of Camp Oak Springs. It is also part of 358 acres protected by Catawba
Lands Conservancy. The 2.2-mile natural surface trail runs alongside the stream,
which was flowing swiftly this morning after the recent rains and spreading
into the flood plain. I stopped to
listen to the soft gurgle and noticed the geometrical shadows on the
surface. In fact, there were shadowy
lines everywhere.
Small creeks have cut steep banks on their way down to
the South Fork and small wooden bridges made the crossings easy.
I couldn’t help but notice broken pieces of bright orange
clay strewn in the water above and below the second bridge. This area of the
camp property was once a private shooting range and these were bits of clay
pigeons. Are these pieces old or new?
Did recent rains wash them down into the water from somewhere else?
I walked down to the river’s edge and saw again how
deeply the banks were cut away, being careful not to slip. That muddy, opaque
water didn’t look too inviting!
Rain means mud and mud means footprints – I’m the
first two-legged critter in the neighborhood
A Camp Oak Springs trail loop connects with this CTT segment,
but it is private property so I stayed out of bounds
I warmed up nicely, took off all my thick layers and even zipped
off my hiking pants legs. So much to look at down by my feet and up in the sky!
These enormous bushes with serious thorns and yellow balls of fruit balls –
what the heck are they? Trifoliate orange or Poncirus trifoliata aka flying
dragon orange tree.
No mistaking where the turnaround is
An out-and-back hike gives the opportunity to see the same
things in a different way. The sun had moved and the shadows were different. The
light shone brighter on the last of the fall foliage.
I was in a happy frame of mind until I encountered highway construction
traffic on the drive home. For a moment
I was annoyed and sad to live in a crowded, congested city and all the good vibes
from my hike were leaking out…but what a gift from the Carolina Thread Trail
folks that I can experience a quiet morning of solitude in the woods.
“Walking
and talking are two very great pleasures, but it is a mistake to combine them.
Our own noise blots out the sounds and silences of the outdoor world.” ~C.S.
Lewis
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