Tuesday, September 10, 2019

Carolina Thread Trail: Girl Scouts Camp Oak Springs


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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