200 year old house
I'm finally over being sick, I don't need to go into the details but I've only hiked twice in the last two weeks. Last weekend at First Landing State park where I was in pain the whole hike and this Saturday April 2 at this private preserve.
About a month ago I got permission to hike on this "closed to the pubic" preserve. However, after hiking there once was asked to wait until after May 28 for safety reasons because hunters were managing the deer population until then.
I don't have a map of the area so it has been interesting just roaming around using the GPS and making my own map as I go. Each time I reach a trail intersection I mark it on the map and randomly choose a direction. Then later, I can then return to the marked intersection and try the other direction.
The long view
Today's Hike (6 miles)
On the map above (I've removed the names to obscure the location) you can see the orange/brown dots where I've marked a trail intersections. Note the lake in the lower left corner.
The trail head
A stone cairn
Interesting
Just as I was finishing the hike and I'd reached the old house again when a truck drove by and stopped. It was Robert, the preserve overseer (not sure of his real title). He was the one that suggested that I ask for permission to hike here when we met at a different park. We talked for about 5 minutes and I asked about the old house. He told me that it was owned by the family of "Leo" named on the plaque above. Leo had also built the overseer lives in down the road as well as another house on the property. He invited me in to see the old house. He unlocked the door to the smaller side room and we were able to access all the rooms from there. The house did not smell moldy as I expected. It was rather a pleasant old time scent, perhaps reminiscent of visiting one of the old houses in Williamsburg. We checked out the upstairs and the main room, it wasn't furnished so there wasn't much to see other than the building itself. It was in really fine shape considering it's age. It's obvious that been looked after.
I also asked Robert about the lake. He told me that it once was a private recreation area that you could pay to camp etc. but Hurricane Agnes (1972) had flooded the lake and breached the dam and it was forced to go out of business.
The stream that feeds the lake
Crossing a side stream
A house on the preserve property
The empty "Lake"
A view from the "lake" bottom
Don't you just love spring?
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