The National Park Service Maintenance Crew from the Blue Ridge Parkway are continuing their work on the boardwalk for the handicap accessible trail around Abbott Lake at the Peaks of Otter (see blog post dated July 3, 2010).
On August 23rd workers were placing the boardwalk planking over the first section. The planking is made of recycled plastic boards. This section of the trail will include an approximately 6′ by 6′ deck where those in wheelchairs can sit and enjoy the view of the lake and lodge. A future section of boardwalk will include a larger deck directly across Abbott Lake from the Peaks of Otter Lodge that could allow for those in wheelchairs to fish in comfort and safety.
The walkway will include bumper type curbing along the edges and handrails where the boardwalk crosses feeder streams above the lake such as the one shown above.
This project was originally planned eleven years ago and is finally coming to fruition.
Most visitors zip past the James River/Otter Creek area of The Blue Ridge Parkway in their cars headed to the higher elevations of the Peaks of Otter or Humpback Rocks. This is one of the few areas of the park that you will find straighter and flatter stretches of road that prompt people to speed by attempting to make time traveling north or south. The road here follows Otter Creek, one of the longest water courses within the park boundary and through the lowest elevations (649 feet) along the entire Blue Ridge Parkway. If a visitor would take the time to stop and get out of their vehicle, they would be rewarded by the nature and history that abounds between mile posts 60 to 64.
There are the obvious facilities in this section; the Otter Creek Campground with its new entrance bridge and Kiosk, the concession operated Otter Creek Restaurant, and the James River Visitor Center. But there is so much more.
The inquisitive visitor will discover the Otter Creek Trail. This 3.5 mile trail meanders along the creek and Parkway motor road from the campground to the visitor center. The trail is easy to walk and crosses the creek numerous times on stepping stones and pedestrian bridges. Sharp rock bluffs, mountain laurel, redbud, and bird life are abundant. At State Route 130 the trail travels through an underpass of the road. If you are observant you will see what appears to be a ditch that follows the edge of the trail. This is the remains of what was once a large mill operation that was obliterated when the present bridge for 130 was built.
The trail forks and makes a loop around Otter Lake. At the north end of the loop you will find the skeletal chimney and foundation of what was once the Nathaniel Sledd Cabin. This site is believed to have been the home of the first European settler in Amherst County, Virginia in the early 1700s. He was drawn to this location to trade with Native Americans for beaver pelts. Otter Creek was a heavily used travel route from the mountains above to the James River and above the threat of flood. Otter Lake did not exist at that time being built when the Blue Ridge Parkway came through in the late 1950s. Beaver still live in Otter Creek today. Hikers can see their handiwork in dams and the stumps and bases of trees that they have felled for food and construction materials. Trees around the trail have wire mesh around their base to protect them from the industrious rodents.
Beyond the James River Visitor Center you will find a remnant of our Country’s transportation history. On the opposite bank of the James River is a fully restored canal lock from the Kanawha Canal System that served as the main commercial transportation from the Shenandoah Valley to Richmond, Virginia before the Civil War. Looking up river you will be looking into the James River Water Gap, a geological feature left from a millennium of the river cutting its way through the Blue Ridge Mountains. This makes the James one of only two rivers that flow from west of the Blue Ridge toward the Atlantic Ocean.
So the next time you are driving through this area stop and get out of your vehicle and see what wonders await you.
Just last week CNN Headline News featured a viewer video of a woman being chased and struck by a bison at Yellowstone National Park. In the video you can see that the bison is meandering across a paved parking lot minding his own business when a friend of the woman keeps approaching closer and closer to get a better look. The woman, even knowing better, followed her friend to get a better video.
To view the video in its entirety, go to the YouTube link below:
You will note in the video that the bison gave several warnings that he was uncomfortable with the approach of humans. First he tried to move away and place a tree line between the threat and himself. When the person still came on through the trees the bison then lifted his head and looked at him with his head moving up and down. The bison then kicked his heels up lowering his head and the woman still kept filming him. Finally the wild animal stressed by the perceived threat had to revert to flight or fight mode. Since the threat had kept moving toward him even after he attempted to calmly make flight from the area he most likely felt he had no choice but to fight and attack.
These same behaviors can been seen in any wildlife you may encounter in a National Park even if it is a bear, deer, or chipmunk on the Blue Ridge Parkway. Always give wildlife their space. Revel in the opportunity to view animals in their native habitat, but do not crowd or stress them into instinctual reactions.
This incident once again illustrates the lesson I have told several times on this blog and in my book, “A Park Ranger’s Life”,that park visitors should always enjoy viewing wildlife from afar.
On Friday July 23 retired National Park Ranger and author Bruce Bytnar will be at the Peaks of Otter Lodge on the Blue Ridge Parkway in Virginia to sign copies of his book “A Park Ranger’s Life” and answer any questions folks may have about his career, park rangers, or the National Park Service.
The Peaks of Otter is within the Ridge District of the Parkway where Mr. Bytnar retired as District Ranger in 2008. The event will start at 4pm and will be located in the lobby of the Lodge.
Friday evenings the Lodge serves their well known buffet in the main dining room. The Lodge has rooms available and the campground across Abbott Lake are available for overnight guests. The opportunities for great food, breathtaking scenery, hiking trails, and good reading and conversation could make this an enjoyable evening to remember.
For more information you can contact the Peaks of Otter Lodge at 1 800 542 5927.
These are scenes from a family hike taken on July 2 on the Apple Orchard Falls Trail just north of the Peaks of Otter on the Blue Ridge Parkway in Virginia.
The Apple Orchard Falls Trail can be found at the Sunset Fields Overlook at Mile Post 79 on the Blue Ridge Parkway. The trail is a moderately steep downhill hike for approximately 1.4 miles to the falls. The hiker will then have to retrace their steps up hill to return to their car. You should allow at least 2 hours for a leisurely hike. Several other trails can be accessed from this area including the Appalachian Trail.
The area is a beautiful mixture of habitats and abundant in deer, bear, and turkey. As you progress down slope you will detect a thickening of vegetation and increase in humidity as the springs along the mountain side feed into a drainage producing the stream leading you to the falls.
The trail head is on National Park Service land, but the hiker will spend most of this hike on lands managed by the US Forest Service as part of the George Washington/Jefferson National Forests.
The walkway will include bumper type curbing along the edges and handrails where the boardwalk crosses feeder streams above the lake such as the one shown above.
On Friday July 23 retired National Park Ranger and author Bruce Bytnar will be at the Peaks of Otter Lodge on the Blue Ridge Parkway in Virginia to sign copies of his book “A Park Ranger’s Life” and answer any questions folks may have about his career, park rangers, or the National Park Service.
