In an ideal world, one would hope to leave work early & beat the traffic north up I.95. It being a Friday pre-Dress though, I was lucky to escape as near to 5pm as I did. The journey was not too bad though - we barely slowed down much by Fredericksburg & so had arrived by Triangle/Quantico/PWFP by half seven going on 8. Nae bad.
It was a long, curving drive into PWFP. We were staying at Oak Ridge campground which meant about eight miles or so along Scenic Drive, past deer & cyclists & other sites. The pitch sites at Oak Ridge are each set off a "loop" of road and surrounded by trees, reminding me more of Blackhills than anywhere I've ever camped since. No stripped-back green fields to be found here. C.21: "good for solitude & privacy". Check!
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A little bit of history about the Park:
" The
story of PWFP begins with President FDR's nationwide effort aimed at
fighting the ravages of the Great Depression. People were unemployed,
hungry, hopeless. In 1933 Roosevelt created a new kind of park, the
Recreational Demonstration Area (RDA) to reuse marginal, overworked
land.
The parks would be built by the Civillian Conservation Corps,
a program to reduce unemployment & teach job skills. Over 2,000 CCC
enrollees came to work on this land along the Chopawamsic &
Quantico creeks, creating today's PWFP.
The CCC milled timber for buildings & crushed local stone for roadways. By 1941, they had built bridges, dams, roads & lakes. But they were most proud of the five cabin camps; built in a distinctive rustic architectural style... to inspire a pioneer spririt in the children who stayed there.
Chopawamsic RDA was a model for
the entire nation, one of 46 such land-use projects. It was to be a new
type of camp, where low-income, inner-city children & families could
get away and experience the great outdoors. "
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Each pitch site had an area for your tent, a place to park up at a stone's throw away; picnic table, fire place and lantern stand. All rather equipped & good to go!
The woods were especially helpful as it gave a ready supply of kindling to get the fires started. I didn't have to search far for twigs, sticks and pine cones to add fuel to the fire.
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For Katie's sake, I'd like to tell tales of thunderstorms & thundery arguments
but this first camping date went without a hitch, tent up included. Sorry Tet! |
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The back door.
You can't argue with that view. |
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| Making themselves at home, Friday night. |
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| Gobo. |
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Best hot dog skewer-stick ever.
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| Putting it to work. |
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Saturday's hike:
Following the South Valley Trail, we started out along the creek before crossing to walk through woodland.
Picking up the trail for the Pyrite Mine Road,
we found ourselves at the Cabin Branch Mine Site.
"From 1889 to 1919, miners from nearby communities used dynanite to extract pyrite from shafts more than 1,000 feet below the surface. The ore was mined for sulfur, which industries used to make soap, fertilizer, paper, medicines
& explosives. "
In following the boardwalk around, we arrived at the mine shaft marker
& nearby rest area:
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| I saw my first cicada too. |
Retracing our path back along through the still air - the stream helped revive us
somewhat as a breeze was not forthcoming in the valley that day. Hot.
High time for some lunch, a good post-hike shower,
& a very refreshing beer:
... So peaceful, so quiet & still and so far away from the busyness of the theatre.
Bliss.
I was concerned that Friday fire photos weren't fiery enough (although no smoke without one) so here's proof
of more....
Flames!
TMM had also packed awesome new beer for us to try.
The
thing about camping & cooking is that it's a bit like putting your kitchen out on
the front lawn for all the neighbours to see. (I had to console a few
times that- from what we could see
across the way- that our fire was indeed just as good as theirs over there.)
(^ I do love how he could prioritise garlic salt whilst forgetting to pack a bunch
of other stuff. We'll blame the disruptive filming from Friday for any oversights.)
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Camping fare = Surf n' Turf.
Pretty impressive, non?
That right there is my first taste of steak in about twelve years.
... Still chewy. | |
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We woke Sunday to rain in the wee small hours as it rained and it rained and it rained.
We didn't want to budge from the tent - checking the weather map for Triangle, seeing quite clearly that it wasn't meant to be raining on us at all. Hm. We watched the daddy longlegs scurry across the netting above for entertainment whilst it rained some more.
Meanwhile, our neighbours were packing up & getting out. Gone. We had to follow suit
in the end & as the rain eased off a bit, managed to strike camp relatively successfully.
^ NB: Big dry patch within the damp from where the tent was.
Also excellent fire-prodding stick! ^
... Home then, to Richmond & the Rep, making ready with First Dress.
