The Human Race and other adventures

The Human Race

I haven't posted in a while. The camping season has been slow to start this year. Eleven of the first 18 weekends of 2019 saw rain here and we've now morphed into intense heat and risk of wildfires. Clearly climate deniers don't own campers. That said, I've still had some fun.

Little River at Zooland

On the weekend of March 16, I took my shakedown cruise. I had to work that weekend (I am now the Volunteer Coordinator very part time at United Way) so I booked a site at Zooland just south of town. I've joined a local RV club--the Randolph Ramblers--and got to meet a few of them there despite very cold weather. Lovely folks. And I had no idea Zooland bordered this scenic river. On a warmer weekend, I'll go back and explore the trails along it.  But this time I was there for The Human Race.

Big fund-raisers can be expensive for small non-profits and the overhead can eat up much of what is raised. So The Volunteer Center of United Way hosts a sanctioned 5K walk/run every year in March. Anyone can walk/run for the non-profit of their choice or join a team and 75% of the proceeds are guaranteed to the designated organization. It's followed by a food truck rodeo for Habitat for Humanity and the local craft brewery, 4 Saints, has a St. Patty's beer garden. Over 300 generous souls braved bitter cold winds to participate. They wore costumes, brought their dogs, pushed their loved ones in wheelchairs and raised nearly $40K for area charities.

Three Sisters Swamp

My next two trips to camp had to be canceled but that doesn't mean I haven't had some fun. On March 30 the Central Carolina Paddlers took a trip 10 miles down the Black River south of Fayetteville, NC, and through the Three Sister's Swamp. The swamp is home to the oldest grove of trees in Eastern North America--2600 year old cypress trees. I cannot describe the sense of wonder at these ancient living things and my sense of gratitude that the state has the foresight to preserve them. I encourage anyone to take this trip. The 10 miles on sluggish water is strenuous and you'll need a guide but several area outfitters will accommodate you. VERY worth your time.

Tupelo Swamp

Laurel on the Eno

In April, the club visited Crystal Lake on another cold, blustery day. Crystal Lake was built as a vacation spot back in the 1920s before transportation was good enough to get folks to the beach easily. It's located between  Carthage and Southern Pines. It's a bit of a hike from home and the lake looked so small on the map (and the weather was so cold the day of the club trip) I almost backed out. But I'm glad I did not. Crystal Lake itself may be tiny, but it ends in a Tupelo Swamp and once we were within the trees, the wind died and that sense of the ancient and the sacred settled on us. It was such a lovely trip, I called a couple of girlfriends and  we met on a pleasantly warm Tuesday and explored it again. The ribbons we'd set the first time were still there and this swamp is considerably smaller so we were fine sans guide. I didn't get to kayak much last year and the weather again this year has been limiting, but the trips I've taken this spring have been more than special enough to make up for all that.

Lake ThomaLex

So for Mother's Day, when the kids asked what I wanted, I said I wanted a paddle trip with them. Ben, Jessie and Sydney all took a day off work and we paddled an impoundment on the Eno River with banks full of fragrant honeysuckle and mountain laurel still in bloom. When my college roommate, Kathy Abbott, came from Chicago to spend Mother's Day week with her mom in Thomasville, we had a lovely hike at Salem Lake and later in the week, paddled Lake ThomaLex (if you guessed the water reservoir for Lexington and Thomasville you got it). Ruthie and I went back yesterday and explored the headwaters. We were entertained by numerous waterbirds including heron, ducks and an actively hunting osprey. So despite little camping, it's been a perfectly lovely spring. I have lots more reservations to camp coming up and, in the words of my high school boyfriend, "God willing and the river don't rise", I plan to hit at least a few of them.