You may not find this terribly rewarding unless you're included here, so this is a good time for casual and random browsers to turn back before they get too caught up in the sweep and majesty of the proceedings and can't let go.
First, we review all the what-to-do-if-you-meet-a-bear advice, and then . . .
. . . we're off.
Ravages of Time.
(We know all about that!)
The August Springs Wetlands promotions, here and on various websites, advertise all the wildlife to be admired here. But except for a few birds, in about 40 walks through here, this is the first genuine wildlife we've come upon.
At this distance, it sort of looks like a doe.
Today for a change, we're walking the Uplands Trail backward. Right to left, as it were. Either way, we walk in about a mile, then up and over the central ridge, and back out down the other side.
And this is the other side -- famous for its five or six vintage automobiles that somebody's deposited in here, back when the trails were carriage paths from the old 19th century hotel/casino, and the forest was not so foresty.
Often, we've heard, abandoned cars are pillaged for parts . . . but this is ridiculous.
An unwelcome muddy path, but easily got round. This path on the other side has virtually turned into a muddy creek down the centre (as can be seen, if wished, on the next webpage).
Nice flat easy walking, until . . .
. . . we get to the bridge over the creek coming down from the valley just off to the right. Because . . .
. . . then we come to the hill up onto the ridge.
It's by no means difficult going up, even for oldsters, but coming down on bad knees is extraordinarily unpleasant.
And that's why, from the top of the ridge, we normally descend in a more sedate manner on an unmarked path we found a few years ago, down the centre of the ridgeline (as here) to . . .
. . . a marked crossover path between the two Upland Trails, which . . .
. . . rejoins the other side of the Upland Trail loop.
The old bridge across the creek on this side of the ridge is a NO-GO for walkers. They're not kidding -- it's a US Government Hotshots Training Ground for professional forest fire fighters.
That's our favorite dinosaurish tree wreckage out over the central pond, and . . .
. . . that's the beautiful pond. Sometimes with ducks or geese on it.
Now back across the boardwalk over the swampy parts
After 20 years of promoting wetlands internationally, one does come to love 'Cooperative Projects'.
Ducks Unlimited once, quite a few years ago, announced with fanfare a major donation to the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands' sustainable development projects. It turned out that they were silently referring to all the projects they were already funding on their own here in the US. But that's good, too.
Many people would find the aesthetics of this boardwalk design very pleasing. No wonder.
A 'passing zone' on the boardwalk. To let baby prams coming from opposite directions pass safely? Formerly a snacks stand there? A quiet viewing station for photographing very tiny fauna squirming about through the grass?
We just seen the wetlands' pond -- here's the wetlands' wetland.
So many years extolling the values of wetlands, on paper, and they still give me the willies.
-- Oops, I just dropped my iPhone. Sploosh.
BTW, in addition to the George Washington National Forest, we're also 'Welcome to the North River Ranger District' (but 'no alcohol, hunting or shooting').
Good!
Continuing with another old favorite, the Montgomery Hall Park jungle
3 May 2025
And today we've got an exciting new plan -- We're going to do the Fern Gulley offical and unofficial paths from the top down! ! !
First, from the southern carpark, we must scale the summit of the Black Dog Mountain, which . . .
. . . makes a good warm-up for the efforts to follow.
Now that that's out of the way, we turn northward and more or less downhill.
But instead (this is our plan), after about 15 minutes, we turn up at the tepee on the Scout trail, and . . .
. . . join the Yulee trail just above, going northward, and then . . .
. . . we bushwhack back down onto the Expressway trail going southward again.
A short ways, until we come upon this obvious landmark, which funnily enough . . .
. . . has been deposited right at the top of the untamed section of the Fern Gulley. So here we go.
A big mess, but fun.
Hikers wearing sandals are cautioned to watch for the broken glass under the leaves.
And those with dodgy old knees must perforce take their time.
Until we cross the Expressway trail again below and charge on down the well-prepared part of Fern Gulley.
How fun: ferns everywhere. What does one do with ferns?
As we come to the bottom of the gulley (sorely tempted to walk back up and back down again), we turn left . . .
. . . and start back up southward on the Scout trail, past . . .
. . . the nasty old formerly pink bench someone's left there years ago for a joke.
Back up towards the tepee, and farther on . . .
. . . up towards the Black Dog Mountain again.
-- Are you coming? -- Yes, yes.
Over the Black Dog summit, and . . .
. . . down towards the carpark.
This is a junction of the Scout trail proper, both left and straight ahead, with an unofficial carpark spur down to the right.
This precise place was formerly populated by a mid-thigh fallen tree across the path, with little sandbanks on both sides to help the mountain bikes get over it. But perhaps not enough mountain bikers were getting over it without grief, because two years ago the chainsaw powers-that-be disposed of it gracefully.
Back to the southern parking lot.
The huge pile of stuff is 'mulch' put out for homeowners to take for their gardens and what not, for free.
Note that gentleman with his buckets on the left; it was he who explained all that to us. A week later the town had built it up again substantially.
A glance at downtown Staunton on a fine spring weekend
In late spring, summer, and early autumn the town blocks off the one-way main drag, Beverley St, and creates a four-block pedestrian zone on Friday night for the weekend.
There are sidewalk seatings for all of the many restaurants, gelato shops, the cigar club, etc., and . . .
. . . we're just going (after our taxing walk) to have a quick look round, and go home (one block up the street).
Local musicians are on hand, of course (these were very good).
That bank, by the way, the Sun Trust in that fascinating 19th century building, virtually a museum inside, caught our eye when we moved here in 2019, so I signed up. A year and a half later, they merged with the Truist bank and moved to one of the utilitarian 'modern' bank buildings in the row of four nearly-identicals with huge empty parking lots up the street, and this building remains empty.
A local informal cemetery, 5 June 2025
We've come out to see the Staunton National Cemetery that's just across the road, a vast collection of identical tombstones in perfect rows, many with Confederate graves lined up and a majority with no occupants yet, presumably waiting for the next war.
But up on this hillside, with no formal signposting, we found this, vastly more interesting.
Most of the graves seem to date from the late 19th and early 20th centuries, though there are some that are more recent. Also just across the road is the remains of 'Uniontown', a black neighborhood from way back, but which declined precipitously when the railroad put its tracks right through the middle of it and refused to provide a bridge connecting the two halves. Right now, the buildings are collapsing.
There has recently been talk in the town government of providing water and electricity to what's left there, to see if the neighborhood can be rejuvenated.
But it occurs to us that maybe this Field of Ex-Dreams is related to Uniontown.
It's certainly got its share of tragedy.
All these young people dying so early, sometimes on the same day, is extremely grim.
We're reminded that this was not at all uncommon in the days before we had vaccinations for children against so many of the potentially crippling or fatal diseases.
At the moment, it certainly looks as if we're headed back that way again. Write your Congressman -- oh, forget it, that won't help.
Next up: It's hard to tell at the moment -- perhaps a few more valedictory forest walks, and then we're off for Wisconsin.
Dwight Peck's personal website
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All rights reserved, all wrongs avenged. Posted 24 June 2025.
