Prince William Forest Park

September 21, 2007-September 23, 2007

5 Stamps, 3 National Park Units

After fighting a rare and deadly virus all week, I mustered up enough energy to return to one of my favorite DC area parks, Prince William Forest. This trip was rather difficult to plan since some of our NPU expedition is now based in Maryland while the rest of us are in Southern Virginia. But with the power of the internet we were able to hammer out the final details. So at about 1 p.m. on Friday, September 21st, Frank came over to the 514 Estate and we headed off to George Washington Birthplace National Monument.

As usual we arrived at the park with only minutes to spare until closing. We stamped our passports at the Visitors Center and then headed up to the house. The grounds here were surprisingly beautiful. There were pine trees planted all over the place and a gorgeous garden next to the house. There were also great views of the Potomac.

As we made our way to the main house, we were greeted by our tour guide, Pocahontas. My first thought as I heard her name was "Wow, this is going to be a great tour". Unfortunately, it did not even come close to an Andrew Buttermilch caliber tour. She was a nice old lady but gave us no insight into the life of George Washington. All we got were a bunch of stories about George’s relatives having crazy sex lives. The highlight of the tour, however, was when Pocahontas told us to look at the eagle flying overhead. My excitement quickly diminished when Frank shook his head in disgust and mumbled “It’s a turkey vulture”.

After the introduction talk, Pocahontas told us that we could tour the house on our own. Since the house was not a replica of the Washington House but simply a replica of a period house, we did not intensely tour the facilities. Instead we walked around the grounds where the original GW took his first steps. The sun was beginning to set and the entire estate looked incredible. I got some really great shots as we walked through the barn area. Frank was attacked by two different phyla as both a horse and a caterpillar bit his hand. We then checked out the new baby bull, talked some more with crazy Pocahontas, and then headed back to the car and departed for Prince William Forest Park.

With the help of Karen, we arrived with plenty of time to set up camp at the Oak Ridge Camp ground. We then joined KC and Joe for some camp fire ciders and I made my now world famous turkey sausages with onions and peppers. Stefan arrived at the park at 8:30 p.m. but did not arrive at the base camp until around 10 p.m. Apparently Emily was not as helpful as Karen was. We then drank into the night talking about the good old days.

The next morning we awoke with the sun and I immediately got to work brewing up an incredible pot of Sumatran Coffee with my French Press. After enjoying some egg beaters we headed off to our second death march this season.

This hike was nowhere near as difficult as the now infamous Shenandoah National Park Death March that Frank dreamed up this summer. There was no real elevation gain and the weather was pleasant. We started out with a warm up hike on the Laurel Trail Loop. However, we quickly got lost and ended up back at the Visitors Center. At this point Stefan took off to participate in some non National Park activities.

The rest of the group however, decided that we were warmed up enough and headed off on the South Valley Trail. Minutes into the hike, Joe found a snake and was able to catch and hold it just long enough for a picture. Frank was able to locate Pawpaws simply by smelling them in the air. He instructed everyone to stop walking and then sniffed the air, looked a few trees, and then shook one until a pear like fruit dropped to the ground. He cut them open and we all enjoyed nice fresh pawpaws. Now growing up on the streets of New York, I had never experienced a pawpaw. But since Lewis and Clark enjoyed them on their great journey, I had to try one. Needless to say, it was my first and last Pawpaw.

After another hour of hiking, we decided to stop for some real food. We enjoyed lunch on a nice outcropping along the creek. As Mandy and I dined on peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, KC took this time to remove over 100 tiny ticks from her leg.We then continued our journey through the heart of Prince William Park. As we made our way to Fern Valley the sun finally came out bathing the entire area in perfect light. Of course a tripod was necessary for a proper exposure but, sadly, nobody in our expedition shared my excitement. I got a few good shots but nothing that was epic.

After the hike concluded we showered up and made some hot dogs for dinner. After a beer run to the Bottom Dollar, we sat around the camp fire and enjoyed some ice cold beers and ciders. We then waited for Stefan to show up. I’m not sure exactly when he finally did arrive but we had made a significant dent in our beverage supply by the time he showed up.

The next morning we stumbled out of our tents and made some strong coffee. As we were enjoying our breakfast, the camp site tsar came over and demanded that we pay her for the site. As KC and Joe calmly explained to her that we deposited the money in the drop box like the instructions told us to do, I sat there and enjoyed my egg beaters. But when she told us that we were liars and had to pay again because she had no way of checking the box, I lost it. I told her that it was retarded to have a drop box to deposit money if there is no way of checking it. I had a few other choice words with her and then she left (in tears I think).

Well a few minutes later a National Park Ranger rolled up to our site. He asked to see my license and I took it out of my National Park Passport. He was very impressed with the passport and wished us luck with our quest to visit all 391 units. He explained that the drop box was only checked once a week and that as long as our money was in there , we would be fine. I told him it did not make any sense and he agreed and said it was the government after all. We then offered the Ranger some bacon and coffee but he politely declined.

So after a morning of confrontations, we decided to cool down by hiking down to the old pyrite mine. The Cabin Branch Pyrite Mine was set up in 1889 and was a thriving mine until it closed in 1920 due to labor issues. Although the site sounded interesting, the main reason we wanted to visit the old mine had to do with the book Frank, Stefan, and myself were currently reading. In "The World Without Us", Alan Weisman describes what would happen to the earth if humans instantly vanished. So we were looking forward to see how the earth reclaimed the old mine. At first I was completely shocked how fast the land recovered in less than 90 years. Unfortunately, this recovery became a lot less impressive when we learned via a sign that the National Park Service helped the earth out in the 1980's and actually restored the site. While this was a little disappointing, the area really did look good and we enjoyed hiking through it.

After we finished the Pyrite Mine Loop, KC and Joe took off. Frank, Stefan, Mandy, and myself were not done NPUing. We decided to visit some more sites in Fredericksburg & Spotsylvania National Military Park (see Frank’s previous Fredericksburg post for info on our first trip). FYI, I highly recommend using a car to visit Fredericksburg instead of a 21 foot moving truck.

Our first stop on this tour of Fredericksburg was Salem Church, which was used as a refugee center for the citizens of Fredericksburg during the Battle of Fredericksburg. Personally, I did not find this site to be appealing the first time I visited it, but Stefan wanted to get the stamp. Unfortunately the church was closed and Stefan still does not have this stamp.

Our next stop was my favorite location of the day. We toured Ellwood Manor which was used as a hospital by the Confederates during the Chancellorsville Campaign and as a headquarters and hospital by the Union during the Wilderness Campaign. The house was in bad shape but this is what made it so interesting. Since many of the walls had holes in them and most of the plaster had been removed, you could see the inner skeleton of the house. Ever since I helped to build America in Arizona during the mid 90’s, I have been fascinated by framing and I really enjoyed this tour.

Our tour guide at Ellwood did not share the passion that Ranger Andrew Buttermilch had when we toured Sagamore Hill but he constantly referred to Robert E. Lee as "Bobby". This took him up a notch in my book.

The grounds of the manor were also impressive and the afternoon light lead to some amazing pictures. The highlight for me was the gravesite of Stonewall Jackson’s amputated arm. After Stonewall had his arm amputated, it was thrown onto the ground outside the field hospital. Jackson’s chaplain, Beverley Tucker Lacy, noticed the arm and brought it to his brother’s house (Ellwood Manor) to bury it. We know that the arm is indeed there because a Marine Corps general named Smedley Butler excavated the arm. In 1921, he was conducting a military exercise at the nearby battlefield. He had pilots up in planes dropping bags of flour onto targets below to see how effective planes would be in a battle. When he heard that Jackson’s arm was allegedly buried nearby at Ellwood, he ordered his men to dig it up. Sure enough, the arm was there and Butler placed a plaque on the site. The original plaque has since been replaced by a tombstone.

We hiked down to the site to check out the tombstone. I was very impressed with the gravesite and laid down on the ground to get a good shoot. I then asked Stefan to take some pictures of me standing next to the grave but unfortunately they all came out blurry. I guess the auto focus feature on a Canon Camera is difficult to master.

After Ellwood, we stopped at a few more sites where we learned what it was like to fight a civil war battle in a forest fire and just how much Virginia loves Stonewall Jackson. We also purchased some Civil War Era Crotch Powder, purchased some magnets, and destroyed yet another National Park Bathroom. However our adventure was coming to an end. The Giants were getting ready to manhandle the Redskins and we all wanted to listen to that.