Dave paints a blaze on the Beaver Point Trail. We shook off our summer lethargy quickly during our first 2 weeks at Twin Lakes. Taking on the task to refresh the trail blazes on the park’s trails, we hiked many miles and pruned a lot of trees. Since Twin Lakes State Park is situated an hour west of our usual haunts in Richmond, we took the opportunity to check out some of the area highlights as well.
Goodwin Lake was a 1 mile trail around the lake nearest the campground. Blazing a Trail
Trails are identified by the color of their blazes, and we had 6 different trails to do: orange, green, red, dark blue, light blue. The general rule is that you should be able to see the next blaze when passing the nearest one. With some exceptions, the same tree should have 2 marks, one for hikers traveling in either direction. There are special blazes for a trail that is making a sharp turn and one for the start and end of a trail. Dave was much more of the expert, so he took the job of applying the paint, while Cathy did a lot of spotting and clearing work. We carried a pair of loppers, a sawz-all with a couple of extra batteries, a quart of paint, a brush, and some clean-up supplies along with an extra liter of water.
Trails are identified by the color of their blazes, and we had 6 different trails to do: orange, green, red, dark blue, light blue. The general rule is that you should be able to see the next blaze when passing the nearest one. With some exceptions, the same tree should have 2 marks, one for hikers traveling in either direction. There are special blazes for a trail that is making a sharp turn and one for the start and end of a trail. Dave was much more of the expert, so he took the job of applying the paint, while Cathy did a lot of spotting and clearing work. We carried a pair of loppers, a sawz-all with a couple of extra batteries, a quart of paint, a brush, and some clean-up supplies along with an extra liter of water.
The mark behind us indicates "end of trail", and it was actually the end of our trail work, since it was the last blaze we applied. Even at our most efficient, it would take about 3 hours to clear and blaze a mile of trail. And by the end of that mile, we would more than likely have hiked over 3 miles. Walking down the trail, looking back and then returning to clear whatever obscured the blaze from either direction. For the most part, we managed to avoid the poison ivy and thorn bushes, with one notable exception. There was a short distance that the Poplar Pass trail followed the main park road. Obscuring the view between blazes was a large patch of thorny vines. Apparently the DOT maintains this stretch of road and has an arm that would mow down the thicket, but while they had mowed the day before, they hadn’t used the weed attachment to clear the wider path. So, lacking any better tools than our loppers and sawz-all, we hacked our way through it. Cathy literally had the scars to prove it when we were done. When we were on our way back to the campground at the end of the day, the DOT mower drove by with the weed arm attachment raised up beside it. Timing is everything.
By the end of the last trail after several days of work, we were in much better shape in spite of ourselves.
By the end of the last trail after several days of work, we were in much better shape in spite of ourselves.
We kept the shredder busy for a couple of weeks. Slimming Down
While at Twin Lakes, we were close enough to our storage unit to visit and retrieve documents that needed shredding. We actually wore out one shredder, which luckily was still under warranty. Several large trash bags later, we had culled a couple decades of documents. When we were almost done, we learned that the park was looking for shredded paper to stuff scarecrows for their fall festival. Luckily we had enough paper to still make a significant contribution.
While at Twin Lakes, we were close enough to our storage unit to visit and retrieve documents that needed shredding. We actually wore out one shredder, which luckily was still under warranty. Several large trash bags later, we had culled a couple decades of documents. When we were almost done, we learned that the park was looking for shredded paper to stuff scarecrows for their fall festival. Luckily we had enough paper to still make a significant contribution.
Kodak Slide n Scan In addition to all those documents, there are a lot of slides in our storage. We wanted to digitize many of these memories, and found the Kodak Slide n Scan seemed to be the best option for doing just that. Cathy began to scan some of these boxes of slides, which had the effect of recovering those memories from decades earlier. There are still many boxes to go, but the process works well.
Sightseeing
At Twin Lakes, we are a short distance from Appomattux where Lee surrendered to Grant to bring an end to the Civil War. There are battlefield parks in every direction, marking Lee’s chaotic retreat from Richmond, following his rail supply lines west. One such battlefield is the nearby Sailor’s Creek Battlefield State Park, which we visited one Saturday morning. There is an historic house and a museum in the Visitor Center describing the 6 days of Lee’s retreat that found some of his troops facing the Union army at the Sailor’s Creek crossing.
At Twin Lakes, we are a short distance from Appomattux where Lee surrendered to Grant to bring an end to the Civil War. There are battlefield parks in every direction, marking Lee’s chaotic retreat from Richmond, following his rail supply lines west. One such battlefield is the nearby Sailor’s Creek Battlefield State Park, which we visited one Saturday morning. There is an historic house and a museum in the Visitor Center describing the 6 days of Lee’s retreat that found some of his troops facing the Union army at the Sailor’s Creek crossing.
High Bridge Trail The next day, we visited High Bridge Trail State Park, or at least the central portion of it that goes from downtown Farmville across the famous High Bridge across the Appomattux River. This bridge was the center of conflict and confusion as Lee’s troops desperately sought to cross it, while still trying to prevent the Union Army from following. In the chaos, one Confederate unit began burning the bridge, not realizing their own troops were crossing to escape capture.
Cruising ebike After it was abandoned as an active rail corridor, this has become a popular biking trail. While we have ridden the trail before, we took the opportunity this time to test some ebikes rented from the shop near the Farmville trail entrance. We made the round trip from Main St along the 5 miles to cross the High Bridge and back. It was a beautiful day, sunny and cool, and we made the 10 mile round trip in less than an hour. Testing the bike’s battery capacity, before returning, we drove up the residential streets to the top of a steep hill. We were sold on ebikes.
Steam engine at the Crewe RR Museum Even closer to home, in the small town of Crewe VA, there was a small railroad museum that had interesting displays and some rolling stock outside to explore. We made a short video of our visit there.
Parting Shot
We decided to try smoking a couple of pork loins, which is not one of the more traditional meats that are put on a smoker, since it is a lean cut of meat. However, we were wowed by the results – moist, flavorful, even after reheating. We will definitely try more.
We decided to try smoking a couple of pork loins, which is not one of the more traditional meats that are put on a smoker, since it is a lean cut of meat. However, we were wowed by the results – moist, flavorful, even after reheating. We will definitely try more.
