Bear Creek Lake State Park - August 18, 2012

Reported by Andy Willgruber

Today’s hike would be something a little different: we would travel southeast to the state park closest to Charlottesville and try out the park’s hiking trails. Today’s hike was originally proposed as a “reserve” hike that could be substituted when excessive summer temperatures prevented longer hikes or when Shenandoah National Park or the Blue Ridge Parkway were closed in winter. The most questionable thing about this choice is the travel distance (1 hour, 25 minutes) for a relatively short hike (4.5 miles).

Unlike most of our hike leaders, this one always does his best to stress the disclaimers and see if he can talk people out of the hike. That tactic resulted in no takers (leavers?). Leon Gorman and I drove individually, while seven others (John Brandt, Joanne and Maynard Davis, Niki Mason, Debra Fisher, Briana Taylor, and Marian Styles) split into two cars. My biggest fear about today’s hike was losing someone en route to our Cumberland County destination, not on the hike itself. I was very relieved when all vehicles arrived at the park.

The hike meandered in a circle around the dammed lake of Bear Creek, and the lake came in and out of view as we walked. We immediately saw a great blue heron cruising along just above the water. This sighting made up for not seeing the beaver ponds that were here in late winter.

The low water levels of August somewhat took away from our lunchtime stop. What was usually a beautiful brook was now a dry bed. We made the best of it, though, and shared a pleasant lunch.

The second half of the hike included seeing some of the recently built lodges and cabins—very impressive. (We will eventually have our own state park just south of Charlottesville; Biscuit Run. How similar it will be to Bear Creek will be interesting to see.)

The afternoon’s wildlife highlight was startling a batch of swallowtail butterflies. They swirled up and around the hike leader like a magician’s trick! Our hike concluded on the “Channel Cat Loop.”

The next decision was “to swim, or not to swim.” When (Mer)Maid Marian strolled down to the beach for a look, I assumed the answer would be affirmative. Marian’s deciding to not swim is a rare event. But this did occur today (to John Brandt’s deep disappointment) because of too many pint-sized swimmers and the lack of an island to swim to, like at Sherando. Unusually comfortable temperatures also lessened the motivation for a dip.

So we started thinking about ice cream “dips” instead. We jumped in our vehicles and headed homeward through the wilds of Cumberland and Buckingham Counties. We kept our four-car caravan together while heading back over the James River to the (relative) civilization of Fluvanna toward the Gypsy Gourmet Cake Lounge. Leon did not stay, but the rest of us eagerly consumed ice cream, cappuccino, lattes, tiramisu, and other goodies.

As we headed back to Charlottesville, it occurred to me that we may have gained more calories than we burned on the hike. In any case, I hope that something different was something good today.