A Walk in the Snowy Woods

Molly sniffing out the trail

Mother Nature smiled on the Get Outside Richmond Project on Saturday morning.  An inaugural outing that threatened to not get outside, due to snow, freezing temperatures, and the challenge of getting one’s children out the door (“I thought we were going bowling!”), exceeded all forlorn hopes and diminished expectations.  Sunny skies and a rising mercury welcomed twenty-one intrepid GORP explorers to Poor Farm Park, bold adventurers who gamely followed their fearless leaders – dressed and packed as if setting off for a month at the North Pole – into the woods.


Crossing Stagg Creek to Abel's "Island"

And if not for Molly we would probably still be out there.  My own memory of the morning blurs.  Children, it must be admitted, do not make for a contemplative outdoor experience.  I was grateful nonetheless that we did not lose one in the chilly waters of Stagg Creek.  Besides the children, I did see, at some point, a bird (a woodpecker I think, though naturally I was unable to identify it properly) and perhaps a squirrel, but any wildlife native to the area was flushed out by screaming voices well ahead of our group’s approach.  Even the trees seemed anxious to pick up root and run for cover. 

Back at the playground, the two-week hour walk behind us, the sled caught my attention, and I found myself wondering if in the history of sled pulling one has ever been pulled a greater distance over less snow.  It was, however, a handy way to transport all that unnecessary arctic gear. 

Of course children don’t make for a very contemplative indoor experience either, and on returning home it wasn’t long before we found ourselves wishing we’d left ours in Ashland.  A subsequent swing of some stomach bug through our children’s quarters has us only more desperate to get outside again – actually, to run away.  So, while our kids remain in too weakened a condition to put up much resistance, we’ve decided to schedule our next GORP outing for next Sunday, February 10, at Pocahontas State Park.



The first GORP casualty

Pocahontas State Park is about 20 miles south of the city – a part of the region that, like all parts of the region south of the James River until about Myrtle Beach, is totally unfamiliar to anyone like me who was raised in the West End of Richmond.  Although the space is much larger than Poor Farm Park, our itinerary will be set up in a way similar to last weekend’s outing, so as to (hopefully) minimize the possibility of getting Terribly Lost.  We’ll meet at the park at 10am or so, do a 2-3 mile family-friendly loop hike around Beaver Lake, then have a picnic lunch near where the hike begins and ends.  (The park covers almost 8,000 acres and features an extensive network of trails, many of which are excellent for mountain biking, for those interested.)  Directions and other specifics will be distributed a few days in advance of the outing.



G.O.R.P.

Game On

Damn the torpedoes.  The heartier, Ohio-born half of the GORP leadership team has told the other half to suck it up; so, however fitting it might be to start this project in a bowling alley, we are full speed ahead for Poor Farm Park tomorrow morning.

The current Ashland forecast is calling for clear skies and a balmy 33 degrees by 10 a.m.  Perfect weather for sleeping in, if you ask me, but we haven’t slept in since 2003, and I’m sure John’s not going to let us start tomorrow.  Perhaps a mild case of hypothermia will teach the young man that there are certain benefits to sleeping past 5 a.m. 

We realize this may not be everyone’s idea of a good time – I’m pretty sure it isn’t mine – but for those who are game, please dress appropriately.  Meet time at the Poor Farm Park playground is 10:00 a.m. The loop can be done in an hour, probably less, if we keep moving, which we will to keep from turning to blocks of ice.  First one to Ashland Coffee & Tea gets the first cup of hot chocolate.

If the weather/roads are worse than expected and we have to change plans, we will alert everyone by e-mail no later than 8 a.m. tomorrow morning.  If you receive no e-mail from us by then, you can assume we will be at Poor Farm Park, freezing.

Hope you can join us!   –Ben 

G.O.R.P.  

Outing #1: Poor Farm Park

Brrrrr... Call us wimps, but the folks here at 1523 Hanover Avenue (or at least the adults), having acclimated to the new tropical norm, are going wobbly over the prospect of a sub-freezing morning at Poor Farm Park. Below is the itinerary for Saturday’s GORP outing, including directions, and a map, but unless the weather changes we will go to Plan “B” (Bowling) or Plan “S” (Snowman), as detailed below. We will let you know what the plan is by tomorrow evening at the latest.

PLAN “B” for Bowling: If the weather is too wet or too cold we will instead go bowling at Sunset Lanes on West Broad (6540 West Broad Street), meeting there at 10 a.m. Rates are $17 per person (shoes included) for two hours of bowling (2-3 games). Sunset Lanes is kid-friendly: anyone old enough to walk is old enough to bowl.

PLAN “S” for Snowman: If it snows and there’s enough snow for some fun, we will meet at Lombardy Park in the Fan and build a giant snowman, assorted smaller snowmen, snowforts and snowballs, as well as the famed Hanover Avenue Plunge. Coffee, bagels and hot chocolate will be served at our house, across the street from the park, starting at 10 a.m.

Hope you can join us on Saturday, wherever we end up...

–Ben and Mo

G.O.R.P. outing #1

Date: Saturday, January 26, 2013

Location: Poor Farm Park, Ashland

Meeting time & location: 10:00 a.m. at the Poor Farm Park playground

Travel time: 35 minutes from Lombardy Park in the Fan

Directions: Take I-95 north to Ashland.  Take Exit 92-B (54 west).  Stay on 54 west through Ashland; about 3 miles after you cross the train tracks in downtown Ashland (at Ashland Coffee & Tea), take a LEFT on Liberty School Rd. (VA 810).  (There is a sign for the park at this intersection.  If you pass Patrick Henry High School you’ve gone too far.)  Follow Liberty School Rd. into Poor Farm Park, and continue on the entry road, veering right, until you see the playground at the road’s end.  Park in the parking lot on the right, across from the playground.

Park website:  http://www.co.hanover.va.us/parksrec/parkinfo_pfp.htm (Note: the map on this site does not show the extensive wooded section of the park – the part we care about!)

Rough itinerary (which no one is obligated to follow):   Meet at the Poor Farm Park playground at 10:00 a.m.  At 10:15, we’ll head into the woods for a family-friendly (though not stroller friendly) loop hike, counterclockwise on the main trail, which roughly traces the perimeter of the north end of the park.  Much of it is single-track, part of which is hilly.  The main loop is not much more than 2 miles, but the trail network is extensive and not well marked, so we could easily add distance with unintended detours.  Also, much of the trail runs along Stagg Creek, along which there are many opportunities for improvised bridge crossings, rock skipping and general messing about.  About two-thirds of the way into the hike there is a good place along the creek – across from Abel’s “Island” – to take a snack/lunch break, as indicated (roughly) on the attached map. 

 

Once we complete the loop, probably by about noon, families can play for a while at the playground and nearby fields or dive back into the woods for some more exploring before heading home, with a pit stop (for those so inclined) at Ashland Coffee & Tea for hot chocolate and whatnot.

What to bring:

*  Water

*  Hat and Gloves, plus layered clothes appropriate for the weather

*  Waterproof jacket/shell

*  Backpack, with snacks and/or picnic lunch

Kids will probably get dirty and possibly wet, so you might also consider packing in your car a change of clothes.

Near the playground, there is plenty of open green space for soccer, frisbee, etc.

Safety:  We ask that parents be responsible for the safety of their own children. 

PLAN “B” for Bowling:  If the weather is too wet or too cold we will instead go bowling at Sunset Lanes on West Broad (6540 West Broad Street), meeting there at 10 a.m.  Rates are $17 per person (shoes included) for two hours of bowling (2-3 games).  Sunset Lanes is kid-friendly: anyone old enough to walk is old enough to bowl.

PLAN “S” for Snowman: If it snows and there’s enough snow for some fun, we will meet at Lombardy Park in the Fan and build a giant snowman, assorted smaller snowmen, snow forts and snowballs, as well as the famed Hanover Avenue Plunge.  Coffee, bagels and hot chocolate will be served at our house, across the street from the park, starting at 10 a.m. 

If Plan “B” or Plan “S” is necessary, we will alert everyone by e-mail no later than 8 a.m. on Saturday.  If you receive no e-mail from me, you can assume that we will be at Poor Farm Park.

G.O.R.P.



Dear Friends

January 17, 2013

Dear Friends,

If you are anything like us, you have at times worried about the amount of time your children spend indoors – inside the house, inside the car, inside the classroom swimming pool – and have wondered what happened to that world of outdoor play that most of us recall so vividly from our own childhoods.  What happened to the woods and creeks, the dirt and ditches, the hills and holes “to China”, the fields and alleys and vacant lots and other patches of untamed space where we as children could wander, wonder and get lost from adults?  When did childhood become so scheduled, so rushed, so plugged in?

Here at 1523 Hanover Avenue we have been worrying and wondering a lot, brooding over our family’s thread-bare relationship with the natural world, sinking into a gloomy winter funk of nature-deprived dreariness, depression and despair.  Yes, we do have a 2-year-old, but still...

In desperation, we have resolved to get outside more this year, to try to re-nature our lives by visiting some of the parks in the region, places with which we have little or no familiarity.  As we have resolved to do this at the start of each of the past few years and then mostly failed to follow through, we thought it might make sense to reach out for help.  We thought we might see if some of our friends could show us how it’s done or, for those like us whose children can’t distinguish a chicken from a duck, at least share in our outdoor folly.

Next Saturday (Jan. 26), if the weather isn’t too terrible, we intend to spend the morning exploring Poor Farm Park in Ashland, and the more of you who can join us the more likely it is we will be able to persuade our children to come along – and the more likely it is we will show up ourselves.  After a few hours of hiking, exploring and messing about in the woods, we will fall back to Ashland Coffee & Tea for hot chocolate and lunch.

If the weather is bad, we intend to go bowling and drink a lot of beer instead.

So, if your schedule permits, we hope you will consider joining us next Saturday, say about 10 a.m.  Poor Farm Park features a 2.1 mile loop trail through the woods, much of it running alongside swiftly moving Stagg Creek (says our guide book), with numerous other single-track trails carved out by mountain bikers.  (We will not be bringing bikes ourselves, but the park is excellent for mountain biking if anyone is so inclined.)  Most importantly – and we confirmed this ourselves a couple weeks back – it is a place where it is possible to get Slightly Lost but very difficult to get Terribly Lost.  However, for anyone who gets especially nervous about this kind of thing, Mo will be available to help you with your estate planning documents prior to setting out on the trail.

If this interests you and works with your schedule, let us know, and next week we’ll send you bush-or-bowl confirmation, directions and any further instructions.  Also, please feel free to forward this invitation to anyone else you think might be interested.

Hopefully this won’t be the last time we do this, but it should be emphasized that we have no idea what we are doing, or whether we’ll want to do it again.  Nevertheless, we do have a name for the endeavor:  the GO Richmond Project – the Get Outside Richmond Project.  Or...

G.O.R.P.

We hope to see you soon in the great outdoors.

Best wishes,
Ben and Mo


Ben and Maureen Ackerly
Richmond, VA