Suffolk VA   May 27

I crossed into Virginia on the western side of the Great Dismal Swamp National Wildlife Refuge about 10:30 this morning. This is home. At least it was for 26 years while we lived in Chesapeake, VA on the northern edge of the Dismal. 

The Dismal, one of the last large wild areas in the Eastern U.S., was appropriately named.  Those who first tried to traverse it cursed its impenetrable density. However, in the 1660s escaped slaves used the Dismal as a refuge by living on the few high and dry parts of the swamp. 

George Washington bought part of the swamp with the idea of draining it to access its timber. He abandoned the idea but the Dismal Swamp Canal, which was to be the commercial highway for the cut timber, is today part of the Atlantic Intracoastal Highway. 

As I rode, turtles kerplunked into the Swamp’s black-coffee water off the logs on which they had been sunning themselves. I counted 17 turtles on one log before they all disappeared.  The water’s color comes from tannin in the leaves the trees drop. Colonial sailors favored Dismal water because the tannic acid kept the water fresh on the long voyages back to Europe.

The flat lands around the Dismal Swamp are rich farmlands. 

To understand why I'm riding and raising money, please go to the first post--April 26.
To make a donation to the ALSA, please go to: http://web.alsa.org/goto/deirdresride