For reasons only a sociologist would venture to guess at, Super Bowl Sunday is our best attended hike every year.  It has for equally nebulous reasons become the tradition for the TPA to hold its Superbowl Sunday/February First Sunday Hike at Stagville Plantation in northeastern Durham County.  It is, as they say, a target rich environment; we could study the Flat River and the Little River and the old lands of Stagville for a lifetime and not map all the wonders to be seen.  Today the Flat River bottoms east of Stagville are "game lands"; planted and managed to attract water fowl and other game.  Well, hunting season is over and the gamelands are now a playground for birders and history buffs, health nuts, and dog trainers.  In short, it is a wonderful local asset.

In the picture to the left (taken at last year's hike) Gene Dodd stands in a horse trail at the crossings east of Stagville.

We'll meet before 2 PM at the game lands parking area off of Old Oxford Highway north of Stagville.  We will hike from 2 until 4 PM.  This is flat, open terrain.  We generally find some way to make it a bit of a challenge (one year we were compelled to climb a log to get out of a stream bottom, and another we found ourselves in a mat of flotsam), so wear sturdy shoes.  Dress for the weather.  As this is bottom land, if the weather is wet we will stick to the roads and high ground but you'll still want to have dry footwear. 

There is some chance that we will gain access to the historic site (either walk in permission or an opportunity to drive in, park and follow the old roadbed from the top of the bluff down into the bottoms.  If and when we learn we will tweet the news, send out a general note, put it on our new calendar (below) and in other ways try to let you know.

New Years Day and January First Sunday Hike: Brisk movement helped

It was cold both New Years Day and on the 3rd of January for our First Sunday Hike, but not too cold for a stroll in the woods.  Pictured in the far right photo is a hiker next to a trail trace heading into the west end of Occaneechi Gap at Moorefields.  Fortunately there were kids along both days and their activity kept us all hopping.  The other photo to the right shows a bunch of us catching our breath after pushing up a fairly steep grade to a ridge top on the west flank of Occaneechi Mountain.  New Years Day we trudged along I-85 observing old roads buried by that freeway, and we turned back to the parking area only after poking around an old quarry.  The interior picture to the left shows hikers approaching the old quarry. 

It isn't at all clear what Board member Tony Black thought of our young hikers checking the view from the top of the quarry wall on New Years Day (the taller gentleman on the right in the photo to the right).  Nor did board chairman Bob Chapman comment on the hikers testing the weight bearing qualities of the ice on a little ice pond east of Moorefields.  Thrills and chills but no spills.  The were both really neat hikes. 

Both days we were following up on the evidence brought to light during the St. Mary's study last fall that indicated that roads coming out of the fords on the norther reach of the Eno passed south of Occaneechi Mountain rather than cross the Eno twice or even thrice.  On the 1st of January we saw roads poking out from under I-85 on the east end of Occaneechi Gap, and on the 3rd, at Moorefields we followed roads vectoring in to the west end of the Gap.  We had mapped enough old roads pointing at the gap to generate the map to the right.  As usual, click on the image to see a larger version.

Trading Path Calendar

We've activated a Google Calendar for the TPA.  We will endeavor to keep it up to date and not be too different from the event calendar on our web page.  Our first goal will be to keep you informed of upcoming events.  If you have other information you'd like to see on the calendar, let us know and we'll try to comply.

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To initiate or renew your membership in the TPA, we now offer the following three options:

Option 1: You can renew using your credit card via the Triangle Communities Foundation at: www.trianglecf.org

Option 2: You can click the "Donate Now" button on the right side of the screen, and that will take you to PayPal, a secure transaction site.  You'll be asked a few questions to create an account so as to protect your sensitive information, and then you'll be able to donate using a credit card or other vehicle.

Option 3: The membership form can be downloaded from the website and sent in to the address below with your payment.
 
Thanks for your continued support!

So, you want to suggest a First Sunday Hike.....

Please, if you want to suggest a First Sunday Hike, there are a few points to bear in mind that will make preparing the hike a lot easier.  For example:

1. We need to know the names and contact information for all property owners that will be affected,
2. The site needs sufficient parking for a dozen or more cars,
3. The hike needs artifact content, historic merit, something to trigger the hikers' imaginations; we need a description of the site,
4. There needs to be a passable route suitable for hikers of all ages,
5. The route should be less than two miles long, depending on artifact content.  That is, the more there is to see, the shorter should be the hike.
6. The trail head needs to be accessible without heroic driving.

trm