The Great Dismal Swamp is a pretty impressive area. I am surprised there weren't more people there since it is in such close proximity to some really big cities. I actually didn't see another person in the swamp or lake once I got on the kayak(there were some people milling about the boat ramp area).
The Dismal Swamp is near Chesapeake VA, and it straddles the VA/NC border. It's about a 6hr drive from Galax if you count the time it took for me to go to Riner and pick up the kayak that a friend foolishly let me borrow.
I got a bit of a late start on the drive due to lunch with the gf and some friends. So I didn't arrive at the boat ramp until about 7:30pm. This made it pretty much impossible to get to the campsite before dark, as it's about a 3 mile kayak trip.
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| Getting dark in the Feeder Ditch |
The good thing about the campsite, is that it is located near the lock that keeps the lake level high. There are some services there including flush-able toilets, power outlets, tables, and a little house where I think a ranger can stay or something. The REALLY good thing about the campsite was the lights! It got dark well before I made it to camp, but as I got closer I could start to see fluorescent lights, guiding me there(the Feeder Ditch through the swamp is a straight shot, just loooooooooong)
The lock consists of a spillway and a cable boat transporter thing. Basically, you put your boat on it, press a button and it takes your boat up the and over the hill to the other side of the lock.
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| Due to peet soil or something like that, the water here is brown like tea:) |
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| I slept in that brown building:) |
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| Put your boat on here... |
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| ...press a button and it will take your boat over here.. |
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| I took this on the way out, since when I started it was too dark to see the sign. |
Once I got to the camp, I found out that the sit-on-top kayak I borrowed uses holes in the floor of the rear compartment as ballast. This normally wouldn't be a big deal but my sleeping bag was at the bottom and therefor soaked:) Luckily when I picked up the kayak I stole a tarp is well. So instead of pitching a tent I slept on the floor of one of the screened in picnic table areas(the tarp would be a bit too big of a sleeping back for a two-man tent).
Now to the good part...
I have had some pretty incredible areas all to myself in the past. I have blazed a trail in fresh snow to Mystic Lake in Montana. I've sat and watched the stars turn over a moonlit Devil Canyon without being disturbed. I've enjoyed hours in the Stillwater Canyon without seeing a soul.... But for some reason, waking up at 4:30am from a tarp, hopping in a kayak onto what looks like a sheet of glass, and paddling out of the swamp and into Lake Drummond where huge monoliths rise up out of the water, where the sound of the kayak's wake, frogs, and birds are all that you hear(I was up before the planes started flying overhead)... this was one of the most incredible experiences in my life, even if it only lasted for a short time.
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| It's hard to see in this photo, but the far tree was chock full o' birds |
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| Vibrant green on the edge of Lake Drummond |
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| The southern Edge of Lake Drummond has a different look. I used a CPL, an ND filter and a Singh-Ray reverse grad to manage an 8 second exposure to capture this scene. |
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| A warbler(I think) |
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| Turtles were EVERYWHERE! |
One thing I learned on this trip, is that it is very hard to setup compositions on a kayak. What would normally be easy to change on dry land is more difficult when working over the side of a boat. I used 3/4" wooden dowels rammed up into the bottom of my tripod legs to give me the height needed(the lake is about 4-6ft deep).
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