205 Carver Boondoggle

     Just about a year ago I started going on ‘research’ hikes with the intention of finding good routes for a possible ‘future’ Buffalo River Trail.  Specifically to tie together the two existing separate trails, that would be the upper BRT that ends at Pruitt and the downriver portion that begins at Woolum (OHT/BRT combo).  Until today I’ve had some pretty good luck finding some old roads and even a few existing trails that could help bring it all together.

Blue Hole Bluff

    Today I’m hoping to find a possible route heading upriver starting at Carver Cemetery, but even if I don’t it’s such a beautiful day to be outdoors that I can’t go wrong.  Parking on the side of the road opposite Carver Cemetery where there’s plenty of room for 8-10 vehicles, I head west back towards the highway.  Across SR 123 is a locked cable gate which I step over and continue down the ‘road’ that provides access to the various hay fields just ahead.

cable gate near highway

    I soon come into the first of three fields, none of which are more than about twenty acres.  The first leads me to the second which is the biggest, across the field I spot a deer watching me and about the same time I notice an opening on the other side.  Thinking this opening may go down to the river I cross the field to check it out, it doesn’t actually go to the river but to the third field.  I hear a barking sound coming up from the river.

deer at edge of field

    Not a dog bark, at first I wonder if its an otter, not an otter either I soon realize they’re turkey, a whole flock.  I leave the pathway separating the fields trying to keep quiet and head north down into the flood plain along the Buffalo.  On the flood plain is very overgrown with cane all kinds of tall weeds and lots of flood debris.  I keep hearing the turkey calling to each other, about when I reach the thin gravel bar they spook and take flight across the river and into the trees, I count at least ten as they fly across.

pathway between fields

    This is a gorgeous spot on the river upstream from the SR 123 bridge where an island ends and the two river channels meet at a point with a lovely smooth bluff rising along the north shore.  Soon the turkey must realize I’m not crossing the river in pursuit and resume talking to each other.  The thin gravel bar isn’t very long either, I’m soon back in the jungle wishing for a machete and slowly heading back up off the flood plain to the pathway between fields.

on the Buffalo at the tail of an island

    Through the field I continue upstream although I can’t see the river I can hear it, at the west end of this last field a path has been cleared by a tractor and brush-hog recently leaving short stubs of the cane and weeds which are over my head on both sides of this path.  Thinking this path must go to something, maybe a trail or road or even a nice spot on the river.  But no, it just ends after maybe a third of a mile at the edge of more flood plain and jungle.

gorgeous scenery upstream of Carver Landing

    I plow ahead, the weeds cane and other underbrush are treacherous but at least the ground is soft sand.  Very slow going as I’m constantly zigzagging around deadwood flood deposited debris.  Through the jungle I notice a tall bluff rising to the south, the flood plain between bluff and river is getting squeezed the farther upriver I get, and soon I’m on another short thin gravel bar.

welcome to the jungle

    This is the downstream end of Blue Hole where Kat and I went swimming once over five years ago (see: 57 Blue Hole) and another beautiful scenic Buffalo River location making the torturous trek getting here seem all worthwhile.  Where the river exits the swimming hole, it’s a fast narrow chute about two feet deep and over 100 feet long.  The bluff backing Blue Hole isn’t right down to river’s edge, but between bluff and river is quite steep and covered in more thick jungle.

below Blue Hole

    Although I’m not looking forward to it, I turn around and head back the way I came.  Back through the flood plain I seem to find a slightly better route (more open sandy stretches with less cane and weeds) and make good time back to the brush-hog path.  Once back in the field along the top edge I notice what might be a faint trail, I follow it south into the woods and slowly uphill.  Not very far the trail ends on an old road, I go east since just to the west the road is blocked by a fallen tree.

looking downstream from Blue Hole

    I’m getting closer to the highway and notice the sound of traffic, this old road stays pretty level circling around near the bottom of a hill up to a wide ridge.  I stick with the road, outside of the fields this is the easiest hiking I’ve encountered today.  Soon is an old homesite, first all I see is a pile or squared stone.  Realizing these rocks aren’t naturally this square, I look around and find more evidence of the homesite.

also downstream of Blue Hole

homesite hidden in the woods

    First a few rusty cans then more stone around what may have been a root cellar or maybe the house had a partial basement.  Then in front of that is a well-casing sticking up and surrounded by concrete block almost flush with the ground, from here it’s less than 100 yards to the cable gate and highway.  Back at the corner of Carver Cemetery, I head around the outside of the chain-link fence for a quick tour of the cemetery before heading home.

Carver Cemetery

    Well, I didn’t find much that could be considered for the ‘future BRT’ but I’ll keep looking, after all ‘You never know until you go’.  This hike consisted of two extremes, in the fields hiking couldn’t be easier but the flood plain jungles more than made up for easy parts.  The jungles made for quite the ‘adventure’, I did enjoy both spots on the beautiful Buffalo which made it a great ‘outdoor adventure’.  This was a quick hike of only 2.4 miles with just 181 feet of elevation gain.

parking across the road

Carver Boondoggle: Statistics Chart 205   The parking across the road from Carver Cemetery is easy to find, just 1200 feet or about 0.2 miles south of the SR 123 bridge over the Buffalo is NC 4500 with sign ‘Gene Rush WMA’ head east just 400 feet to Carver Cemetery and park on your right.