Visit to John Hummer's - LOT's of PICS

[elgecko]

I took off from work on Friday so I could drive down to VA to Prince William Forest Park where I got a back-country campsite.
I got to Prince William and signed in. You need to get a key to access the parking area for the back-country area.
Drove to the back-country area and walked in the drizzle to see the site I picked and know how long it was going to take from the parking area. After scouting out the area I headed back to the car, around a 20 minute walk, and wanted to do some caching before it got dark.
Did some caching, went and ate at a restaurant since the weather was still light rain / drizzle and I did not feel like cooking back at the site.
Decided to call it a day and headed to the back-country parking lot. Grabbed my backpack and set off in the dark to set up my camp. Finished setting it up just in time, as I settled in my tent it started to rain steady.

I was hoping the weather would break so John Hummer would have his Wetland Ecology Day tour at his bog on Saturday.
After being up for a short time Saturday morning I figured John was going to cancel since it was still drizzling. Called him up and sure enough he had canceled the event.
I did not mind the drizzle and John did not care if I came down to do some picture taking, so I headed for the hour drive down to John’s.
It was nice that half way to his place it stopped raining, but the temps never got above 45 degrees.

Here are some of the pics of camp and at John Hummer’s on the cold and overcast day.

“A” is the parking area and the green arrow is where my site was at. Location by my SPOT.

Nice wet tent on Saturday morning.

Getting a little cold at night.

“Boardwalk” around the bog.

---------- Post added at 08:35 PM ---------- Previous post was at 08:34 PM ----------

 

[elgecko]

Hope you enjoyed them.

 

[Ant]

Cool, but are those vfts and aldrovanda introduced? Makes it a little cooler to visit if they don't harm the ecosystem though.

 

[seedjar]

Wow! So this is all in-ground bog? Is it landscaped or wild? It certainly doesn't look like your typical backyard planting, but I think I see a few species that don't grow together naturally.
Thanks for sharing.
~Joe

 

[Baylorguy]

Yes, I think there are some species thrown in the mix that do not naturally occur there. I love the Sarracenia leucophylla that appears to be an all green and white variety (similar to Hurricane Creek White).

Beautiful pictures!

 

[F R e N c H 3 z]

Wow magnificent colors, great timing on your part. I'm sure once you reached the site the temperatures must have escaped your mind
Thanks for sharing those are really nice.

 

[back2eight]

Awesome! I would love to visit there - combine 2 of my favorite things: Caching and CPs!

 

[Capensis]

*System overload*

 

[cp-connection]

wowza! thanks for the pics

 

[nightsky]

Fantastic. Great sharp pics, great colors, and most of all great plants.

 

[Halt]

I thought aldro's were extinct in the wild. o.o

 

[GregNY]

some coloration on the leucophylla photo underneat the purperea pic. Awesome all around

 

[ellisonk001]

WOW; still cleaning the drool out of the keyboard.... Thanks for sharing!!

 

[marvin1997]

Wow great pic!Hope I can visit ther....Aldros?I have no idea they grow along with VEnus Flytraps

 

[Nickrober]

Nice pictures. Thanks for sharing!

 

[Ant]

I thought aldro's were extinct in the wild. o.o

They are just extremely rare in the wild, and they are only native to the East hemisphere, they are introduced to isolated ponds in the U.S. though. Or so I have read.

 

[elgecko]

Thanks for the comments. Glad you have enjoyed them.

John has a natural occurring bog on his property. He has introduced several non-native plants to his bog.

For a better view of the bog, check out this link:
http://www.terraforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=109449

 

[RL7836]

Sir gecko,
Great pics - as usual! What happened with the hammock?? It gets a little cold for you & you switch over to the tent?? (what a wimp!)

For anyone willing to make the drive down tomorrow (Sat - 10.24.09), he just sent an announcement that his little viewing / education event is 'on' again. John's place is an incredible treat for anyone interested in CPs & eastern native plants. He's using his personal pond/bog as a showcase for all kinds of plants. Other than maybe ABG, I doubt you'd find a greater variety of eastern North American cp's than at John's. Steve's pics only represent a fraction of what's actually present at the site ... truly a 'must see' place ...

 

[elgecko]

Sir gecko,
Great pics - as usual! What happened with the hammock?? It gets a little cold for you & you switch over to the tent?? (what a wimp!)

Trust me, I wanted to sleep in my comfortable hammock!
My sleeping bag would have kept me nice and warm. I took the one that I have slept on snow before and actually was hot.

This was the problem:

Rules and Regulations

1. Chopawamsic Backcountry has eight designated tent camp sites which are identified by a post marker and are accessible from the circuit trail. Please indicate which tent site you wish to use on the permit application.
2. Tents must be located within twenty feet of the post marker.
3. Maximum stay is seven consecutive days or 14 days in one calendar year.
4. Fires of any kind are strictly prohibited.
5. Trenching, leveling or digging is not permitted in any campsite. Bringing straw, hay, pine boughs or any vegetative materials to any campsite is prohibited. All cooking must be done on camp stoves.
6. Ropes, clotheslines, tent lines, hammocks and nails are not to be attached to trees or other vegetation.
7. Swimming and hunting are prohibited.
8. The following are prohibited in the backcountry: firearms, bow and arrows, weapons of any kind, fireworks and pets.
9. Camping is limited to groups consisting of four people or less per site in the Chopawamsic Backcountry area. Chopawamsic is not designed for groups. Group camping is available at Turkey Run Ridge Group Campground.



If I got caught with the hammock I was going to tell them I did not know that..... But they made me read and sign the rules before giving me my site... So it was a good thing that I took the tent, which I had along just in case.

 

[tommyr]

I just had a Sarrgasm!