25: No Point B

Third Haven Woods, Easton, Md

E A S T O N,  M D

Immediately after stepping into the woods, I couldn’t be more pleased.  My brother Skip’s thoughtful slow pace is a great sign; it matches my own which is ideal for this first of eighteen properties I’ll be visiting over the next three weeks.  We’ve entered Third Haven Woods, a 500 acre tract protected since 1977 by The Nature Conservancy along the edge of a thin country road on Maryland’s eastern shore.  It’s a remnant of the forest that once covered the Delmarva Peninsula.  The towering oaks, maples, pines, and tulips – some four feet in diameter - provide the canopy under which we wander.  Many flora and fauna flourish under this protective canopy including skinks, mud minnows, blueberry bushes, dogwoods, migratory birds, and the Delmarva fox squirrel, a recovering, once-pervasive species that has been federally protected since 1973.

What’s best about this place is what it lacks.  There are no signs or parking areas or welcome centers.  You need to have done your research before making the trip. Knowing where to pull off the road and enter the woods is your first challenge; finding your way back out is your last.  In between though, it’s a meandering delight, chock-full of stimulating brain space. 

We are following a thin, tannin-stained creek deeper and deeper into the forest.  Around each bend, the depths of solitude bloom.  We pass through a pine thicket where crunching leaves under our feet are replaced by a quieter bed of needles that have accumulated over decades.  In the quiet softness we stand peacefully and simply watch the tall trees sway in the breeze.  Skip points his camera skyward to begin filming the pleasing sway.  I like that my oldest brother has the same quiet mindfulness as I in such a beautiful place. 

Our visit is ideally timed.  Late March brings only the slightest hints of spring; its minimal undergrowth allows freer movement adding emphasis to each of the towering trees we weave through.  There are no signs of attacking insects at this time of year, which surely begin wreaking havoc in a few more weeks.  And we’re a few hours ahead of a fast moving weather front.  By evening, these woods will be drenched.  We left very early this morning to get here and our diligence has paid off.  Third Haven Woods has presented itself nicely, and I’m quite thankful for that. 

We follow the creek until it ends; it simply fans out capillary-like into a marshy area right in the middle of the forest.  Here we linger, not wanting to lose our way.  The creek is our bread crumbs; our return route out of these woods.  With no trails or signs on this property, the creek has been our friend - a natural route through a pleasant wood. 

“There is a pleasure in the pathless woods… From these our interviews, in which I mingle with the universe and feel what I can never express.”

- Lord Byron

Our slow weave back out reveals the backside of the sights we encountered weaving in, including another soft, sound-dampened walk through the pine thicket.  This other-side-view adds dimension to the memories we’ll take from this simple and beautiful forest beside a thin country road during an ideally timed visit. 

Ironically, after spending months putting together an itinerary where nearly every hour of every day over the next three weeks will follow a path, the first preserve I visit has no path at all.  Points A and B are not connected in the Third Haven Woods, and that’s precisely what makes a visit here so charming.  And having a traveling partner for this opening act who walks at such a thoughtful pace has set this three week adventure off on the right foot. 

Nature Conservancy Link:                  Click her for more detail