39: Unlocking the Gate

Shaken Creek Preserve, Maple Hill, North Carolina

 

M A P L E  H I L L,  N C

The sun has not yet risen during a time of year when it rises pretty early.  My brother Skip, my son-in-law Justin and his cool dog Rylie are on a high bridge crossing the Intracoastal Waterway on our way to open a locked gate twenty two miles away.  I’m worried that we won’t find the access road, and that the key won’t work, and that we might get ambushed Deliverance-style.  Usually, I’m a solo visitor to places like where we’re headed and don’t worry as much about such complications.  But today I’m the leader responsible for my car-mates’ experiences. 

I’ve arranged for this visit to see yet another of the world’s great places, but also hoping to wow my brother and son-in-law with the connectivity I have to The Nature Conservancy, the owner and manager of the property we’re about to see. 

The 6,000 acre Shaken Creek Preserve in the center of North Carolina’s Coastal Plain is the only known site in the state that provides habitat for four federally endangered species: red-cockaded woodpecker, Cooley’s meadowrue, golden sedge and rough-leaf loosestrife.  The plain’s most famous rare resident though is the Venus flytrap, which is only found within a 60 mile radius of Wilmington.  Charles Darwin described it as “one of the most wonderful plants in the world”.  Because of the flytraps and other rare plants, TNC has opted to block public access.  However, with a little charm and several years of committed volunteering, you too can be granted the magic key. 

After having found the access road and making it successfully to the gate, that key, in fact, does work its magic.  We swing the gate open and then re-lock it behind us to keep Deliverance out.  After a few more miles of dirt road, we find a clear pullover near a place known as the Showplace Savanna.  It’s an area in the longleaf pine forest ideal for low-risk prescribed burns - an overgrown farm road on one side and swamplands on the other.  Prescribed burns are essential for the establishment and maintenance of longleaf pine ecosystems, a habitat that evolved with regular, natural fires. Fire is as necessary to a healthy longleaf pine ecosystem as rain is to the rainforest.

We wander amid the waist-high grass in the Showplace admiring the diversity of plants in the understory.  We’re all heads-down fanning out looking for flytraps and pitcher plants.   High above us, the canopies of towering pines keep watch and sway in the gentle breeze.  Our early start and the golden morning sunlight make this a pleasant walk, but mid-summer’s heat is quickly moving in. 

We walk squishingly along the edge of the swamp and watch Rylie become joyfully covered in mud.  Knobby Cypress knees poke through the tannin-stained murk aerating a dense grove the massive trees.  The swamp is choked thick with ominous hues – brown water, gray bark, black shadows – lightened only by touches of dark green moss stripes.  Very inhospitable to foot travel. 

In the far distance, we hear gunshots.  To assuage concern, I remind my traveling partners that the Holly Shelter gun range is not far away… at least that’s what I’m hoping to be its source. 

On our way out, the road crosses a rudimentary railroad-tie bridge over a trickling creek.  We stop; I’m drawn to the color reflections in the water.  My companions are curious as I hop out and capture some photos of the abstractions.  It’s showing them one more aspect of the wide variety of experiences to be had when out visiting incredible TNC properties. 

As we pass back through the locked gate again and head on, I can sense Skip and Justin (and Rylie) really enjoyed their tour.  It felt really good today unlocking that gate and letting them into my TNC world. 

LEARN MORE ABOUT SHAKEN CREEK HERE.