Lions and Tigers and Bears, Oh My

One section of the ICW we were looking forward to and yet were a little apprehensive was the Great Dismal Swamp.  The swamp was so named "Dismal" by Colonel Byrd (who headed a surveying team to run a state line between North Carolina and Virginia) after being attacked by yellow flies, chiggers and ticks.  The 22 mile Dismal Swamp Canal was hand-dug to connect the Pasquotank River in North Carolina to the Elizabeth River in Virginia to make it easier to travel and allow trade between the two states.  The canal was completed in 1805.

One of the challenges for boaters in this narrow canal is what they call "dead heads".  This term refers to sunken logs.  Boaters are warned not to follow other boaters too closely for they may stir up dead heads which sit on the bottom.  There are also logs that haven't reached dead head status because they haven't become waterlogged enough to sink to the bottom so they lurk just beneath the surface just waiting to cause havoc on an unsuspecting prop! 

This is getting up close and personal with a semi-submerged log.  Hitting this could be the start of a very bad an expensive day.

 

We were quite surprised when we reached the visitors center.  Both of us expected the center to be heavily forested and remote but were rather disappointed to see all kinds auto traffic into the visitor's center and a relatively busy highway beyond the center.  No lions, and tigers and bears, oh darn!

We now see where Colonel Byrd and his surveying team drew the state line.  Hello Virginny!

                                   

And another way to say hello?

Another area where houses, cars and roads could be seen.  We were told a lightning strike in 2011 sparked a fire which scorched large parts of the canal.  Over time, nature will heal itself.