Pasquotank County Highpoint Trip Report

Date: November 9, 2008
Author: Brian Bockhahn

Unless you consider crawling a necessary part of bush-whacking, don't even think about this one.

The fantastic Lidar data lists several high areas within the Dismal Swamp National Wildlife Refuge.

West of the Pasquotank-Gates county line on US 158, I parked on the road shoulder at Weyerhouser ditch. I biked north down an easy graded dirt road 2.5 miles to the bushwhack start point, thankfully my GPS was spot on with the numbers I'd recorded. It was sunny and getting warm but I was committed no matter what. I wore water shoes and neoprene socks but it was not too wet, a little soggy in some points. Gaiters, slick pants and jacket were a must.

I followed a near direct east bearing on my compass 0.5 mile to the high area. I flagged my way in just so that I could follow it out without taking any bearings and keeping my hands free. It really wouldn't matter either way as any route would be far from straight. The first little bit wasn't too bad following game trails but it got thicker and I had to work around or crawl through several thickets of catbriar and blow downs. Nearing the county line making only 0.2 mile in 30 minutes, things looked bad. I pushed on finding it easier to crawl through the bad spots. I brought my machete but there was no room to swing it in most areas. Nearing the high contour I could feel the land rise and then the forest changed near immediately to a beech/oak canopy with ZERO undergrowth and I could stand up straight and move my arms around! The contour was clearly delineated by the vegetation, surrounded completely by thicker dense bay trees and catbriar, I couldn't believe my eyes! The forest floor was covered with nothing but peak fall foliage under large beeches, prettier than any campground I've seen. The high area was so undisturbed I felt like Lewis & Clark, possibly the first human to set foot in this remote blip. The far east end was slightly higher and several blow-down areas appeared to be higher bumps and a few of the large pines sat on a nice hummock. It felt a lot like Craven county but vegetated. Going 0.5 mile in one hour shows the literal crawl pace, I was soaked with sweat and drank my entire quart water bottle and two power gels I use for running. Heading back still took an hour as I took my flags down and really could not find good routes around the nasty areas. This hike may not be possible during the growing season.

Returning to the ditch road, I continued north by bike to the next set of high areas. It was several miles up to the next junction where I turned right following county line ditch road to the south east. The high areas are adjacent to the ditch and road and were likely man made but it was a beautiful day and there was a lot of wildlife out so I pushed on like I usually do. They were obviously man made from ditch construction but I stepped on each nondescript bump in a line upon entering Pasquotank county.

Round trip was 3.5 hours; just wish I brought more water. I was ready for the worst so it did not seem that bad. It really was comparable to Washington, Brunswick, or Martin counties bushwhacks, which are rated as brutal but not impossible at all if you're used to it. It's amazing what you can get used to!