Incredible Boardwalk Transports You Above Potomac River Tidal Basin Neabsco Creek Boardwalk

June 9, 2019

#314

Gentle reader,

We attended the grand opening of a unique and beautiful creation our County had built. It's called Neabsco Creek Boardwalk. Here is a link to the county web page which has overhead views:  Neabsco Creek Boardwalk

This is one of over a hundred shots I made the day we went. There was a huge turnout. Below is a wider shot, both made from an observation tower they built which gives a wonderful view of the facility.

According to the Park employees on hand on opening day, the 3/4 mile long meandering boardwalk was built without any person or equipment physically standing in or touching the wetlands. The first ten feet were built on land and a huge and complicated machine rolled onto it that: drilled holes and pounded piles (posts) into the ground precisely located. All supporting structures are built by the machine then walkway boards laid. The handrails are added and their tops all slope so that rain runs off rather than settling and eventually rotting them. Everything is sturdy and so well made.

NOTE: If you are viewing this on a computer, clicking on any picture will open a second window over this one. You can click through or use your right and left arrow keys to look at the photos. They will be larger than seen here. If you are viewing it on a device such as a phone or tablet, I do not know if that works the same way. 

Here are specifics from the official site:

"ABOUT THE NEABSCO CREEK BOARDWALK

The ¾-mile boardwalk traverses Neabsco Creek, allowing hikers access to wetlands where the tall grasses and marsh filter pollution from the river and provide a rich habitat for great blue herons, wood ducks, mallards, sparrow and red-winged blackbirds, just to name a few of the winged wildlife known to populate the area.
The walkway is part of the Potomac Heritage National Scenic Trail, which was established by Congress in 1983 designating an 800-mile trail network stretching from the Allegheny Mountains in Pennsylvania to the Potomac River, winding through Pennsylvania, Maryland, Washington, D.C. and Virginia.
The project is designed to showcase Woodbridge's most valuable natural asset -- the Potomac waterfront – while linking historic landmarks such as Rippon Lodge and Leesylvania Park. The boardwalk will be ADA compliant and will encompass educational sites that highlight information on native wildlife and plants.

ABOUT THE POTOMAC HERITAGE NATIONAL SCENIC TRAIL

The Potomac Heritage National Scenic Trail (PHNST) is an 800 mile network of locally managed trails along the Potomac River from the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay to the upper Ohio River basin in Pennsylvania.  The trail system was designated by Congress in 1983 with the goal of linking trail users to the history, culture and natural beauty of the Potomac River.  Within Prince William County, the trail is planned to link several parks, communities and other destinations including the historic towns of Occoquan and Dumfries, Occoquan Bay and Featherstone National Wildlife Refuges, Julie Metz Wetlands, Leesylvania State Park, Prince William Forest Park and the National Museum of the Marine Corps." "

Power, which we are completely dependent upon in this digital age, marches on.

Because of the large number of curious walkers, we had to park quite a ways down the road at a local church which had prepared for just such a situation. They have a tent setup in the front of their parking lot offering free cookies and bottled water. While there were several packets of the former there, only two bottles were left. We partook of each and were very glad we did. The County had paved a nice wide and smooth walkway adjacent to the road to further allow and encourage residents to get out and stretch their legs.

Our first glimpse of the wetlands appeared behind these 

These reeds appear to be cattails. We saw ones later on with newly forming "tails", which frankly look more like corn-dogs to me.

The image above shows the first sighting of the boardwalk. Is it just me, or are you too bothered wen concrete walkways behind beaches are called "boardwalks"?

These large leaved water plants were the first we had seen. We made the mistake of plating water Hyacinths in our pond. In no time they had multiplied and would have taken over completely had we not intervened. 

We did not know their name, or that they were in the process of blooming. A unique way we had never seen before.

Being tidal wetlands, the water level rises and falls with the tide, even though we are quite a ways from the Chesapeake Bay.

Another feature the designers and builders added was elevation change of the walkway.

Such beauty and the weather cooperated, being in the low-80's.

One could benefit from carrying a flora guide book to identify the great number of naturally occurring plants in the park.

These two images show the boardwalk that veers to the left once one has committed to perambulate upon the countless boards.

A closer look at the far end.

When we approached the "T" intersection, Nancy asked, "Which way should we go?" "We could ask the Scarecrow," I replied. The gal (above) in the wheelchair laughed. She got my reference.
The woman speaking with them, I also spoke with. She had an impressive lens on her Canon mirrorless digital camera. 

Speaking of gals, this is my lovely Nancy. The love of my life, soulmate and very best friend. We've been married now for 23 years and every minute I spend with her are the best.

There are many channels which run near the boardwalk. The depth (at low tide) was a few inches in places. 

There were many, many varieties of plants and trees living and thriving in the wetlands. The blossoms on these bushes are tiny singly, but they grow in great clusters.

One cannot see them, but there are wee fishes within that water.

We found these tiny sisters adorable with their hats and holding hands.

The first birds we saw crossing the first bridge were Swallows soaring around. Such acrobatic birds and eat lots of mosquitoes! Anything that eats those are friends of ours. Quite colorful, so I'm thinking it's a male.

You can clearly see the robust construction employed, these will be here for many decades.

Redwing Blackbirds were another species that are prevalent there. It seems to be sitting on air, but it clutches something green.

I carried two cameras with me, one with the (35mm equivalent) of 28mm to 84mm and the other with 90mm to 300mm. The latter made these two images of the railroad bridge and marina.

Until I shot this, I wasn't sure what the brown thing in the distance was, it's a blind, hopefully for bird watching and not shooting.

This Redwing Blackbird cooperated for me by staying in place.

Above and below are some images of the blossoms I mentioned in the beginning. There are several stages to their growth and we saw most of them that day.

The ball at right is one of the stages. The yellow one is just beginning to open.

There are two shots of this particular one. If you have the ability to make the image larger, do so, you see a surprise.

There are at least two varieties of Dragonfly we saw, this little fellow was very patient for me.

Once the ball (seen in the first image of these blossoms, above) opens, this green ridged casing appears.

Here is where the blossoms usually are just above the waterline.

Second image of the same blossom. Now the spider, still checking me out, is more visible. But the bees are more hidden. Just how did the spider get there? Is it now trapped? At least it has plenty of food as long as the bees are pollinating the blossoms. I am truly curious what the final form of them is.

As seen from the lower platform at the end of the boardwalk are these hundreds of frogs eggs.

On the upper portion these two struck up a conversation. Something I tend to do. A lot.
There is a winding ramp and a fold-up aluminum set of stairs from the upper platform to the lower. The stairs are hinged so that they can be lifted and secured in the evenings.
There are lockable gates at both ends of the boardwalk entrances. But even my 62-year-old eyes could see that the barrier fences outside the railings would not be a deterrent to adventurous and possibly amorous youths determined to use the facilities after dark. 
There is a narrow wooden path just above the water between the trees which leads to/from (?) to the lower platform. 
People were coming and going via it, so I assume it leads to a neighborhood.  

The wandering boardwalk in the distance. 

Another cooperative dragonfly.

Although I have written a LOT of articles about cameras, rarely do I show the reader what I was using to make the images.

I have a several-years-old Nikon D200 DSLR camera with a passel of lenses for it. However, it is big and heavy, so I rarely bring it anywhere. 

I became interested in Panasonic Lumix cameras years ago because so many of then come with Leica lenses. Ironically, Leica would sell almost the exact same camera, but with their ubiquitous RED DOT on the body for nearly twice the price of the Panasonic version of it. Paying for the name......
 
My carry-all-the-time camera is seen in a Panasonic created image I borrowed from the Internet, since I do not have a shot of mine all by itself. It is their DMC-ZS15.

Image by Digital Photography Review.

The camera on the left is a DMC-LX5 which has a very fast and fine Leica Vario-Summicron lens on it. It's bigger brother, a mirror-less-interchangeable lens camera is the one that had the longer lens on it that day. BOTH are sporting their optional (and expensive, even used) eye-level viewfinders. The very reason I purchased both. Composing a shot in sunlight with a large screen is frustrating if one is seeing their face reflected on the screen.

DMC-GX1 is on the left, and a DMC-G1, the very FIRST Micro-Four-Thirds digital camera, is on the right. Both are still wearing the lenses that I mentioned above. The GX1 is newer, but still several years old, and packs more megapixels.
In the middle is the lens I completely forgot that I had in my pocket. An Olympus (35mm equivalent) 9mm full-frame (as opposed to circular) fisheye lens. It might have made some dramatic images.

But that is OK, because we will be going back, many times. One cool thing about this place is this: Very few mosquitoes survive in the tidal wetlands. Fish eat the eggs and larvae. Swallows and Bats eat the ones that fly. We never saw nor felt a mosquito the whole time we were there! 

Thank you SO much for reading my humble words and viewing my images. Your kind words and comments truly encourage me to keep putting out articles.

I encourage YOU to do some digital exploring of places OUTSIDE near you. Getting out into nature is a sure way to improve your mood, mind and body. 

Scott
June 9, 2019
#314 Not pi.