We meet a small group of hikers that had walked into the swamp a 

 day earlier from a point near Suffolk, Va. Guided only by the experi- 

 ence of swamper Judy Kernell, the hikers have dodged greenbrier, 

 soggy ground and vines as thick as soup cans. 



Kernell has been leading hikers through the Great Dismal for 18 

 years by permission and with a special use permit. She explains that 

 there are only a few trails marked through the swamp's rough terrain. 

 (Visitors to the refuge must stay on designated trails.) But she knows 

 them all, having blazed a few herself. She also knows the magnificent 

 flora of the region and carefully points out to her hikers the variety of 

 plant life that springs from the soggy soils. 



Notable among the swamp's hundreds of plant species is the dwarf 

 trillium, a rare plant found in its northwestern corner near Jericho 

 Ditch. It blooms for two weeks in March. 



Silky camellia, another 

 rarely seen plant, can be found 

 along the swamp's few hard- 

 wood ridges. And the log fern, 

 one of the rarest of American 

 ferns, is said by biologists to be 

 more common in the Great Dis- 

 mal Swamp than anywhere else 

 in the world. 



On a later trip into the 

 swamp, I would hike the rutted 

 road that parallels Washington 

 Ditch on the western side of the 

 swamp. It's an easy four-and- 

 a-half -mile trek into the heart 

 of the Dismal. It's the same 

 trail once used by George 

 Washington's mules as they 

 pulled logging barges out of 

 the swamp. 



The Washington Ditch trail ends at Lake Drummond. During the 

 late winter rainy season, hikers can see the area's amazing hydrology at 

 work. The swamp soaks up water like a sponge, and then the huge hand 

 of nature squeezes it out. 



The water, colored tea brown by the thick layer of surface organic 

 matter and tannic acid, slips gracefully, and sometimes forcefully, into 

 the drainage ditches. From there it flows into Lake Drummond and out 

 again into the Dismal Swamp Canal through the Feeder Ditch. 



The Fish and Wildlife Service has successfully restored some 

 of the swamp's natural hydrology by installing water control structures 

 in some of the ditches. A hike down the Washington Ditch is the best 

 way to see it work. 



Back at the campground, the hikers are still relying on Kernell to 

 blaze their early morning trail. By midmorning, they disappear into the 

 thick undergrowth on the south side of the campground. Another two 



Continued 



COASTWATCH 5 



