Super Singletary Sojourn

September 15th, 2006

Lake Singletary was a trip planned as a joint adventure with the Cape Fear Cyclist and the Brunswick County Pedalers. Thanks to the early reservations made January 1^st, we managed to book the Loblolly camp on the third weekend in September.

Several of the group met early afternoon on Friday in Wilmington, at the North Carolina Battleship. Then loading two different trucks with camp gear, we headed out on our bicycles for a 45 mile ride in a strong headwind. The first stop along the way was Moores Creek Battlefield http://www.nps.gov/mocr/. There we filled our water bottles and climbed back onto our pace line train, continuing our way down state bike route 5 to Lake Singletary State Park http://www.ils.unc.edu/parkproject/visit/sila/home.html. Unlike all other state parks, this one is closed to the general public and is exclusively used as a group camp under pre-arranged reservations. Two group sites exist and we had the smaller of the two, while a group called the Mclarren Family reunion (actually a Jehovah’s Witness outing) had the larger of the two, our accommodations still exceeded expectations; They were great. There were four cabins set to sleep 12 with a large locker for each bunk. Each cabin had both a heater and ventilation exhaust fan on a variable control that made a great way to mask the night noises, particularly the snarling snorts and snores that often come from tired bicyclists.   The Mess Hall was equipped with an ice machine, large freezer, fridge, pantry stove and hood as well as a sterilizer for the sink dishes. The dinning space had seating for 48 as well as a chalk board and podium. There were four much needed showers in both bath rooms, several sinks and a large fire pit just out back.  

After setting up camp, we settled in on a dinner with two different styles of baked chicken, baked squash, bread, lemon bars and brownies.  As night settled in, the mosquitoes were only to glad we had taken roost in a dense woods just off a 500 acre lake's spillway.  Given the challenge of swatting two at a time, we opted for the comforts of the mess hall for after dinner conversation.  Marsha broke out her guitar and managed several good ol' folk songs from the 70s.  With the better part of a long ride felt through the bones, it was an early retirement to the comforts of a sleeping bag.

The next morning began with a shower and a good breakfast.  John Absi managed to rig the percolator coffee pot with some paper towel drip alternative to make a pretty decent cup of coffee.  Actually I had several cups, since it was indeed pretty good.  About mid breakfast, the rest of our gang started showing up.  We opened the fourth cabin for the others and got everybody settled and ready for a wonderful ride across the Bladen Forests.   

The route out of camp was a four lake tour we called the Singletary Solitary, mainly because I rarely saw anyone else when I was out scoping and mapping the ride.  The exception was White Lake, where there is always a crowd in the summer months since the lake is nearly crystal clear. By contrast,  following labor day, the place closed up shop in a dramatic fashion.  We did manage to check out the beach front before heading on down the road.

The loop took us down to Bay Tree Lake, formerly known as Black Lake.  Actually Lake SIngletary was also once called Black Lake many years earlier (largely due to heavy suspended plant matter and tannic acid), but was later renamed after Mr Singletary operated a Juke Joint on the lake.  This could be confused with  the more recently renamed 1500 acre Black Lake that a developer has since called Bay Tree Lake.  He went to the multi-million dollar expense of draining the lake and remove neighboring plants to avoid their impact on water clarity.  Then refilling the large lake,it was nearly as clear as white lake.  He renamed the clearer lake as Bay Tree Lake and started aggressively developing its shores.  Then a dam failure caused a large influx in dark waters, to once again give the tannic look of yesteryear.  Although it was a million dollar wash-out, it still is nice development, as developments go.  Everyone has good water access, some nice parks and good swimming.

The ride down Highway 210 was peaceful.  The route to connect up with Bike Route 5 involved a couple of miles on the rougher stuff, but was then we met with some wonderful tail winds on smooth tarmac in the deep woods of Bladen State Forest.  The fourth lake on our tour was Jones Lake State Park.  It was being used for a family day celebration from local industries, complete with DJ dancing, food and other festival attractions.  With bellies starting to rumble, we all agreed to make route alterations to include a trip into Elizabethtown for a taste of the legendary Melvin's hamburger.  It was a small grill with almost standing room only.  The line to the back of the building was moving right along, and it wasn't  to long before we had our teeth into a delicious burger.  We all watched with amazement as they patted out burgers on the assembly line in about 2-3 seconds. 

Getting back into camp gave us about a 60 mile day, so I was looking forward to cooling off with a dip in the lake.  While others readied their Kayaks, I took advantage of a well made dock and beach.  The water was therapeutic and a perfect temperature for weary legs. After a dip,  I joined the kayakers at the spillway and we paddled on around the lake in our colorful collection of boats.   Having a fond recollection for how the water felt, I also opted to paddle over to the dock and jump back in.   After stroking back across the lake I was off to help my Panamanian friend Miguel Chen, cook up some Turkey Sausage for our evening spaghetti meal.   A short nap before dinner gave my batteries a little recharge for the evening activities.  Those activities included, horse shoes where we rotated team players while we passing around the bug dope.   I brought a volleyball too, but sensed everyone was beat from our ride so I didn't try striking up a game.  The camp did have a nice basketball court as well.

Nearing dusk, I commenced to shuttle wood over to the fire. James noticed an odd looking snake lurking just off the path I was using.  It had the front body of a black racer and the back end looked like it was light brown and speckled.  A discussion with Park Ranger Steve the next morning, pinned the snake as a fairly rare Eastern CoachWhip snake http://www.snakesandfrogs.com/scra/snakes/cwhip.htm.  We did manage to get a roaring bon fire going and we broke out the marsh mellows, chocolate and crackers to roast up some-mores.  Before long, Marsha had her guitar and was strumming out more classic folk tunes from the early 70s while sitting around the fire.   I tried picking a bit too, but found my fingers horribly befuddled by the feel of steel.  To use to nylon strings I guess. 

I substituted stuffed cotton pants for the horribly squishy and impossible to shape, hollow bean pillow that I had tried the night before.  This pillow alternative offered me a good sound sleep.  After a morning shower and a good breakfast I began the process of getting packed for the trip home.   Ed Mckinnon offered to drop my gear off in Southport, since his Nissan truck worked great for hauling two kayaks.  

The group headed out for a Ranger guided canoe trip around the lake.  There we learned the four theories for the formation of the Carolina Bay lakes (oval w/ sand in the SE, all with same features and shape ): a Meteor shower,  limestone sink hole action, a prehistoric spawning ground of mega fish, and deep cavern upwelling water erosion.  The State Park had some nice boats and paddles that made for an enjoyable trip under Carolina blue sky and mild temperatures.  Across the lake we even caught a glimpse of a Bald Eagle taking flight.

Having checked out of camp we hopped on our bikes and made our way down the White Lake Marathon bike route.  After nearly 15 miles our group split up, with those who were pedaling home and some returning to their cars back at the Park.  Being Sunday morning, our first grocery rest stop was closed, so we pedaled almost to Moores Creek battlefield before we found a gas a grocery open for business.  Pedaling down Blueberry road and on to 421 we had a full tailwind.  Taking advantage of the tail wind, and thinking it would be nice to see our Panthers play ball, I bent our speeds up to almost 24 miles an hour.  We had nearly made it to the Battleship when the debris of 421 finally caused David to flat.  Working like a Nascar pit crew, we had him rolling in no time.  

Our group consensus was that we should indeed try booking this destination again.  I believe that word-of-mouth could make this annual Singletary sojourn a super well attended bicycling event.