In The “Bridge to Nowhere” — the last post in my photoblog — readers were challenged to guess the location in Huntley Meadows Park where the following photograph was taken.
The following interactive map shows the exact location of the bridge as well as several associated waypoints. Click on the icon that looks like a stylized picture frame (located in the upper-right corner of the map) in order to “View larger map.” Zoom in on the map; click-and-drag to reposition the map. Click on the colored balloons for more information. The bridge is marked by a red balloon.
The following sign is posted near the bridge. The sign is brown and white although the colors look weird in the light of my camera flash, probably due to reflective paint used to make the sign.
Believe me when I tell you every word on the sign is true. The trail, such as it is, leads to the northern boundary of the park. In my opinion, there’s relatively little if anything to see that’s worth the effort required to walk this trail — you know, there’s a reason I nicknamed this bridge the “Bridge to Nowhere!” The following quote from my journal of field notes, dated 09 March 2016, further illustrates the point.
I was determined to thoroughly explore the part of HMP referred to as the “northern wetland” (NW) or “upper wetland.” I checked it out on 23 September 2015, albeit quickly rather than thoroughly. I decided to explore the “informal trail” beyond the “Bridge to Nowhere”/NW. I walked and walked until I had only the sketchiest idea of where I was. Eventually, I came to one of the park boundaries: there were houses along the property line; one house has chickens in the backyard! Anyway, I had no clear idea how to get back to the NW without retracing my steps so I decided to wing it. A long slog later — featuring lots of mud bogs and thorny vines — I made it to the side of the NW I didn’t explore last year. I renamed the location: Instead of Northern Marsh, I now refer to it as the “Northern Mush” because of the sucking mud that seems to be everywhere. I thought the location might be a good habitat for dragonflies and damselflies. Let’s just say I’m over it. Don’t waste your time — not much to see there! Source Credit: Walter Sanford, Photowalking Field Notes.
Associated Waypoints
The following photorealistic 32-bit HDR image of the “Northern Wetland” is a composite of three bracketed exposures, +/- two stops of exposure.
The last photo shows the view looking upstream (toward the “Northern Wetland”) along an unnamed creek that crosses the Hike-Bike Trail at Huntley Meadows Park. For more information about the stream, click on the waypoint marker in the interactive Google Map (shown above). See also Snowy scenes along the Hike-Bike Trail, posted in the aftermath of the “Blizzard of 2016.”
Tech Tips: I used Google Maps to create the custom map that is embedded in this post. The following resources were helpful in figuring out how to customize- and share the map.
Copyright © 2016 Walter Sanford. All rights reserved.
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