MD - Pocomoke River - 2001/06/14

By Hank McComas

Nassawongo Creek reflections

Leaving from Shad landing I retraced a portion of yesterday's route until a tributary of the Pocomoke river, the Nassawango flows at rights angles into it. Heading off to the North West I proceeded up the many twists and turns of the Cypress lined banks. The water here is almost black in color. I steamy mist rose over the still water imparting a creepy movie like atmosphere. The water lilies are quite thick in the river and chokes the waterway to less than a boat length in a few places. The Nassawongo narrows to a small twisting creek through the heavily wooded area until further progress is no longer possible. Some of the Cypress are quite large and there are area of this waterway that have not been logged. The Nature Conservancy protects a portion of the Nassawongo creek river bank. This is a good place to get out and stretch. Please respect the efforts of this conservation group and leave no trace if you stop here. I cleaned up some dropping of a less than thoughtful predecessor.

Nassawongo Creek cypress

The return trip was uneventful. Arriving back at Shad Landing with much time left over I explored and small creek to the immediate south of the State park. This narrow creek passes under the road way and flows through thick mattes of water lilies with cypress stumps protruding everywhere. Many had snakes sunning themselves. There were over 100 wood duck houses built and placed in this creek. I saw no evidence that any of them were successful in attracting any ducks. Many were in bad shape and had obviously been vandalized. This side trip added a couple miles to the formally measure trip mapped below.

The next day.....