Friday, June 13, 2008
Urban escape
The Lick Run Greenway has plenty to see, but does not get a great deal of attention.
On his hikes on the Lick Run Greenway, Rupert Cutler keeps detailed notes of all the birds he spots (top left), and has recorded 73 species so far. Loaded mulberry bushes and daylilies line the trail, which gets some cycling use, but not as much as the Roanoke River Greenway.
On his hikes on the Lick Run Greenway, Rupert Cutler keeps detailed notes of all the birds he spots (top left), and has recorded 73 species so far. Loaded mulberry bushes and daylilies line the trail, which gets some cycling use, but not as much as the Roanoke River Greenway.
A hen mallard (above) rests in Lick Run, a gurgling creek that also attracts great blue and green herons. Cattails (right) dot a small marsh along the trail not far from Valley View Mall. Parking options at various spots along the 3-\u200Amile-long route enable users to tailor their trips.
A hen mallard (above) rests in Lick Run, a gurgling creek that also attracts great blue and green herons. Cattails (right) dot a small marsh along the trail not far from Valley View Mall. Parking options at various spots along the 3-\u200Amile-long route enable users to tailor their trips.
On his hikes on the Lick Run Greenway, Rupert Cutler keeps detailed notes of all the birds he spots (top left), and has recorded 73 species so far. Loaded mulberry bushes and daylilies line the trail, which gets some cycling use, but not as much as the Roanoke River Greenway.
Mark Taylor is outdoors editor at The Roanoke Times.
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The Wild Life blog
Rupert Cutler was skirting the edge of the woods near Lincoln Terrace Elementary School on a recent morning with binoculars in hand when he heard a strange crackling noise in the distance.
It turned out to be a police officer's bullhorn.
"He said, 'Hey you. Yeah, you. Come here,'" Cutler recounted.
Cutler turned and made the 100-yard walk across the field to the parking lot at Lincoln Terrace Elementary School.
The officer asked what he was doing.
"I told him I was bird-watching," Cutler said. "He said he didn't know what that was."
Cutler, a former Roanoke city councilman, sent an e-mail to his friend, city police chief Joe Gaskins.
"Sorry for the inconvenience," replied Gaskins. "But most of the people we run into in the city with binoculars are watching things that are at the very least questionable."
Cutler is doing his best to spread the word that binoculars can be put to wholesome use within the city, particularly on the Lick Run Greenway, an urban getaway that is surprisingly wild -- and also under-appreciated.
"Not as many people realize it's there," compared to the popular Roanoke River Greenway, said Liz Belcher of Roanoke Valley Greenways.
Saturday morning, Cutler -- who lives in downtown Roanoke was at the trailhead at 8:30 a.m. to lead a beginner hike organized through the Roanoke Appalachian Trail Club.
But other than an observer, the hike drew just one taker, school teacher Sally Sizer of Troutville.
Maybe it was the steamy weather that tempered interest. Or maybe it was just a general lack of enthusiasm.
How scenic could a trail that runs through the heart of the city be?
Pretty scenic, it turns out.
The trail starts at Wells Avenue, just across the street from the Hotel Roanoke and Conference Center.
The first section is an ideal connector to the Civic Center. Concert-goers could start their evenings downtown, then trek up the trail the half-mile to the Civic Center.
The trail features additional lighting in that section for just such occasions.
Starting out, Cutler listened intently for bird songs and scanned surrounding trees.
"There are some bank swallows," he said pointing at birds on a wire.
Cutler records every species he sees in a notebook. He's recorded a total of 73 species, sometimes more than 30 in a day and many not typical city dwellers.
"I've seen barred owls along the freeway, and Cooper's hawks," he said.
The key is the variety of habitat.
"It goes through woods, it goes through fields, it goes through a marsh," Cutler said.
Sizer stopped.
"This goes through a marsh?" she wondered.
Eventually. First, it runs parallel to Interstate 581, sweeping behind the Holiday Inn Express at the corner of Orange Avenue and Gainsboro Road.
Hikers must cross Orange Avenue (at a stoplight, with a crosswalk) before getting back on the paved trail as it runs up into Washington Park.
Lick Run itself disappears at the park, routed underground through a culvert.
Upstream from the culvert, the sound of the gurgling creek is louder than the hum of traffic on the freeway.
Before crossing 10th street, the path leads through Brown-Robertson Park, a relatively new city park named in the memory of two women who died when Lick Run overwhelmed its banks in the 1985 flood.
When the greenway was being planned, Belcher said, some residents of the Washington Park neighborhood voiced concerns that the path could provide an avenue for illicit activities. The opposite argument was that a recreational trail would be a deterrent.
On this morning, the only other people on the trail are a few walkers and a few cyclists: certainly no one who appears suspicious.
The small marsh is a bit farther up the trail. In it, Cutler has seen a variety of marsh-inhabiting birds, including red-winged blackbirds.
After a passing an open field -- a hot spot for indigo buntings -- the path heads toward 581, crossing the freeway and ending at the parking lot at Target.
Local greenway planners are considering expanding the route -- a public meeting discussing the matter will be held at 7 p.m. Thursday at William Fleming High School.
For now, the distance is 3 miles, but parking options along the way allow for shorter treks. Cutler turned around short of the freeway for a total trip of about 5 miles.
At the end, he wore a satisfied smile.
Sizer smiled, too.
"I had no idea this was here and this is where I go to church," she said at the trailhead, pointing to the nearby steeples of St. Andrews Catholic Church. "This is great.
"Roanoke's secret."
Cutler would be happy if the secret gets out.
