
DATE: Friday, July 4, 1997                  TAG: 9707020270

SECTION: VIRGINIA BEACH BEACON   PAGE: 06   EDITION: FINAL 

TYPE: COVER STORY 

SOURCE: BY MARY REID BARROW, STAFF WRITER 

                                            LENGTH:  139 lines

TAKE A HOLIDAY HIKE BOOK HELPS WALKERS SIDESTEP BOREDOM BY CUTTING A PATH THROUGH HISTORY, HERITAGE.

THIS HOLIDAY weekend celebrate America by taking a grand old-fashioned walk under her beautiful spacious skies.

Stroll by the shining sea in Virginia Beach.

Drive out into the country across the fruited plain and find a quiet trail in Suffolk.

View the natural wonders of the U.S.A. through the eyes of birds, squirrels, dolphins, turtles, and other critters that cross your path at Northwest River Park in Chesapeake.

Restore your soul in the beauty of the Norfolk Botanical Gardens.

Then come home for the hoopla and the fireworks.

One special way to see a slice of America's unique natural attractions this holiday is to take a walk at False Cape State Park, a barrier spit bordered by the Atlantic Ocean on one side and Back Bay on the other. In the southernmost part of Virginia Beach, this state park is virtually undisturbed, so much so that visitors must use pit toilets and carry in their own drinking water.

In the past the only way to reach False Cape has been to hike through the five miles of Back Bay National Wildlife Refuge (a grand walk itself), or to boat across Back Bay. But now the refuge and the state park have made it easier for folks to reach the isolated area with an electric tram.

The tram leaves at 9 a.m. and 3:30 p.m. daily from Little Island Park in Sandbridge and returns in about two hours. The cost is $6 per person and $5 for seniors and children. Children under 6 are free. The Little Island parking fee is $1 with a Virginia Beach city decal and $3 during the week and $4 on weekends and holidays for all others.

To make reservations for the tram, call 1-800-933-PARK.

One day recently, the 3:30 p.m. tram took a slow, dusty ride through the refuge, carrying a small group down to visit False Cape. A startled great blue heron lifted on giant wings out of a roadside ditch. Egrets poised motionlessly in the waters, waiting for a meal to swim by.

Water turtles sunned in marshes and manmade waterfowl impoundments. Several big females lumbered onto land seeking high, dry spots to lay their eggs.

The sun was hot and the katydids were singing. Less attractive insects, like deer flies, showed up, too, a reminder that bug repellent is an essential element of most walks.

But seeing no wildlife wouldn't have bothered Mary-Ann Miller, who rode in with her family. ``Even if we don't see a lot of things, it's nice R&R,'' Miller said.

Osprey were perched by their nests on the bay and tiny lizards scuttled off the trails, but the feral horses that roam False Cape didn't make an appearance that day. Neither did the family of otters that swim in one of the impoundments nor the red foxes that are so abundant this year.

Visitors gathered back at the tram by 6:15 p.m. for the 45-minute ride back to Little Island. On the return, they were treated to a rare sight when a big black feral pig dashed across the marsh and into a hammock of low growing trees.

Walks in Back Bay National Wildlife Refuge and False Cape State Park as well as walks in the Dismal Swamp and Northwest River Park are included in a new book, ``Footsteps, Unforgettable Walks in Southeastern Virginia,'' $12.95 in local bookstores. Authors Lou Belcher of Chesapeake and Donna Fischl of Virginia Beach have been celebrating America's heritage year-round with great walks, both in nature and in cities.

The Back Bay/False Cape area is but one of 27 locations in the book that offer ways to see Southeastern Virginia on foot - from the Eastern Shore to western Tidewater. Belcher and Fischl write about walks along pre-existing trails such as those in parks and refuges and they also created their own history walks for places like Norfolk's Freemason Street area or the little town of Gloucester.

You can think of the father of our country in the Great Dismal Swamp National Refuge in Suffolk. George Washington was one of the founders of the Dismal Swamp Land Company and you can walk along the cart path beside Washington Ditch.

There are other walks in places that you may not necessarily think of, such as the Norfolk Botanical Garden. Twelve miles of trails wind through the beautiful gardens and there's nothing like red, white and blue petunias or bright red firecracker salvias to put you in a celebratory mood.

In the book, each walk is accompanied by a description, directions, safety tips, historic background and a map. Points of interest nearby also are mentioned.

Fischl, a teacher who works with the visually impaired in the Norfolk schools and Belcher, a resource supervisor for the Southeastern Virginia Training Center, have walked together for years. They always are on the lookout for special places to walk, not only to exercise but to soak up the beauty of nature or the history and ambience of our cities.

``We really enjoy walking,'' Belcher said, ``and we like to see things and not walk the same circuit.''

Fischl and Belcher's book is an outgrowth of their hobby. They spent the past year and a half working on it. Fischl planned the walks, gathered information for the maps and took the photographs while Belcher did the history and nature research and the writing.

Then the pair formed a company, Footsteps Inc., and published 2,000 copies of their book this summer. They already have begun a second book on walks in northeastern Virginia and especially enjoy creating their own historic walks.

``We like the historic town walks, like Smithfield,'' Fischl said. ``They are good if you are worried about weather because if it gets threatening, you can eat and shop.''

If pressed, each has a favorite walk in this area. Belcher likes to walk around the top of Fort Monroe in Hampton. ``You get a beautiful view of the Bay,'' she said.

Fort Monroe was nicknamed Freedom Fort by runaway slaves who were given safe haven there by federal troops during the Civil War.

One of Fischl's favorites is the Fort Story walk. ``You walk on the beach,'' she said, ``and see the lighthouses jutting up.''

If you walk at Fort Story, think about the hardy folk who landed at Cape Henry and went on to establish the first permanent Eng-lish settlement in the New World and of their descendants, who went on to fly the grand old flag. ILLUSTRATION: Photo by TODD SPENCER

Maria Kania walks on the beach at False Cape State Park, which

visitors can now reach by eletric tram. Kania is a volunteer tram

driver.

A setting sun creates a shadow image of the new tram that transports

visitors from Little Island Park in Sandbridge through Back Bay

National Wildlife Refuge to False Cape State Park.

Staff photo by RICHARD L. DUNSTON

Lou Belcher, left, of Chesapeake and Donna Fischl of Virginia Beach,

authors of ``Footsteps, Unforgettable Walks in Southeastern

Virginia,'' hike a trail in Northwest River Park.

Graphics

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