MD Pocomoke State Forest, Algonquin Cross County Trail

We checked off Worcester County for our 2019 Trail Challenge! My sister and I hiked the length of the  Algonquin Cross County Trail 12 miles through Pocomoke State Forest, a large working forest on Maryland's Lower Eastern Shore. The landscape was a mix of hardwood/pine natural woodland, remnant swamp, and pine plantations. Though mostly flat, the trail did cross gently over ancient dunes which was cool. More on that later...

The entire trail is well blazed, including the detour area in the working forest.

We spotted our cars at both ends of the trail and started at the Foster Tract off Route 12 a few miles north of the quaint shore town of Snow Hill. Our first two miles were adorned with warbler song, particularly Worm-Eating Warblers.  A recognized IBA (Important Bird Area), the Audubon Society suggested that the largest breeding population of Worm-Eating Warblers in Maryland may exist here. We heard at least two singing males close by and many in the distance. 

We started here and walked south 12 miles to Nassawango Road where we left another car.  1

It was just cold enough that very few bugs were flying with exception of some black midges but they weren't biting. Our one (dead) reptile was a large black rat snake lying twisted in the sand path, it's flanks pierced by talons. It was very heavy to move via hiking pole, so I am assuming that whatever caught it had had a great fight with it and that it was too heavy to carry off.  We heard many frog species calling from the swamps including the spring peeper and a very loud cricket frog serenade. 

Mixed hardwood/pine young forest.

One of our best finds was right below our feet in the path! We were walking at just right to witness aggregations of ground-nesting native bees Colletes emerging. As the sun began to shine they flew in and out of their sand nests or peeked shyly from their entrances.  These shy, furry-faced females would slowly come to the tunnel entrances and see us, then quickly back down out of sight. When we backed away they would come again to the entrance and take off. They are handsome bees and gather the pollen of early blossoms like willow and orchard trees. The old dunes made for excellent sandy nesting sites and the bees were just everywhere! They don't sting and they tolerated our passing through with patience and curiosity. Yay, Colletes!

A cautious Colletes bee peeks out of her sand nest before flying off for more pollen. 

Here's a nifty video show that shows what it was like on our hike (not out video though!)  It's so important to maintain sandy spots in your yard or woods for these early spring native bees. They won't sting and there's no need for removal. They are excellent pollinators of early spring flowering shrubs and trees and anyone who grows food will thank you. 

The trail crosses the Nassawango and Pocomoke flood plains. The low flat ground collects rainwater that sits in pools full of pine needle and tree leaves which acidifies the water. Acid water reacts with oxygen to precipitate bog iron in the sandy soil. Bog iron was an important natural resource mined in the 18th and 19th centuries on the Lower Shore. We crossed the road to the beautifully restored 19th century Nassawango Iron Furnace, which processed the bog iron into pig iron which was then shipped to blacksmiths and other refiners to make finished products.

A recent control burn rids the forest floor of greenbrier and allows grasses to return.

According to John Means, Roadside Geology of Maryland, Delaware and Washington D.C (2010), the furnace produced up to 20 tons of pig iron per week. The whole furnace is built upon big rot-proof bald cypress posts which have never showed signs of decay though they are over 150 years old and the entire furnace weighs many, many tons. Read more here: http://www.furnacetown.org/iron-furnace-1 Though we didn't get a chance to explore the furnace area (we've both been several times) it's not far down the forest road from the intersection on the trail.

A relic of the Great Swamp, this forest wetlands features a thicket of American Holly. 

For much of the walk it seemed American Holly Ilex opaca was the predominate understory tree except for in plantation woods where understory is controlled to prevent competition with timber trees slated for harvest. The holly is a very slow growing tree and some of the trees we observed were pretty big so they must have been quite old. The berries of the holly are not good for us (they are toxic!) but very important for birds. I have two hollies at home that robins clean off in a day or less come mid-winter so I know how much birds rely on this native tree.

Laura climbing an ancient dune from the Parsonburg Sand formation (30,500 - 16,000 years ago)

The Parsonburg Formation was in full view and provided our only experience of gaining any altitude. The All Trails profile map (in Notes below) clearly shows a succession of wind-blown sand dunes that were deposited on the barren Coastal Plain during the last glaciation period when it was too cold for things to grow here and the sea was farther out than it is now. Sands from the coast blew unimpeded far inland and mounded up in a succession of "waves" similar to the way creek bottom sands will gather in ripples.  Today the area is almost completely forested and the dunes while once mined for sand and/or disturbed by logging operations and farming long ago, aren't easy to miss if you are aware of the rises and dips as you walk.

Mucky areas made muckier by horses which share the trail.

Between old dunes, the trail followed old roads and was sometimes covered in deep puddles which we made our way around. The only bad trail conditions were found were where horses and hikers had to share the same path, although at some points the trail split into two for each user group. But where horses had recently been the much was deep and sucking. We bushwacked twice around really bad spots and learned to speak kindly to greenbrier so that we weren't trapped by angry thorns.

Loblolly is armored against fire with incredibly thick bark.

Our only detour brought us out to a public forest road until rejoining the trail a mile further on.

Greenbier is a problem for disturbed forest patches as it quickly overtakes an area to the exclusion of all else. One forest quadrant had been recently burned to get rid of the stuff and clean the floors of fuel. In its place grew a lovely understory savanna and I wondered if later in the season some native orchids might be found here?

Reindeer lichen and Sphagnum moss.

We reached the end of our hike at the Nassawango Road crossing with a short road walk to the signed parking area. We tallied up birds we heard and saw: red-shouldered hawk, black vulture, pileated woodpeckers, wood duck, turkey, mourning dove, turkey vulture, osprey, barred owl, phoebe, blue jay, fish crow, Carolina chickadee, titmouse, blue-gray gnatcatcher, Eastern bluebird, and those great worm-eating warblers. I can still hear their loud, dry twittering trill and can tell you exactly where we stood on the trail when we seemed to be surrounded by them. I think its important to learn birdsong if you are serious about learning who lives in your woods or meadow. Often we can't see the songster but he's telling you who he is!

From John V. Dennis The Great Cypress Swamps (1988),  ACCT area circled

Me and Laura at the Foster Tract Trailhead.

Notes:

All Trails Recording of our hike. We lingered in many places to listen to the warblers and explore, so our pace was pretty casual.

You can see several ancient dune crossings on the profile of our hike. 

Worm-eating warblers were abundant at the north end of the trail: Worm-Eating Warbler

Pocomoke-Nassawango IBA: https://www.audubon.org/important-bird-areas/pocomoke-nassawango

Geology: John Means. Roadside Geology of Maryland, Delaware and Washington D.C (2010)  This is my go-to book for Maryland Geology and I try to study up on the area I'll be hiking in so that I know what I'm looking at. Knowing local geology enriches every hike.