On Saturday Elliott and I were out the door early to help out at Lake Frederick, a few miles north of us. When we had got our real tree at Christmas, we hadn't wanted to simply throw it in the trash afterwards, it seemed so wasteful and pointless at having chopped a tree down simply for decoration. There are a few local farms that collect them for their livestock to feed on, but they had enough, and by chance I discovered that Lake Frederick were collecting them to place strategically around the lake, creating safe havens underwater for fishes and other aquatic life to lay eggs or shelter in. Elliott had taken our tree up there in January, adding to a growing pile, and this weekend it was time to prepare them for their underwater life. Gregory, who owns the bait shop, had asked for volunteers and had guessed the task would take over a couple of hours.
We parked up and walked over to the small group that had assembled, and within 5 minutes we were working. One guy, with a chainsaw, chopped off the lower branches while the rest of us picked up the cinder blocks and laid them out on the gravel, holes facing up. Another couple began mixing cement, and then the rest of us dragged or carried the trees to the cinder blocks, sticking one tree in each block.
Cement was pushed into the holes to secure the trees. If a tree was tiny, we'd put 2 of them in the cinder block. We all worked well as a team, moving around like busy bees around a hive. The only time we stood still was while we waited for more trees to haul, the chainsaw being so noisy that it was impossible for any conversation. We just smiled at new faces as a couple more folk appeared and carried on bustling about.
All the small branches that had been hacked off the bottoms of the trees were gathered up and thrown into the lake, where they would eventually sink. I was a bit concerned about this, worrying about the acidity that would be added to the water. I had a chat with Gregory who informed me the water was naturally acidic, meaning that catfish and northern pike don't breed in here, but are added every year. He also told me the record in Virginia for a catfish weight was 31lbs, but that someone here had caught a 32lb fish but not recorded it, and had put it back. Gregory made me smile as even though he owns a bait shop, he doesn't like killing the fish, and will always put back whatever he catches.
We all worked together efficently, and I noticed one guy was taking photos, which I later saw he'd posted on Facebook, so I managed to download a couple of me in action. We had everything done after an hour so I chatted to Gregory and asked more questions. Apparently this job has been done for over 20 years, making me exclaim that there must be a lot of cinder blocks in the lake. He laughed and said that in the fall when on some days the water is crystal clear, on the left side of the lake in the cove, there are 2 cars on the lake bed which can be seen if you're over the top of them, an '88 Oldsmobile and a VW. We must come back to see that. There's also an arch structure in one of the deep areas, made of tires. I also asked about snake fish. He said there were once 6 of them but he thinks that there's only 1 now. When they had babies, he went out with a large net, lined with a sheet, and pulled out thousands of them. The regular fishermen love catching those as they taste wonderful, something I've yet to try.
We stood chatting and watching Jake the dog fetch sticks, which he was really good at, and then Gregory told us that Game and Inland Fisheries would be out on Thursday at 9:30am to haul the trees in their blocks out on to the water and drop groups of them at designated areas. Because of work, we won't be able to watch, or help, with that, but I found a couple of photos from last year showing them loading up the boats.
As much as I enjoyed helping and fully support what's being done to help the lake, I'm sad at how many house have been built around the perimeter. I've been coming here to kayak for quite a few years, loving the peace and solitude that could be found in the many inlets. But in the past few years, a huge housing association has appeared, large homes with yards reaching down to the water, so it's inevitable that much of the wildlife is now struggling to survive.
Over the past couple of years, some of the homeowners have formed a group that focuses on a trail running all around the lake, about 7.5 miles. They think this is wonderful, being able to enjoy the wild animals and what's left of the woodland, encouraging humans to tramp along the last vestiges of sanctuary that the animals have left. The maps above show how the homes have encroached upon and destroyed the natural habitat. When I first came here, there were only a few homes over to the right and a few on the left, and paddling up the larger left part of the lake would always be peaceful, with no signs of human life to be seen. I used to be able to sit in my kayak and enjoy the silence, the only noises coming from nature, of birds singing and fish jumping. I have no urge to come back here now and long for what used to be. I feel so bad for this natural habitat that's been all but destroyed.
Here are a couple of my blog from years past. Note how in the photos the trees go back as far as you can see, there's no homes on the shore fronts. That will never be seen again, this is now an area abundant in human life...
https://lucentmoments.blogspot.com/2014/06/floating-on-frederick.html
https://lucentmoments.blogspot.com/2017/09/kayaking-with-legions-on-lake.html
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