Raleigh's Middle Crabtree Weathering the Drought of 2007

Middle Crabtree Trail has been bedeviled by storm and heat through much of its existence. Part of the trail is scheduled to be closed to repair hurricane damage that occurred more than a year ago. This will cut one third of the east-west greenway trails off from the other two thirds.

The Raleigh News &Observer heralded this trail as one of those ten mile plus greenways that mark the true city greenway. In an article on August 25, they mentioned the closure under an obscure title that did not even identify the part of the greenway being closed.

In spite of the closure, the Middle Crabtree Trail boardwalk at the North Raleigh Blvd. end of the trail will hopefully remain open. Even if you can no longer ride a bike across Raleigh, it is still possible to see some fantastic scenery on this end of the trail.

The heat has taken a toll on this end of the boardwalk. Some individual boards have bent in very awkward shapes due to the extreme heat. The pictures with this article will show what I mean by this. The bent boards have little impact on people who stroll on this end of the trail, but could pose a danger to bicyclists. The pictures with this article show how the boardwalk is impacted.

With the closure of part of this trail, other activities would not be recommended on this trail.

Though the trail is open for bird watching, there was no sign of birds at this time. The reduced water level in the normally vibrant wetlands that surround the boardwalk had taken its toll, and the birds just weren't there when I checked.

The water has gotten significantly lower and is much further from the boardwalk than would be expected. In normal years, frequent thunder storms replenish the water regularly. This year there have been few thunder storms. Most of the thunder storms have occurred somewhere that doesn't even provide water into the streams north of here.

There is a silver lining for plants and insects in the water's long decline. As the water has gone down, the plants have expanded their range to include parts of the wetlands normally covered with hungry plant eating creatures.

This has provided plenty of food for a quickly growing insect population which is enjoying plants that are usually in short supply in this neck of the woods.

The normal occupants of this wetland are blue heron, blackbirds, nesting birds, plovers, sea gulls and egrets. While I was walking, only one bird chose to chirp from a hiding place in the bushes that have overtaken the wetland. Two ducks flew by overhead while I was there but showed no interest in the shallow muddy water that remains.

If there are any fish or turtles, they were hiding far from the boardwalk. Normally I see four to six turtles with yellow and red markings.

Many of the trees near the boardwalk were showing extreme impact from the reduction in available water. Some of them had leaves that were brown and crinkled like they do in late fall after color season.

This boardwalk still makes for a pleasant stroll, particularly at sunset. It is cooler, and the lack of obstructions makes for a fantastic view of the sunset.