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Buckley Island is a wonderful wildlife refuge in the middle of the Ohio River right next to Marietta. Last week I shared photos of the refuge with readers as well as the history of the island. What I failed to realize before I undertook the project was how wild the wildlife refuge actually was. My plan was simple. I would kayak from the Williamstown boat ramp, a short distance to the end of the island just above the Williamstown Bridge. I would find a nice sandy beach, pull my kayak out and hike the interior of the 2.5-mile-long island.
From the start, it did not go as planned. I beached my kayak on a small area just upstream from the tip on the West Virginia side. I quickly learned there are two types of beaches on the island. Sandy ones, where you can see a little gravel, and muddy ones, where you will sink up to your knees if you are not careful. I was at a muddy one, so I dragged the kayak across the island to a sandy one on the Ohio side. I was now ready to begin my hike around the island. I didn't get very far.
The island is for wildlife, not humans. It is covered with vegetation. Some of the weeds are as tall as I am. In my head I imagined a canopy of trees that would keep most of low-level vegetation at a minimum. My head had been wrong. I retreated to my kayak to figure out what to do. I had not planned on making a loop around the island, but it now seemed the best bet.
I headed up the Ohio side of the island. Wildlife, I figured, would also be found near the water, I would try to head inland later. However, I seemed to be missing more wildlife than I was capturing. I only saw a deer a split second before it dashed into the brush. I saw not one, but two large turtles when they flopped into the water. You can't do a photo story on a wildlife refuge and not have photos of wildlife. One of the challenges of taking photos from a kayak is that you never have your hands on your camera because it takes two hands to paddle. I tried to hike the island a second time near the interstate bridge. This time beaching on a nice gravel beach, I made a quick loop before retreating to the water.
I stopped at a nice gravel area at the head of the island and figured out a plan. There are a few structures on the island left over from the days when it was farmed. The house and barn are about halfway between the Interstate bridge and the upper end of the island on the West Virginia side. They are believed to have been built following the 1913 flood that destroyed everything on the island.
I was keeping track of how close I was to them with Google Maps. The gravel beaches are not as common on the West Virgina side of the island. When the barn finally emerged through the trees, I was nowhere near one. I decided to take my chances with the mud. Just as I had underestimated the size of the weeds earlier, I had underestimated the depth of the mud. At one point the backpack in which I had two cameras and my phone hit the water. I grabbed it and threw it up on the beach. Um, I mean muddy shoreline. I grabbed it as I started scampering up the embankment. At this point I was unsure if they had gotten wet or not.
Everything survived and the barn and the house were worth it. It's interesting to see such large structures being reclaimed by nature. The house is huge. Built from concrete, it looks indestructible. When I finished, I had to scamper back down to my kayak and the mud. Somehow, I managed to get back into it without further mishaps.
The wildlife got better after that. Racoons started appearing along the shoreline, I think one even posed for me. A large turtle waited for me to get its photo before sliding into the river.
If you choose to visit the island here are a few things to remember: The island is a wildlife refuge. Respect the animals and plants.
There are no facilities on the island. Not even a dock. There are no trails other than those made by deer and the deer are probably not going where you want to go; and speaking from experience, they seem to walk in circles.
Be careful, with the dense weeds, you cannot really see where you are going. There are some pretty high embankments east of the interstate bridge, if you fell from them, you could get hurt. Don't wear good shoes unless you are okay with getting them in the mud. Do wear long pants and a long-sleeved shirt if you plan on walking in the interior of the island. Gloves would be a good idea too.
Leave nothing on the island, if you take it on the island, make sure you take it off with you. Leave anything you find on the island where it was before you got there. The island sits in the middle of the river just the way it has for hundreds of years. Man has changed the depth of the water and crossed it with a giant bridge and surrounded it with erosion controlling rocks, but it has not been tamed and it likely shouldn't be. When George Washington canoed pass the island in 1770, he made note of it in his journal. It appears he did not, however, try to hike around it. Wise man.
Art Smith is online manager of The Times, he can be reached at asmith@mariettatimes.com.