Swirling with possibilities, a leafy tree canopy stretches overhead, extending into tawny vastness beneath patches of pure Carolina blue sky. A sense of openness breeds freedom, yet the distinct scent of the woods creates an autumnal atmosphere of warmth and seclusion.
This hidden gem of an oasis describes the series of trails that extend behind East that I recently discovered for the first time, and subsequently fell in love with. While I’ve never been much of an outdoors person, the pandemic certainly made me more open to venturing beyond my doorstep. Perhaps as a result of this quarantine mentality, I agreed to accompany my friend (and beekeeper) Seokyun Hong into the woods behind East one day after school.
As this excursion was originally intended for a story about beekeeping, we walked past the football field to the Pollinator Garden to tend to her bees. After unexpectedly making friends with a few bees and donning a beekeeper suit for the first time, Hong led me on a journey into the woods off the south side of the building. Along the way, we saw frogs and other animals, many species of plants and flowers, as well as the cross country team. The result: I kept asking, “How have I never been here before?”
I’ve lived near East all my life, and as a current junior, I’ve spent enough time inside the building to know my way around. But as I discovered, I’ve never truly ventured beyond the classroom and into the wilderness that surrounds our school. Quite literally, I feel like I’ve been living under a rock all this time…
Years ago, I remember accompanying my older sister to a pond behind East to collect samples for her biology class. But I didn’t remember anything this vibrant, or this awash with life.
In many ways, the path is your classic North Carolina-esque trail, with oak and maple trees, alongside wildflowers and berries, crawling with a variety of insect and animal life. But it is tantalizing—enchanting even—in its proximity to East, given that it remains largely unexplored and perhaps even unknown to most students and staff.
While touring the trail, all the sights and wildlife activities reminded me instantly of the diverse varieties of biotic and abiotic factors that I have been learning about in my environmental science class. This was an ecosystem at its finest: Unfortunately, though, I also observed algal blooms in the lake.
Don’t even think of attempting to swim—besides the physical warning sign, it’s clear that you don’t want algae following you home…
Too often, we spend our days cooped up indoors. As the pandemic showed us though, it’s important that we all branch out a little and interact more with our natural surroundings. As I learned and as Hong helped me discover, you don’t need to be a beekeeper to explore nature. Indeed, with this beautiful tangle of wilderness so close to us, we have no excuse to stick inside.
And who knows, maybe you’ll nurture a hidden outdoorsy side that you never even knew existed. Bring home a richly colored leaf as a token of your journey—it will serve as a keepsake that will lure you outdoors again and again into this quietly beautiful, serene refuge, glowing beyond the tedium of our regular indoor lives.
Photos by Helen Katz/The ECHO
