North Carolina's Outer Banks, October 2007

[Stretch]

I was in the coastal region North Carolina for a reunion recently, and decided to take the long way home.  Instead of backtracking to the Interstate and back home, I (on a whim) chose to travel a part of the country I had always wanted to ride...



The long, thin stretch of islands known as the Outer Banks.  I was in Havelock, which is not marked on the above map, but is just about in the location of the Highway 70 marker.

It was partly sunny and in the upper 60's˚F (about 20˚C), but very windy.  And I knew the wind would get stronger as I approached the ocean.

From Havelock, I rode a country shortcut to Beaufort (Bo-fert), just east of Morehead City, then followed Highway 70 east until it ended at Cedar Island.


The Cedar Island to Ocracoke ferry.  The North Carolina ferry system is operated by the North Carolina Department of Transportation, and the 25-mile ride was $10.


Pamlico Sound, a vast expanse of sea water protected from the ocean swells by the long thin islands of the outer banks.  In places, one can be so far out into the sound as to lose sight of land, but the water is rarely over twenty  feet (3.5m) deep.  In many places it is less six feet (2m).  At 6'7", I could walk across a good bit of it.  On a warm day.  :mrgreen:


Pulling in to Ocracoke.  This village and the island surrounding it are steeped in history, with its original inhabitants being American Indians thousands of years ago.  The first Europeans to settle here arrived in the 1600's.  Ocracoke's most famous part-time resident was Edward Teach, the infamous pirate Blackbeard of the early 1700's.  

He and his crew plied the Atlantic seaboard from Virgina south into the Caribbean, with his home (if and when he ever had the notion to settle down for a while) in nearby Bath, the colonial capital of North Carolina, although he frequently docked his ship here, just a few minute's sail from the open ocean.  

Blackbeard and his ship "Adventure" were eventually caught by the Royal Navy, in Pamlico Sound's Ocracoke Inlet, within sight of Ocracoke.  Blackbeard was killed, the survivors of his crew captured, and his ship stripped and sunk.  Lieutenant Maynard, the British commander, cut off Blackheard's head and threw the body over the side.  It is said that Blackbeard's headless body swum around the ship three times before he sunk beneath the waves.


Ocracoke village.


Ocracoke light.  Built in 1822, this is the second lighthouse to be built here.  The first was destroyed by lightning in 1818.  This lighthouse is 75 feet tall and prior to using electric lights, utilized a fourth-order fresnel lens.




The lightkeeper's residence.  As the lighthouse is now fully-automated, a full-time keeper is not required.  The house, now a private residence, has been restored.  The lighthouse itself is not open to the public.


Riding north on the only road that traverses the entire length of Ocracoke Island, Highway 12.


The Atlantic Ocean.  The distance seen here is the same distance to Pamlico Sound behind me.  These islands are that narrow, with the road right down the middle.  Hurricanes coming in from the Atlantic Ocean frequently cut giant opening in the Outer Banks, creating new inlets into Pamlico Sound.


On another ferry, making the crossing from Ocracoke Island to Hattaras Island.  A person is only charge for entering the island.  Since I was leaving, this ride was free.  


Ships that pass in the night...  :mrgreen:

Hattaras Island is the end of this boat ride.  Bridges and causeways to the north allow vehicles to drive to this point.


Hattaras light.  Completed in 1870, Hattaras Light is the tallest lighthouse in the United States at 208 feet.  It is open to the public during tourist season, but it was closed for the season during this visit.  No problem, as I have climbed it before on a previous visit.

Prior to 1999, the lighthouse had been in quite a precarious position.  Changes in ocean currents and the shifting sands of the ocean floor were causing serious erosion problems near the base of the lighthouse.  When it was built nearly 140 years ago, it was nearly 200 yards from the beach.  But in recent years the beach eroded away until the crashing waves were only a few feet from the lighthouse.  Sandbags the size of cars were brought in and filled in an effort to stabilize the beach near the lighthouse, but something more permanent needed to be done.

In 1999, the National Park Service contracted with International Chimney Corporation of Buffalo, New York to move the lighthouse from its tenuous position on the beach to a new location inland.


The old location (at the far end of the road), as seen from the new location.

For photos of the big move, click this link to the National Parks Service's web page:  http://www.nps.gov/archive/caha/views.htm


That's it for the photos.  From here I rode north to Nag's Head, and then west on Highway 64 to the Interstate and home.  I had driven from Nag's Head to Corolla (in my wife's Corolla :mrgreen" ) on a previous visit, so I didn't really need to go up there again soon.

Besides, it was getting late and I wanted to get to the Interstate before dark.  I arrived home in Georgia at about 4 am.  All told, I rode 760 miles in 16 hours.

[paulie]

Nice report, Stretch!

I've always been intrigued by that area. My girlfriend and I have been discussing a trip out that way, as she has family near there.

Won't be this year though, since I'm doing my Pacific Northwest Tour this summer.  8)

[HappyMan]

Wow Stretch, that didn't cure my cabin fever at all..... :shock: