Feb 1 Cumberland Island

 

Travel much on Cumberland Island and this will look quite familiar. It is the main road along the island. Packed down sand with lots of Live oak branches to watch out for. 

We began on a freezing morning in St Mary GA. It was a record low temperature this morning. The town isn't accustomed to this. There was a water main leaking water onto a leaky pipe ice sculpture. The NPS ferry Cumberland Queen took us from the town dock, out the St Mary River toward Cumberland Island. The 40 minute ride was cold inside the unheated cabin. 

Once on the island we waited a few minutes for our tour guide to arrive. Everyone was reacting to the cold weather. A group of Cub Scouts had spent the night out on the island. they were huddling in the tiny ferry office waiting for their ride out. 

Our guide for today's tour arrived and got us and another couple in the van for the all day "Land and Legacy" tour. The tour was led by a volunteer. She has volunteered for a year or more and lives along with other volunteers on the island in park housing. The entire island is a National Seashore administered by the NPS. There are inholdings of private residents. It is a mixed bag of people and circumstances that allow some folks to reside here. 

All horses and feral pigs on the island are not descended from Spanish horses and pigs like other barrier islands. They were all turned out in the 1920s by families including the Carnegies who could not or did not want to care for them anymore. So, they have some thoroughbred in them since the Carnegies would have had only the best back when they could afford such a luxury. 

We drove the 7 mile trip to the north end of the island. Of course there is an obligatory stop at the tiny African American church JFK Jr was married in. JFK Jr had met Carnegie descendent GoGo Ferguson previously. She has part ownership of the only inn on the island, Greyfield Inn. In order to keep the paparazzi and the public in general, away from the wedding, Cumberland Island provided the ideal place. Public access is restricted via ferry capacity, Plus, the public does not have access to vehicles on the island. So even if you could get there, getting from the ferry landing to the tiny church is a 7 mile trek. Their wedding went off without the curiosity seekers. 

Access to the beach is via this long boardwalk through the dunes. Trying to make your way out there otherwise could be an ordeal through the heavy bush here. 

This is what most of the island looks like

The Dungeness site has a lot of history. Once owned by Nathanial Greene and later by Thomas Carnegie and his descendants, the area has some good stories. Nathanial Greene financed some of his troops needs by personally paying for necessities. He was never reimbursed by the Continental Congress or US Congress. However, his widow Katy continued to pursue repayment and was was finally given some repayment. With her newly found wealth, she married her kids' tutor Phineas Miller and they built a mansion of tabby construction. It was a grand place but not nearly grand enough for Thomas Carnegie who wanted the place for a winter residence. He built his own Dungeness and staffed it with 300 servants and laborers. After the Carnegies could no longer afford the place and left it in 1925, it fell into disrepair and was burned in 1959. A local fellow who had been caught poaching was suspected as the arsonist. 

Cumberland Queen waits at the dock

Plum Orchard

The NPS has restored Plum Orchard mansion. Thomas and Lucy Carnegie had the home built for their son George and new wife Margaret from 1898 to 1906. It, too was left vacant for decades. Although, it has had extensive work, it looks far from finished. 

It is a gorgeous beach. 

Jan 31 Okefenokee Swamp

 

After escaping from Columbia just as it began to snow, we headed south and out of the precipitation. By early afternoon, we were at Okefenokee and signed up for the 2pm boat tour. It's just above freezing, windy and overcast. Even with everything warm piece of clothing we have with us, we are still cold. 

The tour travels along a canal that was dug in the late 1800s to try to drain the swamp. The company went bankrupt after several miles of constructions over several years. They were attempting to drain the water into the St Mary River. It was determined that the engineering work was faulty after the canal was well underway but they kept having to dig deeper and deeper to keep the water flowing downhill. It may seem flat when you look at it but water doesn't see it that way. When all this was realized, funding sources dried up. 

Out there on the water is a Horned grebe. Our guide was quick to point it out. He had never seen one in the refuge before. It put on a show for him, buzzing the boat a couple times. We also saw a Barred Owl hiding in the Spanish moss, Belted kingfishers, Bald Eagle, Great egret, Great Blue Heron as well as a small Alligator. 

We are traveling in the canal the entire time except for a brief detour into one of the prairies. It seemed to me that we were in a wilderness area at that point. Our guide confirmed that and said there were low hp motorboats allowed in the swamp. That seemed to contradict my idea of a designated wilderness.  

On the boardwalk leading to an observation tower on Chesser prairie, we saw lots of scat. After visiting the tower and seeing Great egrets at a great distance, we headed back.

The tower offers long range views of the open prairies and swamp. While there, a couple guys excitedly showed us a Bobcat video they had just made. 

During our return, we stopped in our tracks upon seeing this cat. For a great 15 minutes, we stayed about 100 feet from it. It seemed quite comfortable with us at that distance. It even began walking toward us at one point. It would walk along the boardwalk and stop to stare into the underbrush. I think this cat uses the boardwalk as its daily hunting routine. Certainly, it left considerable piles of scat. 

Jan 29 Congaree

 

For 2 days we were immersed in Congaree National Park. The first day was an almost all day tour of just 4 miles. Yes, we stopped often to admire the trees. The second day was spent indoors at the University of South Carolina listening all day to lectures on 50 years of research in the Congaree. 

Here we are at the National Champion Loblolly. It is also the tallest Loblolly at 169 feet and growing. There is a faint trail leading to it off the Weston Lake Trail leading to it.

A dead feral pig can be seen from the boardwalk. Apparently, feral hogs are a huge issue for the park. The non-native hogs churn the earth looking for grubs, insects, eggs,  roots, tubers, bulbs and almost anything else. An eradication program within the park utilizes mainly two ways to control hog populations. Trapping involves the use of large traps which can close on an entire sounder of hogs rather than just an individual. Traps are often triggered remotely once an entire group is in the trap.  Aerial gunning from helicopters has also been effective but requires a park closure. 

Back at that National Champion again

Congaree is considered the largest old growth bottomland forest in the eastern US. Although, it is not a virgin forest due to selective Bald Cypress harvesting prior to 1976 when it became a National Monument. Jess Riddle from Atlanta gave a presentation on where there might be other Congarees in the east. Where are there other old growth bottomlands that might measure up? Jess gave up a dozen places to consider.

Fontenelle Forest

Long Cane Creek

Steven Creek Heritage Preserve

James Webb Wildlife Center

Moody Forest, GA

Murder Creek GA

Green Ash Research Natural Area

Red Gum Research

Lewis Island GA

Ebenezer Creek

Noxubee River

Meeman-Shelby Forest State Park

Sugarberry Natural Area

The last two seem to have the best chance of joining Congaree as top old growth bottomland forests.  

Although, not a champ, this former champion is actually a more impressive looking tree and it is right along the trail. This tree makes its way into a lot of photos including park brochures. 

One puzzle had everyone stumped for years. There are many giant Loblollies and Sweetgum trees in the Congaree but not any young ones. Then on September 21, 1989, Hurricane Hugo blew through causing widespread tree damage. The storm took down a number of large canopy trees leaving many large holes in the canopy. Within a few years, Loblolly and Sweetgum seedlings appeared in those canopy holes. Thus, the next set of champions began growing. 

Jan 23 Streamside Restoration in Black Mountain

 

It is a frigid morning in the mountains. We are bundled up but still cold. NCSU has partnered with Black Mountain Parks and Rec Dept to host today's workshop. There is no better place to work on streambed restoration than this area which still has many issues in the wake of TS Helene (Sept 2024). After a short van ride into a neighborhood, we set up on a residential road. All materials needed were already in place.  

Our task today is to restore a streambank behind a residence. So we were working on private property. Once of the issues here, is much of the work needed on small streams is on privately owned land. Permission is needed and not always given. So we needed to be careful to stay and work only were we were permitted.

Our instructor is holding a small branch of a shrub we will be live staking into the stream bank. We had about a half dozen different species of shrubs and trees which do well in wet areas and are native to the area. Although, it's possible to cut your own live stakes from living shrubs and trees, we were using purchased stakes. They were about 18" long and in various thicknesses depending on species. 

The stream we were working in had eroded to a 2 foot vertical downcut (like a 2' waterfall). The ground cloth we are using is a mat of coconut fibers. In areas where the bank has been undercut, we used a length of matting rolled up with mulch inside, like a taco. The taco was shoved into the undercut and then staked in with giant pencil shaped stakes. Then sides of the stream were covered in mulch , sprinkled with various grass seeds and covered in matting, staked in place. Then we took the live stakes and pushed them into the mat and soil. See the skinny live stakes in the matting above. The live stakes develop root hairs quickly in water, so just have to be sure to put them in right side up. 

We used different species of live stakes including rather thick stakes on Black willow here. 

One of the Black Mountain employees gave a wonderful commentary on the benefits of River cane. They almost always look unsightly and dying but are very beneficial. They spread via rhizomes which create a more stable floodplain. The cane also acts like a water buffer, slowing flow, lessening erosion. Since it is similar to an invasive European variety of Phragmites, it is overlooked. We were told that when federal funding is involved, River cane is not on a list of species that funding can be used for. Thus, nurseries often don't propagate it.  

As we finished our project here. participants were invited to take some of the leftover material to practice with. We were able to grab a few live stakes and seed for a project at Caraway Creek Preserve. 

Jan 21 Baker Mountain

 

Baker Mountain located just southwest of Hickory is considered part of the South Mountains. Although it tops out at 1755' the park's trail does not go all the way to the top. A cellular/communication tower sits atop the peak and is closed to the public. This observation deck is located at the end of the hiking trail. 

The views are to the north. Grandfather and Tablerock were the easiest to identify. I have not seen this view of the Catawba River Valley before. A broad flat land is situated between South Mountains and the Blue Ridge. I counted 9 water towers in the Hickory area. I tried but could not make out the Uwharries nor Sauratowns. 

Baker Mountain Park is part of the Catawba county parks system. They have 4.5 miles of trails on 189 acres. The main loop trail to the top and back is 2.8 miles. All the other trails interconnect with that loop trail. 

The park has a lot of Mountain laurel and some Rhododendron. Chestnut oaks dominate the forest. 

This chimney is the remnant of a 1917 hunting cabin. It appears to have been a tiny one.

The magical Sourwoods

On my way to Black Mountain, this was the perfect stopover for a vigorous hike.