Early on Sunday morning we made the drive from Columbia to Congaree National Park. In less than 30 minutes you go from downtown to the middle of a swamp. I was surprised at how small Columbia seems. Almost immediately you are leaving downtown and in an older, sparely developed landscape. This quickly gives way to swamp.
We are in the early throes of coronavirus pandemic panic. The trails except the high boardwalk are closed. You can't social distance on a boardwalk but we manage.
Due to recent rains, the lower boardwalk and trails are under water. The boardwalk above just disappears into the water.
The only thing blooming was Yellow Jasmine, the state flower. Much to allergy sufferers' chagrin, the state wildflower is Goldenrod.
When we visited last March, there was no water and Butterweed was blooming out there. So, it was nice to experience the park in these flooded conditions. Although, not always an annual occurrence, flooding bottomland has happened often enough that this forest escaped development and timbering. It and another smaller tract to the east are all that are left of the ancient bottomland forests which covered much of the coastal plain of South Carolina.
A "swamp" Loblolly
The end of the trail (for today)
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