This weekend, I will exploring parts of the Georgia coast and after looking at some of the hiking options, a place called Driftwood Beach, which is located on Jekyll Island seemed a great place to start. The name seems a little obvious. I'm sure every beach has driftwood, but as I would soon learn, this is a very special place.
Driving the 4-ish hours to the coast last night, I slept at a hotel in nearby Brunswick, GA. Knowing that I wanted to hit this beach before meeting up with the group for big adventure weekend, I got up early and made my way out onto the island. Much of the Georgia coast is made up of what are essentially barrier island and Jekyll is just one of many that is large enough for a small community to call home. Driftwood Beach is toward the northern end of the island and easy to find.
Leaving my jeep behind, I hiked a few dozen yards through the coastal woods before reaching the sandy beaches. I fully expected to see driftwood here, given the name of the locale, but this is more like drift trees and drift forest. The beach for hundreds of yards in either direction is littered with the unmistakable sun-bleached white wood. Not just pieces of trees, but in many, many cases the entire tree. They have washed up here to form a sort of morbid, but strangely beautiful cemetery. Additionally, there are a number of trees that seem to have grown here in the sand at some point and since died and taken on an appearance very much like that of driftwood; thanks to the tides no doubt.
As it is shortly after sunrise, the sun has risen slightly over the Atlantic Ocean's horizon and now casts long shadows from the branches of these fallen trees. I don't claim to be a skilled photographer, but this place must be a photographers dream. After exploring perhaps half-a-mile up the beach and taking a myriad of amazing shots, I head back to the jeep and set off for my next adventure. If you're ever in the area of this place though, it is certainly worth your time to stop.
No comments:
Post a Comment