Bull Island - Dominick House Expedition (Charleston County, South Carolina)

 A couple of years ago, I visited Bull Island as part of a coastal kayaking trip. This barrier island is one of the many along the east coast and sits across the intercoastal waterway just north of Charleston, SC. I really enjoyed my time on the island. As with many of the other barrier islands I've visited since moving to the Atlanta area, I've found these islands to be the closest environment to my beloved Sierra Nevada mountains. That is not to say the ecosystems, landscape are anything like the mountains, but instead, the feeling of true remoteness is what I'm referring to. Many of these islands are uninhabited and protected as a nature preserves. When you walk around the island, you feel a since of being away from civilization - a feeling that I really savor. When an opportunity arose to spend a weekend on the island with Coastal Expeditions, I jumped on it.

The night before, I drove from Atlanta to Columbia, SC, which only left me a couple of hours of transit time to complete the trip the next morning. Once I arrived at Garrison Landing, where we would take the company's ferry to the island, I met up with my guides and group. We chatted while waiting for the remaining participants, but were quickly loaded onto the boat and on our way to the island. It takes about thirty minutes to navigate to the island through the salt marshes and rich oyster beds. Along the way, we saw a myriad of migratory birds and even a couple of dolphins. I always love seeing dolphins. There is just something hopeful about them.

Arriving on the island, we loaded our gear onto a truck and ourselves onto a flatbed trailer with cushioned seats for the short ride to the Dominick House, where we would be staying the next two nights. This is the only house on the island and was built by a former owner of the island in the 1920's. It's now maintained by U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service as part of the Cape Romain National Wildlife Refuge. We were shown our rooms and dropped our gear before coming down to a terrific lunch in the large dining room. We were treated to a great salad, grilled cheese sandwiches, and tomato soup. Not a bad way to start the day.

Once we finished lunch, we headed out for our first hike along part of the Turkey Walk Trail. This a curious name, as there are no turkeys on the island. There are, however, a huge number of other waterfowl who use the richly diverse ponds as a food source along their migratory paths. We see more species of birds than I can remember. Many members of the group are birding enthusiasts and carry large monoculars, some with tri-pods, to facilitate their bird viewing. The most surprising though was a lone flamingo, who is well north of his normal range. According to our guides, a pair of them were blown up this way during a recent storm and while one of the pair flew back to Florida, one has stayed for a few weeks and is often the highlight for the birders.

We also encounter a number of alligators along the way. While the marshes around the island are saltwater, the man that built the house also created a number of levees to trap fresh water into a number of large ponds. He used the island for hunting and the fresh water attracted large numbers of game fowl. At some point, the alligators gained knowledge of the freshwater and decided it would be a good hunting spot for them as well. A century later, there are hundreds of them on the island. Along this trail, we encounter a probably mother on the grassy bank and a number of her offspring of the last couple of years hiding in the reeds. They are interesting animals and one of the creatures I'm most interested to observe on this trip. The short hike is only about 2.3 miles, but it was great to stretch after all the traveling.

Returning to the house, we learn of a potential problem with the electricity and water (which is drawn via an electric pump). Our lead guide has been in communication with Fish and Wildlife and they are seeking a solution, but this may impact our trip. We relax for a short time and wander around the kept grounds around the house. Here the long limbs of large live oaks sprawl out across the yard. These trees are pretty unique and often found in the Southeastern United States. I find them quite beautiful.

After just a short rest, it's time to do some more exploring. While our lead guide remains at the house trying to sort out the facility issues, the rest of us load back onto the flatbed and are transported a ways north toward Boneyard Beach on the northeastern corner of the island. I'm going to write up a separate blog for this area, as it is just that amazing, but essentially, it is an area where erosion has allowed the salty ocean water to encroach into the interior of the island. The exposure to salt water has killed large trees and their bleached trunks and root systems now liter the beach like whale bones. 

We spend an hour or two walking along the beach before heading back to the house to learn of our expeditions fate. Once we arrive, we learn that they will not be able to repair the electricity tonight and will not permit us to stay at the house without electricity and fresh water. I personally wouldn't mind this at all, but Fish and Wildlife are firm in their stance. With sun having already sunk just below the southwestern horizon, we load back onto the ferry for a cold ride back to the mainland. Coastal Expeditions has made arrangements for all of us a nearby hotel and they will be cooking up a low country boil at their headquarters. It's an unfortunate circumstance, but I appreciate our guides and their management doing what they can to still make it an enjoyable weekend. 

I decide to drop my gear off at the hotel before heading to the feast. I admit that I'm a little disappointed, but I cannot fault our guide service. This is completely out of their control and we'll just have to make the best of it. After the short drive to their headquarters, I enjoy a glass of wine and some dinner of potatoes, sausage, corn, and shrimp (standard low country boil). Our lead guide informs us of the plan for the remainder of the weekend. We'll reconvene back at Garrets Landing in the morning and head back to the island for the afternoon. There is a chance the repairs may be completed tomorrow, but if not, we'll end the expedition in the afternoon and head back across dock. While they haven't determined how to properly compensate the participants yet, she indicates there will be some level of refund due to us. Returning to the hotel, I decide to crash and get up early for the next day's adventure. 

After enjoying a quick breakfast at the hotel, I check out and drive back to the dock where the group reconvenes and loads back onto the ferry. Unlike yesterday, we are approaching high tide for the ride over and the salt marshes look a bit different because of it. Once we arrive on the island, we spend some time along the northern part of the island enjoying the waterfowl from an observation deck. We see pelicans, osprey, eagles, and once again, more birds species than I can keep up with. 

Next we walk out to the beach once again, but this time to where that same storm that blew the flamingos in also destroyed two of the levees. This is allow massive amounts of saltwater to flood the freshwater ponds and is actively changing the ecosystem before our eyes. It seems there is some interest by Fish and Wildlife in restoring the levee, but there is still a lot of discussion to be had before a decision can be made.

After loading back onto the flatbed, we head east along the levees with brigades of large alligators sliding into the water as the truck approaches them. I'm not exaggerating when I say that we probably encountered over a hundred of the creatures along this little stretch. At a couple of points, we stop to observe the carnivores. Luckily, we're relatively safe from them as they will only attack if they feel threatened. They eat their prey whole and will not really go after anything too large for that feeding method, which includes adult humans. A small child might be in danger though.

Continuing the drive, we end up at the Old Fort and a historical marker indicating that the first settlers of Carolina first landed near the spot on their way to found colonial Charles Town (now Charleston). All the remains of the fort is a tabby (oyster shell and mortar) wall rising a couple of feet out of the grass and forming an octagonal shape. As I understand it, this was build by the British as a defensive hold. As we wander around, we also remain on alert for a particularly brave 10-11 foot alligator who has stubbornly decided not to move. We give him space, but he's still pretty close to the group. Eventually, he dives in the water as the we reload onto the truck and drive past him.

From here, we head back to the house and enjoy an terrific lunch prepared by our guides, which includes an "oyster roast". In this case, they are simply steaming locally caught oysters until they open and then we each take our shucking knives to reveal the morsel inside. I've only ever eaten oysters on the half-shell and this is a new experience, though, I think I prefer them raw. After our lunch, we load back onto the ferry and head back to our individual next destinations. Overall and even considering the unforeseen electrical problems, it was still a fantastic trip. Our guides were wonderful and I appreciate their efforts to make the very best of the circumstances dealt to us.

Old Roswell Mill at Vickery Creek (Fulton County, Georgia)

 

It's been raining pretty steadily for the last four days. I was hoping to get some big trail miles in this weekend, but the downpours put a damper on that. I was able to get out to the Old Mill Park in Roswell along Vickery Creek this afternoon for a little bit at least. I've hiked around this area a while back, but not this specific trail. I'm also hoping that the man-made waterfall will be raging with all of the precipitation we've had.

After parking at a mostly empty lot at the park, I took some time to walk the paved trails in and around the old mill and the dam that powered it. As I had hoped, the creek is really raging right now. There's actually quite a bit of rusted old equipment left at the mill. A number of giant gears and feeder mechanisms remain a testament to this place of necessity from yesteryear. 

Walking a bit further towards the falls, there is a nice overlook from which one can truly see the power of the creek that would have been harnessed to grind local farmer's grain century or more ago. The muddy waters flow over the damn and plummet thirty or forty feet into the creek bed below, filling the air with a thunderous echo that can be heard for some distance.

From there, I walked back the way I came and crossed over the covered bridge that connects this park to the Vickery Creek Unit of the Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area, which has many miles of trails. I only be doing a few of those miles today. After climbing the steps up from the bridge, I find myself at one of the trail junctions and use the posted map to plan a route for the day. Hopefully, staying on the high ground will keep me out of most of the mud.

This is a popular area and there a quite a few other hikers out on the trails even with the recent rains. Perhaps, their plans had to be changed as mine were. I hit a number of junctions and end up getting a nice loop in. The woods all through here is really quite beautiful and it offers some nice views of the creek far below in a couple of places. 

Circling back to the bridge, I finally decide to call it a day and head back to my car. I put in about 3.2 miles today, which really isn't much, but it's better than nothing and getting to see the raging creek and just get some fresh air is always worthwhile.

Little Mulberry Park (Gwinnett County, Georgia)

 It has been extremely cold in Georgia the last couple of days, with temperatures in the low teens and will chills dipping into the single digits. Originally, I had planned to head to mountains today for some trail miles, but with the blast of arctic air, I decided to stay a little closer to home and ended up joining one of the Meetup groups for a few miles at the nearby Little Mulberry Park. It's an extremely nice area with many miles of trails (much of it paved) and I've hiked here many times in the past. 

There was some confusion on which parking lot to meet the group at, but after getting that sorted, the twenty or so of us that braved the cold air hit the trail. First walking by the old oak tree and then on towards the waterfall along the Ravine Trail. The waterfall was partially frozen, which always makes for a good shot. I dropped down over the railed observation area to get a picture clear of the trees. A couple of others joined me, but we quickly rejoined the larger group.

As always, we got into a number of discussions about a variety of topics. These are a great bunch of people and I enjoy hiking with them. The conversations continue as we do a little bushwhacking and end up just doing a circle in the woods. We couldn't find a less-used trail today's leader was looking for and eventually gave up on it. The decaying leaves cover the forest floor and make a loud rustling sound as so many feet push through them, but it's a pleasant sound.

Back on the well marked trails, we head around to the lake and T-rex Island. I've visited and written of this before, but just beyond this wooden landing structure, there is a small island in the lake and a Tyrannosaurus Rex statue has been erected right in the center of it. There's no explanation given anywhere, but it makes for an interesting conversation piece.

As we make our way back towards the parking area, I see that we've put in about 8.2 miles today, which is just about perfect to plan. Some of the others are headed to enjoy a group dinner, but I must head home for now. I'll look forward to the next hike with this group.

Amicalola Falls (Dawson County, Georgia)

After hiking back to my car from an overnight stay at the Len Foote Hike Inn, I couldn't help but stop for a view of Georgia's tallest waterfall and the namesake of the state park, where I left my car last night. Unfortunately, the lower trail is completely closed for construction. After driving down and discovering that, I decided to head back up the the West Ridge Access Trail, which leads to a bridge across the mid-section of the waterfall. 

Parking is nearly full, but I manage to find a spot and then walk the short distance to the bridge. The falls are raging right now, with all of the water we've recently had. I don't stay long though. I've visited this waterfall before and there isn't much new to see. I have a hour+ drive to get back home and I'm anxious to get it started. So, I'll say adieu to the falls for now.

Len Foote Hike Inn (Dawson County, Georgia)

After my quick stop at Smithgall Woods, I headed to Amicalola Falls State Park for the weekend's main event - an overnight hike to the Len Foote Hike Inn along the Appalachian Trail Approach. I've stayed at the Inn once before and made reservations a couple of other times, but cancelled those trips due to poor weather. This time, it looks like the weather is going to be cooperative, other than being cold. If I'm lucky, I'll get to see and hike through some snow on my way in today or my way out tomorrow. We'll see what Mother Nature has planned. 

Once I arrived at the park, I checked into the Inn at the new visitor's center, which is much nicer than the facilities that were here last time I visited. Instructions ask me to leave a voice mail before starting my hike and leave details about my name, my party, and my vehicle. With that all done, I head to the upper parking lot. I toss my mid-sized backpack on and hit the trail. It's just an overnight in an hostel-like facility, but last time, my day-pack didn't seem adequate for a change of clothes, blanket, and other essentials. So, I opted for the larger 33L pack this time. 

Leaving the parking area, I head across the road and into the woods. There are two trails, which essentially form a loop meeting at the Hike Inn. One side (to the west) is the AT Approach Trail, while the other side (to the east) is the Len Foote Hike Inn Trail. It's possible to go either way, but I decided to take the eastern trail in and I will likely take the other side on my way out tomorrow morning. 

The trail itself is pleasant and well-maintained, but relatively uneventful. There's some elevation gain, but not much and I only stop a couple of times to take in some vistas and drink some water. Before long, I've arrived at the Hike Inn. I check in at the front desk and then head to my room to drop my gear. The rooms here are very Spartan and only contain a set of bunk beds with basic mattress pads, a light, a stool, and a heater vent. It will serve my purposes though. After sitting for a couple of minutes and just enjoying the moment, I collect my clean clothes, the provided towel and wash cloth, and then head to the bath house, which is on the level below, connected by an outside walkway and set of stairs. The entire facility is made up of four buildings connected by walkways and stairs, one above the other and down the mountainside. 

I hope in to take a welcomed hot shower, though I try to be conservative on my water use. The Hike Inn prides itself on its extraordinarily ecologically efficient practices. They produce about 70% of their own electricity via solar panels and recycle and compost just about all of their waste. In fact, they have been award a platinum level LEED designation for their continuing efforts to help our environment. The shower feels great though. It's cold outside and after a moderate hike, I've gotten myself pretty sweaty. The warm water does wonders to refresh me. 

Once cleaned up, I head back to my room to drop my dirty clothes and then back to the front desk for the 5pm tour. I've done this tour before, but they take the time to explain their conservation efforts and some of the history of the inn. It's well worth hearing again. Almost immediately after the tour, the dinner bell sounds and we all head to the dining hall. Unlike my last trip here during the height of the CO-VID19 pandemic, there is only a single dinner service and we sit at community tables and get to make some new friends. My table consists of a family of four, as well as a woman traveling solo. We enjoy some great conversation about our other adventures over a wonderful meal of roast pork, mashed potatoes, mixed vegetables, corn bread, and a light salad. 

After dinner, most of us stick around for a post-dinner education presentation. Tonight, our host will discuss her time in Southeastern Alaska. It's a very interesting discussion and I think most of the audience enjoys the little talk. With the presentation complete, most head back to their rooms to start hunkering down for the night. I do the same. While the rooms are heated and blankets provided, I froze the last time I stayed here and so this time, I brought my own down-blanket. I decided to read a little bit from bed, but soon started feeling sleepy and decided to call it a night. 

The next morning, I awoke to the sound of the alarm clock on my phone blaring AC/DC. I fold back the covers and realize how much warmer it is under them than in the rest of my small dormitory-style room. I lay there for a few minutes before getting dressed and heading out to catch the sunrise. 

Sitting first inside the Sunroom and enjoying the warmth of a wood stove on this frosty January morning and then on the porch overlooking the eastern horizon, I await the rising sun to lighten and warm me. Most of the other guests have also gathered in this lowest room of the facility for the same reason. When the sun finally pops out, it doesn't disappoint. The orangish rays peak from behind the clouds and set the world around us ablaze with morning light. It's majestic from up here in the mountains. 

Breakfast is next on the agenda, and back in the dining hall, we are served a huge helping of scrambled eggs, sausage, cheesy grits, and some kind of peach crumble. I'm not a fan of peaches (I realize that statement can get me shot in Georgia, but it's true), but this is pretty good.

After breakfast, I head back to my room and quickly pack and check-out. The return hike is a little more difficult due to more elevation gain, but after a couple of hours on the trail, I've returned to my car. Total distance was almost exactly 10 miles. I reflect back on the experience and the people I met fondly. It's always a wonderful weekend at the Hike Inn. 

Chunanne Falls (White County, Georgia)

 It's a new year and I'm trying to get outside as much as I can. I spending the weekend at the Len Foote Hike in along the Appalachian Trail Approach, but decided to join the park service for their Second Saturday Hike to Chunanne Falls on my way. Arriving at the Smithgall Woods visitor's center a few minutes before the start of the scheduled hike, I check-in and then head out to meet the guide and other participants near the park's shuttle van. The guide describes what to expect and we all pack into the van for a short drive to the trailhead.

Once at the trailhead, the group heads into the wintery woods along a fairly well defined trail that runs parallel with the raging Dicks' Creek, emboldened by the recent rains we've had. The hike is only about a half-a-mile and soon, we arrive at the falls. I've visited once before, but in the summer there is only a trickle. Today, however, the water is pouring over the lovely little waterfall. After taking in the view for a short time, we head back to the van and return to the visitor's center. It was short and sweet, but I'm glad I made the trip. The waterfall was outstanding today.

Johnson Ferry - Morgan Falls Loop (Cobb County, Georgia)

 

I'm joining the Meetup group again today for a hike near the city. It's one I've done a number of times, but there are varying routes through this trail system in the Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area and the scenery is pretty nice. That said, we had heavy rains yesterday morning and I'm sure there will be some muddy spots, but I have to stop letting the weather prevent me from getting my trail miles in.

I arrived at the trail head about twenty minutes before the designated start time and finished off some fast food in my car. It's fairly cold (mid-thirties) outside and I haven't had a chance to eat anything yet today. Soon, the other hikers begin showing up and we form a circle for a quick round of introductions. Today's leader explains what has happened to the Meetup group's owner, much as I did last week, and soon we're on the trail.

It partially follows the river, but traverses some wetlands. The trails through these wetlands are pretty muddy as I predicted, but what's a little mud to a group of hikers. We make our way through the wetlands and the woods with a couple of small creek crossings. These are some of my favorite spots in the area due to the way the rock has been eroded by the running waters. From there, we head out towards Morgan Falls Dam, which I find to be improperly named. There is no waterfall here, only a small hydro-electric dam. It's not overly scenic, but due to construction our route is somewhat limited and from here we turn back.

The return trip to the parking lot is uneventful, but pleasant and I enjoy the conversations with my fellow hikers. Soon we arrive back at our cars, having hiked about 5.9 miles today. It's a short one, but at least I got outside and didn't let the wet weather keep me from what I love.