I very much enjoyed my October camping trip on Cumberland Island. I upgraded my sleeping pad at Christmas and have been waiting for a couple of days to camp again where the temperatures were good (70’s day and 50’s at night) and outside of hunting season. This time I was more local at Ralph E. Simmons Memorial State Forest.
The campsite required a 45 minute hike to a spot on St. Marys River without water, electricity, or a bathroom. I rather like having water to drink, electricity to charge my phone to take pictures or read, and...well...a bathroom. So I just stayed for 24 hours. It was actually rather fabulous! I saw no one except two guys on their boats who sped past without seeing me. It was just me and nature.
Last month I hiked the loop trail to check out the campsite here. A section of the trail was closed then and was still closed for repairs. I did some hiking this time but really not much past the hike in and out.
Story #1: I was laying down on a bench at the campsite watching clouds go by. The wind was fascinating moving clouds at different speeds and directions depending on the height. At one point I saw a dot cloud traveling one direction while a Pac-Man cloud headed the other way to “eat” the dot. Anyhow...I noticed a vulture circling above me. Then I realized there was at least a dozen vultures (a kettle) circling in my general area. At this point I figured I should probably get moving in case they thought I was lying here dead. They left after a few minutes. Maybe it was just a good spot for thermals but I don’t like the coincidence!
Story #2: I was down at the river just looking around when I heard a commotion on the opposite riverbank. Something came out of the woods and splashed into the water. My first thought was an alligator but it moved too fast. I watched it move back and forth across the water and noticed a head would come out of the water then it would swim under the water but it was too far away to be sure what it was. Then it started swimming to my side of the river. I realized it was a river otter, which was very cool. But then I also realized it was coming directly toward me and fast! My mind flashed to the Killer Rabbit of Caerbannog in Monty Python. When the otter was less than 10 feet away from me, it surfaced and seemed to see me. It screamed and jumped, turning away to swim up river. I don’t think I screamed but I jumped too and scrambled up the riverbank. I quickly calmed down to watch the otter playing and probably eating while swimming back and forth on the river at a distance from my campsite. (The 2nd picture was as I ran away!)
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