Island Adventures

I’ve been visiting Cumberland Island for the last few years in October (1, 2, 3, 4). However, with the government shutdown I had to delay it. December was definitely different from October. It was colder (and I wasn’t quite prepared for early morning temperatures) but also much less crowded (which I liked). The campgrounds were maybe one-third full with fewer day trip people. Matter of fact, the ferry doesn’t run two days a week so us campers pretty much had the island to itself.

Perhaps it was because there were so few people, but everyone seemed so friendly. We exchanged stories of animal sightings and “secret” places to visit. I learned where to find fossil shark’s teeth though I found more fossil bones than teeth. I even borrowed someone’s phone to text John since their AT&T had service while my Verizon had nothing. A couple campers told me about the orange and grapefruit trees that had ripe fruit in one of the campgrounds. They say they grew from seeds that campers spit out. Online, it seems it might be seeds spread by birds from citrus trees grown as a cash crop. Who knows?

As far as animals, I saw 3 dolphins on the ferry ride.

When you hear a noise in the trees on Cumberland Island, it can be an armadillo, deer, raccoon, squirrel, wild pig, or a wild horse. I saw all of these this week. (They say there are bobcats on the island but I haven’t spoke to anyone who saw one.) I only saw a few deer. Most ran before I could get a good picture.

Armadillos were everywhere. Technically, this is a nine-banded armadillo. See the tail.

In previous visits, I only saw a few wild pigs. On just one hike in the North section of the island, I saw 13 different pigs. All stared at me for awhile then ran away.

The horses may be the most dangerous animals on the island. You are supposed to stay a school bus length from them though they sometimes walk up closer than that. They tell a story about a lady getting too close trying to get a selfie. The horse kicked her and she had to be life-flighted off the island. Then her insurance wouldn’t pay for the helicopter so she had to pay the $20,000 for the helicopter herself. Scary story, but I can’t find that it really happened by googling it, so who knows.

I’ve wanted to see the North section in previous visits but was either unprepared for the hike or the area was closed due to hurricane damage. I finally got there! There is a wonderful campground 10.5 miles north of the ferry landing. The campground is big enough and full of trees so that I didn’t even realize there were people at three other campsites until I wandered along the trail. At any time, horses may wander through the campground.

The sunsets every night was absolutely gorgeous. The pictures can’t convey the colors.

Of course, I had to do some general hiking. Overall, I hiked more than 40 miles over the 5 days. But much of my hiking was in the North section where the trails aren’t very clear. There are no blazes. The poorly marked human trail and the easy to see horse paths cross so I wandered off the official path several times. On one trail I ended up fighting my way through saw palmettos that scratched me. Turns out that a guy I talked to on the ferry back got lost on a trail and was scratched up by saw palmettos too. BTW, this picture was another trail with saw palmettos just on the side.

But I finally got to the church that’s 15 miles from the dock. It was a church, school, and meeting place for the black population that lived here through the 1900’s. It was also the location of the 1996 wedding of John F. Kennedy, Jr. I finally did it!

East Side Okefenokee Swamp

We’ve camped in our RV several times at the state park (1, 2, 3). It’s a good place to camp but not many hiking trails. It’s also a 1.25 hour drive from our home. Closer to our home is an entrance on the east side of the swamp but we’ve never visited this part of the park.

There isn’t any camping within the park, but there’s more to do. There’s a museum at the visitors center. On a short trail nearby, we found people fishing. The funny part was that when one of the guys caught a fish, he had to pull it up quickly before a waiting alligator could grab it!

A turkey crossed the road on our drive. One hike is along a canal used for logging in the early 1900’s. At one stop, you hike back to a farm and home from a family who lived here 1880’s to 1970’s. There’s corn cribs, syrup shed, chickens, hog pen, and all sorts of things near the home. Some of it reminded me of the farm I grew up in. However, our tub wasn’t on the back porch with a view of the outside.

The longest and more exciting hike is 1.5 mile round trip on a boardwalk. Along the boardwalk we saw a couple of snakes. This one was a Florida banded water snake.

There were also a couple of alligators staring at us. I was hoping they didn’t stay here to eat tourists passing by!

The end of the trail is a tower with a view of a lake, the swamp, and the upper levels of the trees.

This is probably the last local trip we will take for the summer. It’s been hitting 90 degrees and the humidity is high. Looking forward to the fall and winter!

Hurricanes and Cumberland Island

I’ve visited Cumberland Island last year (1, 2) and enjoyed it so much that I made reservations months ago. Unfortunately, Helene and Milton both affected the island. The park was closed during my original dates but I was able to get in after the second hurricane. Trees were down around the island. The park was able to clear the main road of the trees but most of the north paths were closed. Turns out that this is a wilderness area and they are not allowed to use chainsaws to clear hiking trails. It may take awhile to open those paths.

One amusing issue was that the 3.5 mile path back to the campsite had a few small trees across the path and lots of little debris. So energy was required to hike, carry the backpack, and to high step over the debris and walk around / go under / or climb over the bigger stuff.

I was the first person after the storms at my campsite so I had to pick up debris there so I could safely walk around plus a good spot for my tent. The campground was less than half full. I’m assuming many people canceled.

I didn’t spend much time on the beach since it was very windy and cool most of my visit. I spent a little time early on when it was warmer but unfortunately I got lots of bites from sand fleas. My feet looked like I had measles.

Most of my time was similar to last year’s visit. I visited Plum Orchard and took the tour again. The Tiffany lamps are still amazing. This time we learned more plus got to visit a volunteer’s room. Two volunteers live in the servants area, keep the house clean, and guide 3 tours every day for two months at a time. It would be interesting thing to do.

I wandered the Dungeness area again but spent more time at some of the smaller ruins and building this time. I was amused by the workshop and storage area where old bathtubs were stored.

I may or may not have visited an area called “The Chimneys”. This is where the enslaved people working at one of the mansions lived. The government has maintained the chimneys that are the only remains of the homes. However, the land is still private (though expected to transfer to the park in a few years).

The animals were out again. LOTS of wild horses.

I saw armadillos, deer, turkey, feral pigs, squirrels, and butterflies!

And, because it’s the south, lots of large live oaks along with Spanish moss that weren't affected by the storms. Both a challenging and a relaxing trip!

Cumberland Island Walking Tours (Free!)

There is so much to do on the island. The campground I stayed at was perfect. One day I went north to Plum Orchard and one day I went south to Dungeness Ruins. When we visited before we hiked a 4 mile loop that included the Dungeness ruins, the beach, and a museum. This trip I had the time to do a tour from the dock to the Dungeness ruins.

Turns out there was much more to see than just the big house. There were all sorts of buildings surrounding the mansion like a greenhouse, grape arbor, formal gardens, carriage houses, recreation building with a swimming pool and more. Most are just ruins but you get the feel for the scale.

I heard how advanced the Carnegie’s were to have DC power from their own power house and ice made by their own equipment (picture below) back in the late 1800s. They built roads, power lines, and telephone lines between the mansions on the island. This part I liked. The part where as rich people they felt they had to flaunt their wealth with the biggest mansions, plenty of Tiffany lamps, and 200+ servants while they spent their days eating and drinking was just sad. Makes me glad I was never rich!

The Carnegie’s not only built Dungeness, but built several other large houses and mansions on the island for their children and their families. The Stafford House is still privately owned but I walked past it. It’s big!

The other tour I took was of Plum Orchard which was fascinating.

Can you say opulence? Did you know Tiffany even made wall paper?

The story was that if you visited with children, they would assign a servant to watch them and you never had to see them the whole time.

Of course they had their own swimming pool and squash court and game room. I guess they didn’t just eat and drink.

To top my trip off, it’s an island. There are lots of beaches and few people. I walked for several hours on the beach without seeing anyone. What an amazing place!