Memorial Day Weekend and we had five days, Covid 19 limited park access for a backpack, Craig said "Beach, Florida?" I said "do you have a fever?" He said no, I said Tybee, then we found St Helena, SC. I found a campsite close to the beach, Camelot Farms Equestrian Center. They said non horse folks welcome to camp here in a beautiful place. Beach here we come! We got there around 8 pm, saw the campsites under the huge trees dripping with Spanish moss. Had to find the house to check in. Mark and his dogs were very welcoming. We got set up and tried to find the ocean before it got dark. We walked along the farm, found the marsh and river. Decided to wait till morning for the ocean.
Day 2, We called Mark to get better directions for the beach access. 15 minute walk on the farm, across the bridge, thru the woods to the road (on the left) and to the beach. Found jelly fish, crabs, and lots and lots of shells, plenty of sand, and water was cool. And we should have brought an umbrella. Soaked up a little too much sun the first day. Drove around the Islands historic area. Old churches, cemeteries, Fort Fremont, and Piedmont Center. Then we headed to Beaufort to walk around the city exploring history and the water front. Beautiful city to explore. Back at camp, we found the bath house. Seen better, seen worse, vines coming in around the roof. Then we grilled and watched the stars.
Day 3, Hunting Island State Park. Got there early, prime parking spot. Walked to the lighthouse, draped with Old Glory. Walked to where the trails started, then saw a trail marker that made us question. So as we were studying the map, a Ranger pulled up and asked if we needed help. I pointed at the sign that didn't match the map, and he said in the 3 years he had worked there he had never seen that trail marker. He said it would come down today, and pointed us to the visitor center (closed) with the alligator pond to find the trail. The Maritime Forest trail was like tropical forest. Palms, palmettos, moss, marsh. Then mostly flat trail to the end of the Island. A bridge over the river led to another little loop. We saw a giant racoon, and hundreds of little bitty crabs, and a deer. There were kayakers on this part of the river. Then lots of trees down at the end of the island. Someone had told us the State Park keeps losing land due to hurricanes. Beach time was a little more crowded but they limited the access to 600 and closed the gates. Everyone was spaced out along the miles of beach so we had lots of room. Only the water kept getting further away. Craig got a beach nap in without melting. Had our dinner grilling by the lighthouse. Met a family there from Johnson City, Tennessee. They knew by our hot dogs, tater salad and sweet tea we had to be from TN too. On the way back to camp we stopped by Bubba's and had us some ice cream. Then another night by the fire. We learned about Lowcountry.
Day 4 Heading back to highcountry, we stopped at the Plumb Branch Yacht Club on the Savannah river for lunch. Then travel thru the back country to Franklin, NC to Cartoogachaye Creek Campground on Hwy 64. Nestled in the mountains, close to the trail we wanted to hike. We set up then headed to Pickens Nose Trailhead. You have to drive up the mountain on a forest service road, and it is UP the mountain. We found a little spring time in the flowers that were blooming. Foam flower, and Umbrella Leaf abundant by the streams. There was a piped spring along the way. We went high enough our ears popped. Short trail, .75 miles to the rock outcroppings for breathtaking views. We had it almost to ourselves. Back at the bottom of the drive we got out to inspect the water monitoring system kiosk. Got in the Jeep, looked up and a big bear was crossing the road. He wasn't patient enough to wait while we fumbled with phone and camera. We got back to camp and didn't stay up long after seeing the moon come out and stars.
Day 5 we got up to a misty morning. We decided to check out some waterfalls nearby. We followed 64 up to Highlands Lake seeing five of the falls. We finished up with a trip to see Burningtown Falls near the Macon County airport before going back to pick up the camper. Then we headed home.
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