Cumberland Island National Seashore Part II

Crooked River State Park

Site #6

St. Marys, Georgia

If you haven't read the first half of this great trip to Cumberland Island National Seashore please do.  It is just below this one.

So another of nature's beauties just there on the sand for me to enjoy.

at this point it was just after 1:00 and time for lunch when this lovely ocean front bench provided itself

On down the beach we found these other folks also enjoying the beautiful temperatures in the low 70's the warm sun and the light breeze

Aren't these great!

Got my feet in the ocean for the first time in weeks and in early November yet.  Feels GREAT!!

Such a wide beach made me wonder if all our coast line would have such beaches if we forced development back away so the sands could shift and move at will.

This sea urchin appeared at my feet as I left the water knowing time was running out and I had the Maritime forest yet to explore

Couldn't resist a picture of this natural collage

A parting shot of my favorite, the sea oats on the dunes

We took this path away from the beach and

into the Maritime Forest

What a great looking path

Those live oaks are just spectacular.  All you can say is WOW isn't this cool!

Could they have filmed the Wizard of Oz section in the forest here??  :-)

I was just walking along admiring the path, the trees, the palmettos when I happened to look down at this natural scene on the path. 

We walked along this trail down the island's center until we came to Sea Camp Campground.  After being only able to see a small section of this beautiful place I understood that to see it all I would have to return and spend days.  So I checked out these campgrounds for a future backpacking week on Cumberland Island.  Maybe NEXT November?  At this rate I may never get across the Mississippi River in my travels but I do love the Atlantic Coast from Nova Scotia to Florida.  Aren't these great walk in campsites??

It was nearing time to catch the ferry so I went for one last look at the dunes and the ocean.

Coming back we passed this great tree and a mother taking a picture of her adult daughter.  David volunteered to get one of both of them and they returned the favor.  Some tree huh??

We got back to the Sea Camp Ranger station in time for the 4:00 program on Sea Turtles which was very informative.  The middle school group was there filling the room and they were very attentive and asked great questions.  I was impressed.

This is the Sea Camp dock.  It is the second stop on the way to the island and the first on the way back.

So when the boat arrived at 4:30

we were able again to get seats inside with these same high schoolers you saw in the pictures on the way in.  But they look a lot different now don't they?  :-)

The sun was setting as we pulled into the St. Mary's dock.   A standing ovation for the orchestrator this fine day?

What great weather.  What a great hike.  What a great place. And the sliver of a moon against the color of the sky outside the National Seashore visitor's center ends a perfect experience.

Don't miss it if you are along the Georgia coast.