Walking in the Sound

Saturday April 5, 2014
St. George Island State Park
Eastpoint, Florida

 

 

YES that’s what I said, IN the sound, though not right away.

 

 

It is another foggy morning.  No sun visible sunrise this morning.  This is getting to be a pattern.  Yesterday we kayaked in the fog.  Today we think we’ll hike along the sound side shore.

We walk down to the Gulf.  It’s totally socked in.  But of course you can see 15 or 20 feet in front of you and that’s all we need to walk down to the last public beach area where we go up off the beach, cross over the road and take an unlabeled  trail down to the Sound side shore line.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

As we come over the crest, a flotilla of merganser are making their way north.  They look a lot foggier here than they did the moment we saw the 70 or 80 ducks.   This seems like a good omen for this afternoon.

 

 

 

 

It turns out that the path has brought us to Kayak Campsite #3 on the Saint George Sound Shore.  We paddled down past #1 and #2 yesterday, those are also the ones on the Primitive Trail.  But we didn’t get far enough down the shore to see #3.  Now we wonder how many campsites there are further on down.   Maybe next time we’ll skip paddling in the lagoon and come around the island and paddle to the end and find out.   Site #3 is a much shorter walk for those wanting to hike to camp.  But I suspect it may have  more visitors as well.  Although possibly not.

 

 

 

 

There are creatures in these shells.  Don’t take them home.

 

We walk south for a while looking at all the life alive on the sandy shore and in the shallow water of the Sound.  

 

 

The tide is out and shells are just sitting by the water’s edge waiting for it to come back in.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

With the tide out, the birds are probing for food.   Notice the stump in the background of the first picture

 

 

 

 

As you can see, the stump is just barely on the edge of the water.  I wonder if these shells were under water before the tide went out or if they climbed up on this stump to be out of the water.  Mother Nature is a real artist.  We are just amazed at its beauty.  I try not to take a picture of every single individual shell decorating this natural sculpture.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

On down the beach in the distance we see a little cove. 

 

There is no way to walk around this Great Blue Heron without disturbing him and the little birds around him. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We don’t want to interrupt them so we turn around to investigate the northern end of the shore line. Perhaps we can walk it back to the picnic table spot off the campground loop and make this a loop hike.   Fog still hasn’t lifted.

 

 

 

 

Walking IN the Sound begins here!

 

In a short time we find it is time to walk in the water  or turn back.   I don’t know why in the world we didn’t walk out in this water earlier.  It is wonderful.

 

 

 

 

 

There’s another blue heron fishing. 

There seems to be enough shoreline to go around without interrupting him.  Especially when he decides to move further away from the shore.  You can see water level is low quite far out. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Score for the canon!

As we walk around a pelican comes flying in and splash into the water.  Guess he missed his prey.  He doesn’t stay long.  Hats off to the Canon SX50 for the first shots I’ve ever been able to get of flying pelicans!

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is a busy and beautiful shoreline. 

 

It is quiet and undisturbed.  We don’t see another soul until we get back to the campground area and then only one young man walking toward us on the shore.   I am just loving this.  My kind of place, my kind of day.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The water’s retreat has exposed what look like peat beds.  We walk on them and they are spongy and soft if you don’t sink into the water just beneath them.  We seem to have come out by total luck at the exact best time for seeing all the birds and creatures in the water.  With higher water this shore would be under water and more precarious to walk on as well as the water would be deeper.

 

 

 

 

The water is shallow and a lovely temperature.  The shells are amazing.

 

Off and on all afternoon we have been walking in water and taking pictures of the live shells we are walking around.  The pictures aren’t great but then they are taken through the water.  I just love seeing their little legs scurrying along.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We are nearing the path up to the campground when we come to an area of fallen trees. 

 

There are many stumps and sharp points out in the water so we do a combination of water walking and crawling  over and around to make our way to the end of our afternoon on the Sound Shore.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Everywhere we look nature is using and decorating each surface to its best advantage.

 

 

 

Just after we get through the fallen trees we see the picnic table along the shore and the lovely oak that signal the path back to the campground.  This has been a great afternoon walk in and along the water and we only spent 5 hours. 

 

 

 

THE END