Gratitude. Fortitude. Attitude.
Gratitude: I was so thankful for everything I had. Fortitude: I needed to use fortitude at Cumberland Island. Attitude: I needed a good attitude to get through this hike.
Last time, I told you about our LONG hike to Brickhill Bluff and all the shark teeth we found. Since that post, guess what? Mom accidentally threw them away! We DO have some shark teeth we found a few years ago on Morris Island that Mom DIDN’T throw away. Morris Island is near Cumberland Island so the teeth are black too.
Back to Cumberland Island, during our “rest” day I had to hike 5 miles round trip to a different beach. On the way, we saw alligators, giant sand dunes, marsh grasses, cool trees covered with Spanish moss, and “monge”.
Monge is what we call a mossy sponge that we saw along the trail to the beach. I touched it! It’s so cool. Well, it’s not really called monge. That’s a made-up name that we thought of when we saw reindeer moss, which is really not a moss either. In fact, it’s a lichen.
Giant sand dunes: They were so big I couldn’t see over them. They were taller than me. The dunes are very important. They protect the island.
Spanish moss: A draping moss, but it is not a moss at all. It is a flowering plant native to Mexico, Central America, South America, the US, and the Caribbean. But don’t hug it. There could be lots of bugs hiding in it.
The beach is HUGE!!!!! But I couldn’t play in the water because the waves were too big and strong. There weren’t many people. A non-crowded beach!
There was so much to find on the beach. Mom and I found knobbed whelks, giant cockle shells, sand dollars, horseshoe crab skeletons, and angel wings. We couldn’t bring them all home because it was too much weight. We saw something cool, sea foam! It is so spongy. I touched it! Coolest thing! I found the only lightning whelk and mom found what we think is a reverse spiraled lightning whelk. They are all so beautiful! Especially my lightning whelk. It has the colors of the rainbow.
You can tell the difference between a knobbed whelk and a lightning whelk by its spiral. Knobbed whelks have a dextral spiral, which is a fancy word for right-handed spiral. Lightning whelks have a sinistral spiral, which is a fancy word for left-handed spiral. Shell experts guess 1 out of 10,000 lightning whelks spin the wrong way. Here you can see juvenile lightning and knobbed whelks side by side.
When we got back, we set up the hammock. There were so many gnats! So Mom and I rushed into the hammock for shelter. We have a Eno DoubleNest hammock for two people. It was big enough to cover us both and so comfortable. Mom fell asleep after eating a snack. 20 minutes later, I got out and went exploring with Dad. We found a bunch of fiddler crabs along the shore further away from our campsite. I ran back to tell everyone about it, but Mom was still asleep so I went back to the beach to my dad. It started to rain while we were there so we had to run back. When we got back, Mom was still asleep, so I had to wake her up. Then she realized it was raining. She had to get out of the hammock and go into the tent. She can move fast if she wants.
Our friends set up a hammock fly so we could cook our dinner in the rain, but we had a problem . . . The gnats were attracted to the light from our headlamps. We hung a lantern in the rain to lure the gnats away. Problem solved! It also helped that we switched our headlamps to red light because they didn’t like it as much as white.
The next day it was time to leave. I was both excited and not excited to leave. I knew I would miss the beach but my left foot was a bit sore. After we ate breakfast, Mom and Dad packed everything and we set off on the trail. When we got back to the main trail, I didn’t want to leave because I would miss the beach. Here’s a cool look at the same spot on the main trail: one at low tide (the day we arrived) and one at high tide (the morning we left.)
At first, my foot didn’t hurt, but then it started hurting later. When cars passed, I was able to rest. Our camping friends offered Tylenol to me, but I said “no.” Soon it was time to move again. Later, we stopped somewhere (I don’t remember where it was.) That’s when I realized I needed the Tylenol. I was lucky that I was able to get some. After a while my foot felt a little better, but still hurt.
When we were close to Stafford Field I made up a game called “Racing Horses. How to play: each person is one horse unless two people want to work together. If you choose to work together one person will pretend to ride a chariot. There will be different rounds. There can be as many rounds as you want. No pushing or shoving and no cheating.We played until we got tired. What surprised me was everyone played along with me. While we were playing, we ran about 2 miles. When we got to the end of the meadow, we saw . . . HORSES!!! Real, live horses!!! I was so excited. We also saw armadillos. Sorry, I didn’t mention it this post.
We took some pictures and found a place to rest. We looked at the map and I was overjoyed to find out that we were more than half way there! Then Dad started to run, and I chased him. We got pretty far ahead of the group, so we stopped and waited for everyone else to catch up.
Soon we had hiked about another 3 miles, but it felt like we were still 100 miles away (even if we were probably less than 2 miles away). I was so tired, but we were trying to get to the ferry (a kind of boat) before it left. Pretty soon we got to a fork. We looked at the map and went right. I knew we were close, but I was hurting so much that I started to cry. I was starting to have a breakdown very near the end. We saw a pickup truck from the nearby Greyfield Inn that they use to transport their guests. Mom got in the middle of the road and flagged down the driver. After she explained how I tired I was, the driver let us hitch a ride in the back. Mom and I got on, but Dad decided to keep on hiking. In the back of the truck, we met some of the guests and started telling them about our adventure. We soon learned that we had already hiked super close to the end and only rode the truck for less than a quarter of a mile. Soon we got to the dock and waited at the entry for Dad. Then he came! We greeted him by hugging him and giving him kisses. The best part about finishing the hike is using the RESTROOM with actual toilets that flush and sinks to wash your hands. CIVILIZATION!!!
One of our friends decided to go on a short hike to a nearby beach while we waited for the ferry. I wanted to go, but Mom wouldn’t let me. It might be because I had already cried about hiking earlier. Instead, Mom and I went to the dock and beneath the dock were more crabs! We watched the crabs for a while. I observed the crabs bumping and fighting each other, and they were really mad at each other. They were CRABBY!!
An hour later it was time to leave and catch the ferry. I was sad to say goodbye to the crabs. And the beach. The whole island.
I hope you enjoyed reading this post. Come back next time for more adventure. Onward!
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