I enjoyed one of the most beautiful scenes of a jungle on my trip to Costa Rica.  We were high in the mountains above the Pacific Coast rain forests surrounded by beautifully maintained gardens.

Every morning I would watch the clouds rise from the valleys into the sky.

And every evening settle down into the valleys for a long rest.

Many of the mountains were very high.  These ones rise above palm plantations.

The trees were amazing.  I tried to hug a few, but they were too big.

Many of the trees have enormous buttress roots.  They help hold up the massive trees.  People used this strategy when building huge buildings before they were built with metal and concrete.

Is this where chocolate comes from?

Not only can the canopy be delicious, but also fun. The animals climb along the massive branches in the dark canopy.  We prefer to fly, zzzzzzzzzzip!

Down from the emergent layer in the sun into the dark unknown.

Under the canopy in the understory and forest floor, it sure is dark!  No wonder baby trees take so long to grow big.

Down here there is plenty of water.  Just not enough sun for many plants to grow on the forest floor.

Speaking of the sun, I think it is time it went to bed.  All of this exploring has worn me out.

Good night!

It started out lovely, as they all happen to do.  Our camping visit to Congaree National Park in South Carolina began perfectly.  The campground was deserted, the mosquito meter was on low, and the temperature was pleasant.  Little did we know that an innocent hike would become potentially life threatening.

Both of us have been primitive camping and hiking since before we could walk.  We were well prepared with several layers of clothes, first aid, compass, water bottles, map, flashlight, knife, multi-tool, emergency fire making equipment, water purification, extra batteries, a German shepherd, and a gps.

We decided to do a loop known as the Oakridge trail.  Download a trail map here: Congaree trail Map page.

A simple 5 hour hike through the swamp.

Bad Decision #1

It was in the high 40′s with a bit of chilly wind as we were hiking through behemoth cypress and tupelo trees. When a bit of swamp crossed our path.  No problem, just take off your shoes, cross the water, wipe off your feet, and return shoes to proper location. The crossing was slippery, cold, and wet.  The dog didn’t care.  This was our first bad decision. Thus:

Bad Decision #2

Several miles after the short crossing, something a bit larger got in the way.

The other side could not be seen.  The smart thing would have been to turn around now.  We looked at the map and found we had nearly completed the entire loop.  Turning back now would put us back in camp several hours after dark in near freezing temperatures.  We would also be crossing the water in the dark.

It was decided to continue along this mass of water in hopes that we would find a narrower crossing or the other trail that it should meet up with in a half mile.

Continuing North with the water on our left, we came face to face with the major creek running through the park, Cedar Creek.  Several hundred feet wide and over our head deep.  This became impossible crossing number two.  Even in warm weather I would no brave this as swamp mud can sink you down over your head.  A person could become immobilized under water and dead very soon.

That led me to:

Bad Decision #3: Trusting the GPS

My gps claimed the trail crossed to our side of the water about a mile from where we were stading.  This was easy to believe as we had crossed many bridges throughout the day.  I confidently headed straight ahead with Cedar Creek on my left.

Giant wild boars grunted and dashed through the leaves as the sun sank.  We had nearly completed another loop inside the first one made by the trail and should be back to where we crossed the water earlier in the day.  My husband stopped at a creek stretched in front of us insisting the trail was just on the other side of this very steep banked deep water crossing.  I did not believe him as my gps said the trail was somewhere on THIS side of the water. A giant tree had fallen across the water, he wanted to brave it.  A fall in would have left a person drenched and exposed to hypothermia on the hike back.  The map said a large bridge crossing was to our south, if we could just get to that we could see it in the dark easily and get back to camp.

I marked the fallen log on my gps and we continued. We were nearly back to were we crossed the water earlier and would find our trail again when, yes another bit of water was in our way.

Trusting Intuition

We could be weaving our way around fingers of water all night long just to get back to the water crossing to be made in the dark and bitter cold. Once found we would have a two hour hike back to camp. My husband mentioned the log crossing. For the first time that day, I made a good decision.  I trusted him.

We crossed in the dark with our amazing german shepherd between us.  The trail markers were less than 50 feet ahead of us.  We were saved.

What We Didn’t Know

We could have died.  It was 30 degrees that night.  My husband was quickly becoming an expert fire maker with his flint and magnesium.  If the trail was not on the other side of that log, my husband was going to make a fire and we would camp for the night.  Hypothermia can kill at temperatures well above freezing.  With a fire, we could live.

What was it that we didn’t know?  That the swamp was in flood stage from rains days before in the mountains to the northwest.  The spot we were stuck in the night before was underwater by the next day.  Our fire would have been drowned, we would have been soaked, lost, and very possibly dead by morning.

What We Learned

Gps’s give only a vague idea on where you are.  Do not trust it, but use the information it gives WITH a paper map.  Learn to use a map and a compass.  Note where you are at all times by paying attention to the distance you have walked, your surroundings, the distance you will need to walk back, and reference this with what you see on the map.  As prepared as we were, we were just lucky. Very, very stupid, but very, very lucky.

The Wiki on Hypothermia

The Reptiles Alive crew was invited to spend a few days at Assateague Island by park ranger friends. This is where the famous wild ponies wander the beaches. I was excited to try surf fishing for the first time. Caroline was up for some grilling and kicking back on the sand.

http://www.nps.gov/asis/

We lucked out on this trip right off the bat. Assateague is notorious for its blood sucking mosquitos in the summer. Our entire weekend turned out to be just breezy enough to keep the little vampires off of us. After introducing us to all of the nice people at the campsite, I wanted to hit the surf.

Like my bathing suit? My good swimsuit ended up in the dryer, so I made due with shorts and a tank top. The water was freezing cold, but I thought it felt great. It had been a long time since I got to swim in the ocean. I just love those waves.

Next, was to find out what sort of creatures swam around in those waves. We were staying on the national seashore instead of the park, so it was ok to go fishing. There was even a perfect little bait shop for all of your camping and fishing needs right on the other side of the bridge before driving on to the island. There we picked up poles that could hold up to the surf, blood worms, and fake blood worm stuff. I found out that I really liked the fake blood worms. They were little strips not unlike thin bubble gum. They did not wiggle, slime, or bleed. I believe that they did just fine. Caroline told me that we needed to get some small fish to catch some big stuff. Well, what do you know? The bait shop was equipped with a freezer full of them!

Check out the awesome creatures we caught and released!

That is Caroline holding what I believe is a dogfish.

That nifty looking thing on the right is a ray or skate. Go ray! Both of them went right back in to the ocean and swam away. We had hotdogs for the eating.

The weather was fantastic on the first day. We even got to build a nice campfire that night and drink some hot cocoa. (one of my all time favorite things for camping)

I slept so well that night in my nice cozy tent, that I was up before dawn, fishing of course! Check out this unbelievable sunrise!

I caught several dogfish and released them before anyone was awake.

We had a wonderful breakfast. Then to some serious relaxing on the beach, followed by the most important part of a Reptiles Alive vacation. That is, looking for herps.

We walked along the gorgeous secondary dune trail and ran into a little bumpy slimer! I love the bumps on this guy. Nice color!

That toad took a mighty fine picture. We had a wonderful hike along the dune trail before heading back to the car and back home.

Look at the lovely scenery along this trail!

On our way out, I finally had my camera ready for a shot at the resident feral ponies. See you soon guys, we had a great time!