Here we are at the southernmost state park in South Carolina, located geographically between Hilton Head Island and Edisto Island. To get here, you drive through Beaufort, across St. Helena Island, and onto Hunting Island. This also represents our final state park in our journey to become Ultimate Outsiders.
Our first day here, we took care of business, getting our stamps and verification that we had indeed visited all 47 state parks currently in the system. As such, we became official Ultimate Outsiders!
They called the ranger in, took our picture, asked us some questions about our journey, etc. Tiffany and I got some mugs, and we’re all going to get T-shirts in the mail.
And while this is all good and well…we had a park to explore!
The drive into the park transports you to another world. Think tropical jungle. Dense vegetation everywhere. Palmettos and pines and all other sorts of trees, bushes, and vines. A deer ran out in front of us. I think someone on Google Reviews said that the park reminded them of Jurassic Park. So beautiful.
We first a few minutes up in the northern part of the park near the lighthouse, which we will explore later. Here they had some erosion barriers, and perhaps because of those, we found a lot of shells washed up. (The tide was out.) So many beautiful shells! We even saw a sand dollar, but it was alive, and as such, we left it alone.
We then drove down to the nature center, which was unfortunately under construction. But that’s not why we were there anyway. We were there to meet the naturalist at the park to walk with us through the maritime forest and over to Little Hunting Island, teaching us some things along the way.
But first, we must…MUST…talk about the mosquitoes.
Over 10 years ago, I was deep in the Guatemalan jungle, seeing Mayan ruins and having a close encounter with a coral snake. It was then that I experienced the worst episode of mosquitoes ever. I could not stop moving, or else the swarm of mosquitoes would descend on me. As in, there were multiple, multiple mosquitoes always flying around me.
Today was no different. Fortunately, we had bug spray, and the naturalist said she also was coated in it. (She also had pants on, but we were dressed for the beach…much more delicious skin for mosquitoes.) Even still, the mosquitoes were rampant, and so we were grateful when the half-mile trail through the maritime forest opened up to the wind that’s present on the beach.
The beach we ended up at is now called Boneyard Beach. The naturalist shared some information with us about the life cycle of barrier islands. Ocean currents naturally cause sand to move from place to place. Hunting Island is currently losing a lot of sand annually, flowing southward to Fripp Island.
When Hurricane Matthew came through in 2016, the lack of sand in one area caused the rising surge to breach a certain area and I think into the marsh or lagoon area behind the island. (I’m butchering the details…but you get the point. Hurricane + limited sand = bad.) As such, the influx of salt water caused the trees to die on this part of the island (and I suppose this breach also caused this part of the island to officially separate and become Little Hunting Island). There used to be cabins here, but they aren’t there anymore. The dead trees are now just the trunks and major branches, most on their sides, in pieces, etc.
As the naturalist told us, though it makes for great photo ops, it is a reminder of the life cycle of islands, concluding with the somber thought that in a couple of centuries, Hunting Island itself will no longer exist. It definitely made me grateful for the opportunity to see what we saw.
Replete with bug bites, I was eager to jump in the water. The girls did as well. The water hadn’t warmed up yet, thanks also in part to a cold snap where weather was in the 50s and 60s for about four days. But of course, kids don’t care. Check out the time we went to Myrtle Beach in February. The girls also spent time making a sand castle.
We then headed out to the gift shop. After 47 parks of our kids asking us to buy them a stuffed animal, we finally said yes. They each picked out a raccoon, probably due to the naturalist’s influence. She told us that on the island, the raccoons eat a lot of shrimp. As such, their fur is more red than other raccoons inland! (We also learned that the most troublesome invasive species on the island is…the domestic cat, which probably escape from visitors. Who brings their cat camping anyway?)
We then said goodbye to our first day on Hunting Island. With hungry bellies, we headed to the nearby Shrimp Shack to get some yummy grub for lunch. To read about our afternoon and evening, check out my way-too-long post on our visit to Reconstruction Era National Historical Park.
That night, we went back to our AirBnB on St. Helena Island, got cleaned up, then settled in to watch the finals of the National Spelling Bee until the girls fell asleep, because that’s what any normal family would do, right?
Click below for a few more pictures from Day 1. Day 2 continues below.
On Day 2, we had a less programmed day. We had spent the morning around Beaufort at the national park, so the girls were itching to do something other than listen to people talk. They had been talking about ice cream since the previous day, so first up was getting an ice cream from the park store.
One thing I wanted to be sure and see was the lighthouse. Built in 1873ish, it has a feature not present in other lighthouses…the ability to be moved. In fact, the lighthouse is currently in its second location. If you’ll recall above, erosion and shifting of the island naturally occurs, and apparently the builders took this into account.
As we strolled around the lighthouse, the girls finishing up their Oreo ice cream cones, I couldn’t help but marvel what feat it must have been to disassemble this huge building and move it.
Unfortunately, the lighthouse closed to those wanting to climb just over a year ago due to structural integrity issues. Hopefully they will be able to get it back up and running soon, as I’m sure the view would be priceless.
We all had a good time playing in the surf. I enjoyed looking back and seeing the lighthouse towering overhead. By late afternoon, and with no small amount of prying Teagan out of the waves, who, I’m sure, would gladly stay there attempting to bodysurf all day, we headed out.
As we walked out, the girls stayed behind in the sand. Tiffany and I were growing frustrated with them not following, but as they finally came, they said that they had been writing ‘Bye, beach’ in the sand. They definitely had a ball.
It was a great way to cap off our journey of becoming Ultimate Outsiders. Expect a post soon with more reflections of the journey itself. Feel free to comment with any questions you’d like us to answer!
Beavers in the Park 