Day 7- Congaree National Park

 Today was a different day and it showed by the end. But it was a good day. I went straight to the park no breakfast. Was eating granola and energy bars etc. Drinking plenty of water. Ready for the heat. First I did the Boardwalk Loop, a 2.6 mile round trip with a nice view of different areas of the surrounding parklands. The best part of that first walk was the Barred Owl I saw. 

The trees dominating this area are called Water tupelos and are identified by the swollen trunks on the bottom. The moss you see shows how high flood waters have gotten in Congaree over the years.

I learned these were called "knees" to the majestic bald cypress trees that populate the area. The wood in these trees is called "wood eternal" and the trees can live up to 1000 years. They believe the knees provide extra structural support in floods and high wind.

This shots shows how just a slight increase in the ground elevation changes the fauna. Switch cane dominates the floor here instead of the water and mud seen in many of the other pictures.

Wise Lake

Between the two trees in the forefront you should be able to make out an Iron box. It was part of a moonshine still. During prohibition moonshiners used Congaree extensively to hide from the man.

A Barred Owl grooming itself.

I must have seen at least 500 different spiders on just that first hike. There were so many massive webs spun up all over the place. I have tried to find how many different ones have been cataloged but I have not found anything.

After the loop was done I hit the Park Store for my goodies. Then back out onto the "wilderness" trails. Seriously that is what the signs said. They were like you are now entering Congaree wilderness. Started om Bluff Trail for a bit, then on to Sims Trail., then on to Weston Lake Loop Trail and then back to Bluff Trail. It was about 5.5 mile hike total on top of the 2.6 from earlier. So many cool things.

After such a fun day it was back to crash and get ready for the homeward bound trip. Honestly this was a fast but fun trip and I knocked off 4 more National Parks. Can not wait till October for a return to Acadia.