7/2/18 On the same trip as Great Smoky Mountains, I was able to spend a day at Congaree National Park on my way out to Charleston, South Carolina. Overgrown swampy trail, spiders, wild boar, and killer mosquitos made for a fascinating adventure.
1 Congaree is a relatively small national park near Columbia, SC. After over 30 years of grassroots lobbying, it finally officially became a National Park in 2003. It's one of the last old growth flood plain forests in the country. Over 99% of the flood plain forest land in the US has been destroyed. Congaree also has one of the largest concentrations of champion trees in the world including the tallest known examples of 15 different species!
2 The Mosquito Meter at the ranger station. It's no joke, the mosquitos here are insane. If this was only a Severe day, I can't even imagine what War Zone must be like!
3 I really had no idea what to expect on the trail. I asked the ranger for some recommendations and then headed out. The trail starts on the boardwalk suspended a few feet off the ground. Congaree is a flood plain that is a few (to several) feet under water 10 times a year on average. It's basically a swamp that rises and recedes (and doesn't have gators). I timed it perfectly on a low water day.
4 These pencil tip looking growths are called "knees" and are actually part of the Bald Cypress tree's root system.
5 After the touristy boardwalk area, I start the River Trail loop that should take me out to the Congaree River.
6 The trail quickly starts to get narrow and overgrown. Now it's starting to get fun!
7 There are ponds of flood water everywhere. During a high water time, the entire loop trail would be under water.
8 A river offshoot flowing through the woods.
9 An up-ended tree that wasn't all too big. But you can see the massive, shallow root system.
10 I guess the "knees" are the top of that root system.
11 These black and orange caterpillar things are everywhere.
12 Interesting mushrooms growing right out of the downed trees.
13 As you get further out around the loop, the trail gets more overgrown and less maintained. Here a bridge is out, and it's a good thing the creek isn't flowing too high.
14 A couple times, I scared a group of wild boar and they went squealing off through the forest. They took off too fast for me to snap a picture. But you can see their hoof prints everywhere. And there are zero human prints. It's clear no one has been back here since at least the last high water time.
15 Made it to the Congaree River. You have to whack your way through the jungle to get out to the shoreline.
16 Made it out to a small sand bar, looking South down the Congaree.
17 Looking out the other direction.
18 As soon as you get past the river, the trail goes from overgrown to ridiculous. I feel like Indiana Jones whacking my way through the jungle.
19 A random sign marking the "trail". I love the "no bikes". Don't think you have to worry about that here. It looks like it's been years since the trail was maintained enough for bikes back here.
20 It's slow going, definitely didn't have to worry about running today. There's head high bushes of Poison Oak through here as well.
21 By FAR the most challenging part of the hike was the spiders. The webs were strewn across the trail almost constantly. I walked straight through hundreds of spider webs. After face planting through enough of them, I started using a stick to swing constantly in front of me. It helped some, but not much. By the end of the hike, I was convered head-to-toe in spider web strands. Evidently these guys are Golden Orb Weavers. They're not native to the area, but are taking it over. And this is evidently their prime season. The ones I saw got up to about 3 or 4 inches long. The ranger said they can get full hand size.
22 Even the bridges are overgrown and have treefall.
23 Mating butterflies.
24 Back into the area that's still retaining water. I love how the forest grows straight out of the water. But as soon as you stop moving, you get swarmed by a dense cloud of mosquitos.
25 The ground is so flat, there's places where it almost feels like you're standing below water level.
26 I took a quick detour out to Weston Lake.
27 And then the loop ends back in the touristy area on the High Boardwalk. The iconic Congaree photo.
28 An amazing amount of work must have gone into this boardwalk. Although I was growing very tired of spider webs and mosquitos, I loved this hike. It was unquestionably one of the most interesting trails I've done in quite some time!
29 After Congaree, it was time to head towards Charleston. I was hoping to get in one more hike, so I headed to Francis Marion National Forest. But by the time I got there, the ranger station was closed, and I had no info on trails, and it was already getting dark. So I had to skip this one, maybe next time. Tomorrow was Dustin's graduation from Maritime Enforcement "A" school, the reason for this entire great trip!