Hunting Island Christmas Day 2018

December 30, 2018

Tuesday (Christmas Day) we had breakfast with mom and dad in their RV, and then headed out to Hunting Island State park for our first return in 3 years, since Hurricane Mathew wreaked havoc in the fall of 2016. We drove to the lagoon trail parking lot – parking lot J. The trail was different on the lagoon side – no greenery to block the view of the lagoon. The landscape also had changed such that the lagoon now feeds right into the ocean. There used to be a dune or natural barricade, now you can clearly see the ocean in the distance. While the trail looked very different, there was still a beauty to it and the walk was enjoyable.

We walked over the bridge to the beach area, meandered through the fallen trees to a clean portion of the beach near Fripp Island. We decided to return via the lagoon side of the trail, but came upon an injured and likely rabid raccoon, so we had to take the inner trail (maritime forest) back to the truck.

Then we drove to the campground, and although we had heard that it didn’t look the same, nothing could prepare us for just how different this place we once loved now looked. The front beach section, which was a beautiful natural area where we camped, now has the indelible mark of destruction of broken paved roads, dead foliage, and lots of debris.

The campsites across the road also are barren of any foliage, as the palm trees that once stood tall are now all gone. We looked at some sites on the lane across the road and picked out a few where there is some beach view in the distance (in order of preference: 147, 108, 109, 145, 134, 136, 141 – yet only 147, 108, and 109 prevent having to drive around the tight areas in the circle loop).

This attempt to find a glimmer of hope for a future stay was quickly diminished when we stepped onto the beach and saw the further devastation. What once was a wide, flat, sandy beach where the dogs could stretch their legs was now a slither of a walkway filled with hard-packed rippled sand – further washing away day by day- covered in debris – glass, pieces of concrete, and all kinds of other things the water washes ashore – Frye even found a piece of fleshy meat – from what we do not know.

We walked towards the point, where we would visit the disappearing island, but now there are signs which prohibit dogs from going to the point – a favorite place they loved to run, and probably the only section left with enough beach for them to do so. So we turned to walk towards the lighthouse, and the canal was impossible to pass. The beach near the lighthouse is riddled with fallen trees. Where the old graveyard of trees emitted a feeling of subtle change over the years – the new turning to the old – the new destruction of all the trees and piles of debris are a haunting chaotic scene looking unsettled, like a future that is unpredictable and devastating.

Much of these observations occurred over the two days we visited. We came back on Wed, and are sitting now at the picnic table overlooking a distant ocean, a fierce wind blowing, still trying to take in this scene of devastation. Old campsites are gone, underwater. The nature trail from the lighthouse is no more. These aren’t changes of time, but changes of destruction and it is heartbreaking. In our last analysis, we have lamented that we likely will not camp here ever again, and it was once our favorite place to come.

We finished the day off with a visit to Melissa and Seth's to enjoy Christmas dinner. We had a wonderful time - they made a great dinner of steak, potatoes, salad, rolls, and dessert. We exchanged gifts. Dad and Seth compared their broken toes. Patrick "dropped in" on Alexa when we gave mom and dad their gift - a recumbent bike.

The following day - Wed - mom went out for her maiden voyage on the bike. We rode the Spanish Moss Trial and I'd like to ride that again next time we are in town.