In the Swamp

The Boardwalk

The last couple of nights I stayed in one of the smaller and newer National Parks, Congaree, in what is one of the last old growth forests in the southern floodplains (i.e. swamp).  It was hot and humid when I got there, but my full day there was nice and cool.  The park isn't very big, so it only has one set of trails, which was my bit endeavor for the day.

This is the "trail"

The trail takes you along a boardwalk through the floodplains.  It is almost completely flat, but a change in height of a few feet made the difference between dry forest and bottom of a lake.  Near the farthest part of the 7 mile loop, an area few people traveled, the trail would dissapear among the fallen leaves.  I had a fun time scrambling around fallen trees and searching for trail markers that made the hike more interesting.  Again, the park was fairly empty, so I had the trail mostly to myself once I left the boardwalks.

Wise "Lake"

With the good weather I had, Congaree was actually more fun than I expected.  Even though it was small, it still live up to the National Park distinction (unlike another smaller park I have visited).  It was a great visit, but arachnophobes beware; I have never seen such a high concentration of big and colorful spiders.  They in the other bugs that came out at night were fine with me, as long as they stayed outside the tent.

I'm now heading to Great Smoky Mountains NP, on the border of North Carolina and Tennessee, for a few days.  It is the countries busiest park, but hopefully, like the last two parks, the crowds won't be too bad.