Chesser Island Boardwalk

 

Okefenokee Swamp- An Old Favorite

Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge

Chesser Island Boardwalk

Georgia

June 2019

Trembling Earth Nature Trail

Stephen C. Foster State Park

Georgia

 

January 2015

 

After our animal encounters afternoon, we still wanted to get a nice little hike in, so we headed to Stephen C. Foster State Park in the southwestern portion of the Okefenokee Swamp.

I love this picture of Laurel. When she's not pushing Kellisa, she's usually leading the way. The boardwalk portion of Trembling Earth Nature Trail abruptly ended in the swamp- leading to Laurel's "confused" hand gesture. We were only able to hike 1.04 miles of the usual 2.5 mile trail. We still enjoyed the boardwalk, trail, and swamp as the sun was setting fast on this crisp January afternoon.

We ended our visit by walking an additional .43 of a mile along the park road looking for alligators. Surprisingly, we didn't see any and both girls were disappointed. I had to remind them that they got to pet an alligator earlier in the day. That fact didn't help as much as seeing the family of deer feeding on the roadside grass as we were leaving the park.

 

More pictures can be found (here).

 



Chesser Island Boardwalk

Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge

 

November 2014

 

 
 

Only an hour from our home, we visited one of our favorite places, the Chesser Island Boardwalk in the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge. We saw a few alligators, including a mama gator protecting her young. When Laurel got a little too close, the mama let out a giant warning hiss and I think Laurel jumped back at least five feet.

 

More Okefenokee Pictures

Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge

Georgia

January 1, 2014

I first had the idea to hike in all 50 states in 12 months last year. My plan only included Kellisa because I didn't think Laurel was ready for such an ambitious plan. I knew everything had to go just right because we had zero room for complications (sickness, flight delays, weather, lost/broken equipment, unforeseen school/family/job obligations, etc.). 

We got off to a great start, hiking in 11 states, but then the unexpected happened. Laurel told an aunt and uncle that, "sometimes my dad forgets me". I already felt guilty for leaving her behind, but in my mind I was making up for it by taking just Laurel on father-daughter trips. Since I didn't want Laurel to feel "forgotten", we abandoned our 2013 all 50 states plan.

We decided to start over in 2014, this time including Laurel. Besides the adventure, I want to document how the girls are treated on our travels. I often complain of the horrible treatment, but haven't spent much time on the people who do care and help. I'll be interested in our final numbers and observations for the good and evil that we encounter as we travel across the United States.

Our first trip was on the first day of 2014. We drove to the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge for a hike on the newly opened Chesser Island Boardwalk. The original boardwalk was destroyed by a wildfire and the new boardwalk had been open for less than 2 months. This would also be our first trip with Kellisa's new "travel" wheelchair. Her previous chair was destroyed by an airline, but it was replaced in full by the airline. (More pictures and videos) 

Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge

Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge, Georgia

January 7, 2012

Lisa had to work on a Saturday and both kids wanted to get out of the house to do "something". With both kids, it wasn't the time to push the limits with Kellisa, so I planned on heading to the swamp to enjoy the easy .75 mile boardwalk trail. The boardwalk takes visitors into the swamp for unique views and glimpses of wildlife in a natural setting. Since the boardwalk is flat, wide and has a curb on the edges, it's the perfect accessible swamp trail for a wheelchair.  

Egypt joined us on our first adventure of the new year:

Unfortunately, we found the boardwalk trail closed because the wildfires of 2011 burned the boardwalk and observation decks to the ground:

All that is left of the once beautiful boardwalk trail:

Fire damage:

Eerie light play over the swamp as the sun hides behind a cloud:

All was not lost. We enjoyed the .35 mile long Cane Pole Trail. It's paved like a sidewalk and follows the water's edge. Wheelchair assistance was needed because there are a few little elevation changes and nothing to keep the wheels on the concrete. An out of control wheelchair could end up in the water, so caution is advised.

  

Back at the visitor center, an old juke box was set-up to play "Swamp Songs". This was a highlight for both girls: