Laura S. Walker SP, Waycross, GA, March 15-21

http://gastateparks.org/LauraSWalker

They are doing a lot of updating at this park. Not sure if this is a CCC park. It is listed and not listed. At one place, it was listed as a CCC/WPA project. It had a lot of cute buildings that could have been a CCC camp, and they hold different youth summer camps here.

Dam spillway -- all Georgia lakes are man made

Downside of the dam

Walkway on the right and new cabins

Cabins for young campers

Laura S. Walker lived in Waycross, GA, and devoted her life to conservation and other civic causes. 

I stayed longer at this park because I couldn’t get reservations at another close-by park ---- and then I learned that the reservation system might or might not be accurate. Lots of spaces are saved for "drop ins." Forget the “system” and call the park directly. I wonder how many other places I had been turned down for when they actually had space available.

They had WiFi at the office, but you had to sit outside to use it. It was so spotty that I asked them if they switched it off and on at random. Now you have it......now you don't.

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It is the time of the year when the pine trees are producing pollen, and at times it looked like the air was filled with smoke when the pollen fell in the wind. They did have a controlled burn going on when I got there, and I met the woman who was in charge of the process. I’m sorry I didn’t get her picture. She was 30ish and so full of energy -- more energy than three average persons put together. I'm fascinated by people who know what they want to be when they grow up from the age of 5, and I love asking about their education and career path. Finding fire science was just luck for her.

I've been singing to myself "in the pines, in the pines, where the sun never shines" for weeks. Sorry if you start singing it to yourself, also.

I met another woman traveling alone, and we went to the Okefenokee Swamp Park together. It was entertaining and informative and included the boat ride, a train ride, the naturalist, and lots of animals.

 

The boat "captain" was a comedian much like Larry the Cable Guy

Movies made in the swamp

There were many big, fat, and seemingly happy alligators

The naturalist at the Swamp knew her stuff

A tribute to Walt Kelly, creator of Pogo

Tina (from California) with Pogo (from the Okefenokee Swamp)

Well known Walt Kelly (Pogo) quotes include the following:

 

We have met the enemy and he is us.

We are confronted with insurmountable opportunities.

Don't take life so serious, son, it ain't nohow permanent.

Thanks for reading.
charlotte1215@yahoo.com
 

Stephen Foster State Park, Fargo, GA, March 12-14

http://gastateparks.org/StephenCFoster

Sunday – I missed the otter walk/talk at 9:00 am – I didn’t spring forward until it was too late.

The Internet is my life. So------    Phone service here is spotty, at best. To make reservations for my next stop, I had to use the phone at the Ranger Station. Once in a while I will get a text message, but my replies usually don’t get sent. About twice a day I get a listing of my new emails, but I can’t read them. To think that we put a man on the moon in 1969, but modern communications can’t be extended to a state park in Georgia.

It rained around 5 this morning. The couple next to me (in high 70s or low 80s) are camping in a small tent. When it started raining, they packed everything up in their car and left. After it stopped raining, they came back. The man got out, unloaded a bunch of stuff, started a fire, and made coffee. The woman never got out of the car again.

There is a note somewhere in my info packet for this park that there is a gate across the access road during night hours, and there is no passcode. Maybe the couple couldn’t get out. I guess if there is an emergency in the park, the police or fire department has to wait until the gate automatically opens at a certain time.

I decided to go for a walk, and following the map, I went to where I thought the Upland Trail would be. I found the Upland Pine Trail in a slightly different spot, but the Upland Pine Trail was not on my map. I followed the Upland Pine Trail, but it was different from the unnamed trail. When I got to the Ranger Station, I was told that they were the same trail, in two different places, and the word “pine” was left out because maybe there wasn’t room on the map. That made no sense at all. There was plenty of room and two different trails should each have names.

So I decided to go on the “.75 Mile Nature Trail and Boardwalk” which included the “2,100-Foot Boardwalk.” I went in the direction of the “Quaking Earth Trail,” which had a sign – but wasn’t on the map. It said the boardwalk dead-ended in 2,100 feet, but it was actually closer to half that. I asked later if the 2,100 feet referred to round trip – but I was told that maybe it was longer before the fire. That was the first mention of a fire, and the ranger wasn’t sure what year the fire was or if there was any connection between the shorter boardwalk and the fire. 

No matter which way I rotated this, it ended up looking the same.

 

Many things growing in the water, including cypress knees

 

The water is like a mirror

The long, dark sliver is a gator

It was a really interesting walk, but I wish that the people who make the maps knew what they were mapping or would pay more attention to detail. It reminds me of the many mentions made of early maps of the US where people drew maps based on word of mouth, which may have been told through several other people. In this day and age, there is no excuse for maps to be so poorly drawn.

When I first walked into the Ranger Station and asked about other programs going on today, the (very old) ranger told me that they were all cancelled because of the big storm was going to hit at any time. I naturally asked about the storm and was told – as if I were the last human on the face of the earth who didn’t know this–the information was printed out – and he went to look for it.  With no access to outside information (Internet) and with his panicky demeanor, I thought maybe we were going to have tornadoes. We are going to have rain, and maybe thunder storms ----- and, indeed, it is raining now.

So after asking another person what programs had been cancelled, thinking they might be scheduled for tomorrow, I found out that there were no programs planned for either today or tomorrow. The second person with whom I spoke is the one who told me there wasn’t room on the map to print another word. He is also the person who said the fire might have destroyed part of the boardwalk. When I thanked him, his response was, “No problem.” I hear that all the time. How and when did it get to be OK to say “No problem” instead of “You’re welcome.”

Monday – I went on the boat ride (extra cost), and it was so worth it. The ranger was personable and knowledgeable – I learned a great deal, including that the 2011 fire burned a lot of ground and trees, lasted almost a year, and took out all but 880 feet of the boardwalk. The boardwalk will be rebuilt, but no one knows when – and if it will be in this century.

Watching the sun rise on my last morning at SF, I could see that the water was less than 20 yards from the campground ….. which means that alligators were much closer than I thought. What I didn’t know didn’t worry me.