Closing Out My 20th Year on the Trail

I still have 2 more hikes to post from my Christmas Break Okefenokee hiking trip, but the turning of the calendar says it is time for my annual summary and reflection post.  As I mentioned this time last year, 2018 marked my 20th year on the trail and my 20th year of writing trail descriptions.  Overall, I had a fantastic time on the trail in 2018: I did 57 new hikes totaling 171.5 miles.  Neither of those numbers are records, but they are both good numbers.  The hikes came across 13 states plus Canada, and they included 2 new states: North Dakota and Montana.  I now have only 7 more states to go to reach all 50 states.

I have another full slate of hiking trips planned for 2019, and they include trips to Mississippi, northwest Louisiana, northern/western Illinois, and coastal Maine (for what may be my final hiking trip to New England: the hiking up there is good, but that part of the country does not agree with my southern/midwestern roots).  If there is a theme to my hiking trips for 2019, it would be under-the-radar hiking destinations.  There are no Glacier National Parks on the agenda for this year, or at least so it seems.  Of course, you never quite know how the year will go: this time last year I was not planning a trip to Wisconsin, yet I ended up spending 6 days and doing 8 hikes there.

Thank you to everyone for taking a few minutes a few times per year to read about my hikes.  Happy new year, and see you on the trail in 2019!

David, aka the Mathprofhiker

Stephen C. Foster State Park: Boardwalk Trail (Blog Hike #727)

Trail: Boardwalk Trail

Hike Location: Stephen C. Foster State Park

Geographic Location: southeast of Homerville, GA (30.82643, -82.36186)

Length: 1.1 miles

Difficulty: 0/10 (Easy)

Date Hiked: December 2018

Overview: A short boardwalk through cypress and black gum forest.

Park Information: https://gastateparks.org/StephenCFoster

Hike Route Map: https://www.mappedometer.com/?maproute=941370
Photo Highlight:

Directions to the trailhead: From Fargo, GA, take SR 177 north 17 miles to the road’s end at the state park office and trading post.  Park in the blacktop lot near the park office.

The hike: For my general comments on the Okefenokee Swamp, see the previous hike.  This hike features Okefenokee’s west portal, which lies in Stephen C. Foster State Park.  Stephen C. Foster State Park is named for the American songwriter who wrote such famous songs as “Oh Susanna,” “My Old Kentucky Home,” and “Camptown Races.”  Interestingly, Foster himself seems to have had no connection to this area other than the famous song he wrote about the Suwanee River, which originates in the Okefenokee Swamp and flows just west of this park.  That song, officially titled “Old Folks at Home,” is the official state song of Florida.

The park is most famous as a canoeing and astronomy destination.  In fact, Stephen C. Foster State Park has been recognized by the International Dark Sky Association as a “Dark Sky Park,” and it is the only park in Georgia to earn this designation.  Come here during a new moon in the summer for the best viewing of the Milky Way galaxy.  In terms of hiking, the park features a boardwalk and a natural-surface loop trail through piney woods, but on my visit the natural-surface trail was underwater due to recent heavy rain.  Thus, I hiked the park’s only passable trail, the short boardwalk trail.

Trailhead near park office

            The trailhead is marked by a brown sign saying “Trembling Earth Nature Trail” that is located on the concrete sidewalk north of the park office.  As an aside, if you picture a swamp outpost complete with mosquito netting around all of its doors and windows and a plethora of boats outside docked in shallow water, you will have the park office pictured perfectly.  The name Okefenokee is an Hitchiti-Mikasuki word that is often translated “land of trembling earth,” a reference to the instability of the swamp’s peat floor.  In fact, a more accurate translation is probably “bubbling water.”

            Soon after the wooden boardwalk begins, the boardwalk forks.  We will eventually angle right to continue the loop, but for now turn left to hike the boardwalk’s main spur.  The boardwalk spur heads west through black gum and cypress forest that remains underwater for much of the year.  Some gaps in the trees allow you to look for wildlife.  Although the park brochure mentions 223 species of birds and other creatures found in the park, things were very still on the afternoon I walked this boardwalk.  I saw more alligators and deer near the park office than I did on the trail.

Hiking the boardwalk spur

            The boardwalk spur used to extend 2100 feet into the swamp, but the western-most third of the boardwalk was destroyed by a wildfire a few years ago.  Construction materials were in place to rebuild the boardwalk on my visit, but right now it ends unceremoniously in the middle of the wetland.  Turn around and retrace your steps to the boardwalk fork, then turn left to continue the loop.

View over more open water

            Back on the loop, the boardwalk curves to the right as it stays in a relatively wet area.  Interpretive signs help you identify common trees in the swamp, and some numbered markers suggest the existence of an interpretive guide even though none were available at the park office.  Shortly after passing a wooden pavilion with benches, you close the loop.  Walk the concrete trail around the boat basin to return to the park office and complete the hike.