Spring Break Hunting Island 2010

We were so happy to return to Hunting Island State Park. This year we asked our good friends the Morrisons from Durham, NC to meet us there. It was cold and sunny so we just bundled up and played all day. The mornings and evenings we huddled around the campfire and enjoyed wonderful meals including oatmeal, pancakes, toasted burritos, roasted veggies--yum! The kids had so much fun playing on the natural playground of fallen trees along the beach on our hike to the light house. We also explored the marsh boardwalk, pier over the lagoon, and the nature center. It is a fabulous place to visit and one of our favorite spots in SC.

Camping in the mountains

Last weekend we went camping on Grandfather Mountain (near Boone, NC) with our dear friends, the Morrisons. We had been planning the trip for weeks! Scott found a wonderful campground that was great for families and car camping. We had a nice spot tucked back in the woods by a creek. Our cars and the bath house were close but we couldn't see them so it felt like we were really far away. The weather was perfect. We couldn't have asked for a better vacation camping trip.

I've got tons of pictures to share. First is this great spot where we set up camp. We cooked all our meals on stoves set up near the campfire. Daniel used the campfire to grill squash and roast potatoes from our garden. The kids enjoyed putting potatoes and not dogs on sticks and roasting those over the fire too. We also brought our little baby Taylor camping guitar so the guys played for us while we were cooking and hanging out. The kids took turns too.

Across the street from the campsite was a big open field. It was so beautiful to walk out of the woods and have this view! It made me really miss the mountains.

On Saturday, we went over to Hebron Rock Colony to explore the rocks and waterfalls. This was a place that Daniel and I used to go to when we were in college and even after when the girls were babies and we lived in Boone.

All the kids were very brave and hopped all up and down these huge boulders. The parents were guiding steps and holding hands. We watched as the kids were totally enjoying themselves. It is an awesome place. The kids took turns standing under waterfalls and sliding down rocks with help from the dads. Little Brady was not quite big enough for most of the adventures but he had fun with mom watching from the side.




That hike was very exciting and we were all tired and ready to relax around camp when we got home. Thanks to the guys for keeping the fire going and to our friends from Columbia for letting us borrow an extra large tent for all the kids to sleep in!

While back at the campsite the kids spent lots of time at the creek collecting crawfish and salamanders, making dams and playing games in the water.
And here's a fun game of Uno.
Saturday evening we got to go on a free hay ride around the campground.

Here we are in the last few minutes before leaving. Being in the woods is so refreshing. None of us were ready for life in the real world yet. We miss our good friends already.


On the way home we took a driving tour through Boone. We drove by our old house and up to the top of Howard's knob, another favorite place of ours. The girls had never seen the view from the top. We spent a little while looking out and reminiscing. Then Daniel took the girls back in the boulders and helped them on their first experience bouldering.

Hunting Island Part 2

Part 1 of our beach trip is posted below. Here is part 2.
Here is Ellen at the top of the light house. Her expression says it all. Last year no one went up the light house because one has to be so tall. This year Ellen was so tall but Arianna sadly was not. There are lots of proud making moments for me as a parent. And without digressing into my parenting philosophy or what I do and don't appreciate in children I'll simply say that Arianna walked away carrying both her disappointment and frustration without tantrum or one word of complaint. This occurred naturally without any prompting or forewarning. I just wanted to squeeze her to death. She showed restraint and self-control in a challenging situation. It never ceases to amaze me just how proud I can be as a parent and what small events trigger the reaction. No doubt I miss more than I ought. But I was preoccupied with her inner strength for the rest of the day. We have her on the body-stretcher for next year.

Here is the view of the light house from below. There is a reconstructed house foundation and several other buildings that held tools and such. A small rail was built to deliver goods to the outpost and fresh water was collected from the roof and stored in a large underground cistern. It seems it was a lonely and isolated life for the person or family charged with maintaining the flame.
Here are the girls in one of the light house buildings now full of light house history. We picked our favorites. They are beautiful structures-the beauty emanating largely from their functionality. Art of course ought imitate nature (I won't defend that).
On the way to the light house we traveled through the woods via trail. During low tide it is possible to take the beach back to the campground and so that is what we did. What we found was the reality of the ever shifting surface of this small island and the rapid forest loss which results. Without intervention, as the sand shifts with currents, the waves erode away soil leaving trees to die and eventually fall. What used to be forest becomes beach and later ocean. The next few pictures are of our hike back to the campground.

It was a very simple reminder that life is a precarious event beholden to much larger forces. Here the forest grew and thrived only to be washed away as conditions changed. The trees followed all the rules to the best of their ability doing everything in their power to succeed. But their success or failure wasn't so much under their control as it was that of winds and waters they could do little to nothing to avoid. Is there an analogy for us? If anything all one can do is be the best at what one is and leave the rest to...

Here you can see the root ball of this palmetto. There is another trail on the island which takes one into the marshy tide-waters which are mostly grassy fields with the occasional clump of shrub and tree where the ground rises above sea level. Much of the trail is on boardwalk due to the daily high tide which covers most of the fields in water. The Spanish moss, wind-swept gnarled trees, and endless streams create a beautiful landscape but not the kind one feels very comfortable walking into. The girls kindly posed but I failed to capture the true beauty of the surrounding scene.

Finally, we went into the small town of Beaufort on our last full day. Normally we wouldn't have ventured back into town on a camping trip but the wind was so strong and cold we just felt like we needed to do some sight seeing. Beaufort is a beautiful historical city which is now largely given over to the pursuits of wealthy retired folks (as a qualification my comments only reflect our brief tour of the gentrified downtown). The shops are quaint and expensive. We hiked around town and found this old Beaufort Artillery which was built in 1798 to house a local artillery which served in the Revolutionary war. It's a fascinating looking fortress with cannons set up throughout. The artillery houses the Beaufort History Museum which was unfortunately closed.
We packed things up and headed home on our fourth day. Nothing like sleeping in a tiny dome, eating by campfire, heating by campfire, and feeling sand in everything to make one long for home. On the way we passed this group of buzzards enjoying a hefty deer carcass. As is usual the picture doesn't do justice to the bird's size. They were soaring overhead, perched in trees, and bickering over position as they picked at the hide. Haven't you ever wondered, when you see them floating above, whether they ever successfully find anything? I have. They do apparently. Plenty.
So ends another family vacation. Much was left out and too much was said. But we had a wonderful time together and count the days till we can get away again.

Hunting Island Part 1

We just got back from a Spring Break trip camping for 3 days and 3 nights at Hunting Island State Park. It was another wonderful vacation. Below are some pics and descriptions. I will post a second batch here before long to conclude the trip.

We camped very near the beach which has its advantages and disadvantages. The advantages are the beauty of the ocean, the palm trees, and the close proximity and access to the beach. The disadvantage is that incoming wind, from off the ocean, is not blocked or filtered by forest. Next year we may camp in the woods to avoid the strong wind. Inside the tent was warm and cozy but it is not a roomy enclosure for leisurely fun. It is almost purely for sleeping given the tight quarters. That meant when we were not hiking or playing "out" at the beach we were chilling by the fire.
Camp life was pretty simple. No toys or other things to distract us we are always left to pile onto one another and laugh for extended periods until someone gets hurt. I always like that about camping: the way one is compelled by necessity to enjoy everyone else almost all the time. The girls were high spirits and energy. They helped prepare food, and they are becoming quite the fire making/ fire poking/ fire maintaining experts. We received congrats from a neighbor RVer, who had apparently been watching us, for cooking all our meals over the fire. We ate grits, oatmeal, burritos, pasta, cereal, and fried some tofu-dogs, coffee.
Here we are sitting around the fire pit. We did a lot of this. Food tastes SO good when camping. It's as if one's senses become hightened via the depravity of sensory overload so common in daily life. We all found ourselves appreciating simple meals and simple tastes.

Here the girls are cleaning the tent out. Oh were it this easy to clean the house or to get them to clean.
The beach was beautiful. The picture behind the title of the blog was taken from our campsite. Here Arianna found this huge conch. I know very little about the mollusks but we were happy to find this guy among others on the beach. She, the conch, was promptly put back to continue her sublime life. We also found sand dollars (alive), sea urchins, and many 0ther shells. Jennifer was the only shark tooth finder: a coveted award.
In the mornings the girls and I walked to an inlet where a small creek had carved a sandy ravine and the marshy grasses met the forest. We saw deer their eating along the forest border 2 out of 3 mornings. But we didn't get near as close to them as I did a large raccoon who enjoyed a half a bowl of Jay food (Jay is our dog) before I realized what the noise of crunching was in the middle of the night.We did a lot of this. Walking, looking, discovering. Behind us you see a vast beach. The reason for this is that the beach was recently rebuilt. Ole Mother Nature doesn't seem to be quite the conservationist we expect from each other. Due to the placement of the surrounding land and resultant sea currents Hunting Island has been rapidly eroding. This year we had tons more beach because someone spent a lot of money putting it back. The barrier we are walking on is one attempt to limit the effects of beach erosion. More on this later.
We also played tag on this set of boulders which are covered in muscles and barnacles. The boulders were placed there to stall the eroding process. Another very human attempt to restrain much stronger forces. I am not making any kind of moral judgment. We do this all the time. Try and shore up what little stability we have with small gestures toward preservation. I think all the barnacles are appreciative. I was reminded though of youthfully disrupting an ant pile with a water hose and watching as the ants, against all hope and all odds, try, one by one, to make things better: carrying dirt clods, rescuing babies, every bit of energy focused on repair. And for many circumstances in life this certainly the correct response. At first I thought it a perfectly human quality to persist with futility but too many examples exist in nature of the same. No, it would be a truly human quality to know when to walk away, to desist, to let go. Catastrophes are natural. Tragedies are all to human. At the heart of many a tragedy is not letting go, not moving on (think Oedipus) while not realizing that larger and unknown forces are in charge. Meandering in this way raises all sorts of interesting questions-but they are perennial. The anti-erosion strategies on Hunting Island are a mere token of a more general problematic type of phenomena.
The dilemma appears wherever a form of life is threatened.


One day we took a hike on the nature trail which led to the Hunting Island Light House. The forest here is absolutely gorgeous. The ground is covered with beautiful palm plants and young palm trees emanating a rich emerald green while the upper layer of trees are crawling with vines and Spanish moss. Very enchanting. Even in taking these pictures we knew we wouldn't be able to capture the real beauty of the place. You'll just have to go their yourself.The girls ran, jumped, and skipped the whole way. It was a long hike but well worth it.
When we got to the end of our hike we had the lighthouse to enjoy. Here is a picture of the lighthouse from the beach. In the next set I will cover our trip back home where we witnessed the devastating effects of beach erosion as well as our trip into Beaufort. Check back soon.

Camping in Cedar Creek

For our friend's 30th birthday we all went camping on their family land in Cedar Creek. It was just outside Columbia but it felt like we were in the middle of nowhere. There were 3 families with 7 kids total (2 of which were under 6 months old!). We roasted tofu dogs over the fire and had brownies for dessert. Once it got dark the girls (all the kids were girls except the 2 baby boys) played in the tent with flashlights for hours while the adults sat around the campfire. It got quite chilly outside even down to freezing during the night. We all slept nice and cozy in our tents. We woke up and had bagels, packed our tents and took a little hike around the pond. It was a very enjoyable family trip and we will likely do this again. Our friends would like to make it a regular thing once it gets a little warmer:)



Playing by the creek before it got cold. It was beautiful and the girls had a wonderful time exploring the area.

Around the campfire in the very cold morning.

camping trip to Sumter Natl. Forest

We spent one night in Sumter National Forest, which lies in the NW corner of SC along the boarder of GA and NC near the Chattooga River. We chose the spot for two reasons: First, we needed somewhere close. Second, we needed something for the kids. This trip took 3.5 hours (a tad on the long side for one night) but provided plenty of bang for the buck on the kid friendly requirement. The hike was only semi-strenuous and enabled us to visit two waterfalls within a short distance.
We arrived Sunday early afternoon and began hiking. After about 30 minutes we realized we entered the trail to early (a very typical characteristic of Kruidenier travel-inability to follow directions), parking further away than we had intended from our destination. Daniel jogged back to the car and moved it to our new starting place while the girls took a break. Now we were really ready.
We hiked near a mile into the woods on a slow grade mostly downhill or flat. The girls did an amazing job hiking. They each carried a pack (complete with stuffed animal, flashlight, toothbrush, and other odds and ends) and walked every bit of the journey on their own. We reached our first waterfall, Pigpen Falls, tired but excited. It was Edenic comprising of cascading falls with two major stories pouring over rock walls into a calm sandy pool. We spent the day playing in the sand, climbing rocks, swimming, and meeting some small creatures. We had met a turtle on the way down to the trail. Here we saw two snakes, a crawfish, a newt, bluegill, bass, minnows, and frogs. Below is a picture of our tent placement at the falls. That evening Ellen built us a fire. I say Ellen even though Daniel helped, because he relied completely on her enthusiasm and sheer will in spite of the damp condition of every tiny twig in the forest. When it was finally blazing she was a proud girl. Sleeping that night with the noise of the falls was wonderful. This is Ellen's art. She worked on it for a long time. It began with just a few sticks leaning against each other then she added leaves and then mud. She said it's called The Tree.

After an austere but peaceful nights sleep, with Jay protecting us until morning, we ate breakfast and packed our camp. We hiked another half mile and found ourselves at the second falls, Lick-Log Falls. These were much larger and only the base and third tier were accessible to us. At the base the falls joined the Chattoga River which made this an even more interesting site. We did some rock sliding, climbing, and falling (but nothing serious-just the occasional unforeseen rock algae and the occasional dad stunt gone bad) and tried to soak up as much of the wilderness as we could.

The return trip was more difficult. But, because of the encouragement it will give any young parent waiting for the day when they can hike with and not carry their progeny, I want to say again how profoundly impressed I was with the girls endurance, pleasure in hard work, and appreciation for being out there. It was so enjoyable hiking with them. We were exhausted when we returned to the car. But we had completed our first family camping trip in the mtns of SC and the girls first trip with so much hiking.
But that wasn’t it. We needed a nice lunch spot and so chose an interesting looking park in Walhalla SC. The park contained another easily accessible and even larger water fall, Isaqueena Falls along with a large tunnel called Stumphouse. Stumphouse tunnel is a huge hole in a bed of rock where a group of entrepreneurially minded individuals had tried to build a railroad straight through the side of a mountain. They ran out of funding maybe a 1/3 of a mile through. It now rests as a freak curiosity for onlookers like us. All you need is a headlamp and the capacity to forget all the frightening things about the dark that you have ever read, saw on a movie, or dreamt up while lying in bed. Jennifer and Ellen could not, but Daniel and Arianna made it to the end and back…alive.
Then we headed home. We had a wonderful trip and are excited to return to that part of the country for more exploring. We are interested in doing some mild canoeing on the Chattooga.