Up close and personal

We visited the Wateree Heritage Nature Preserve today which we had been by many times and never stopped to explore.  The morning temperature was so cool and pleasant that we decided to get out for a long walk so went there hoping that we would not see many people...and we did not.

There are mostly roads that go off the main road but lead into the forest where you can get on the trail.  No trail crosses the road.  We picked a trail that was off Duck Pond Road...no ducks and no pond but there was a creek.  Since this is a preserve the area is left to grow wild.  However, from August to December and then again in April, there is a lottery type hunt available for deer and turkey.   So the area is closed on those Saturdays when they have the hunts.   I am not sure if they would allow hiking during the week days.   I would much rather go hiking in the winter than in the summer months for sure.   This area was swampy and there were those fabulously big cypress trees here.    We did see a deer but she was too fast for my camera.   A photo of a cypress along the trail in the extras.

So we hiked two miles or so and then got back on the road to travel to the end.  We saw a sign for Cook Mountain and at the same time a sign said Camp.  So we went to the Fish Camp.   A lovely pond out in the middle of nowhere!   There were so many water lilies!   I was really happy I had taken all my cameras but actually the lilies were close to the path we walked.   Also there were dragonflies fluttering every where I looked. They actually got really close to me too!    This was my favorite..and I don't know what it is called but he posed perfectly for me.   A photo of the pond and a few of the lilies in the extras.

Then we drove toward the Cook Mountain that ended up really being a small mountain.  The elevation change was very subtle so when we got to the end of the road we could see the river which was probably a mile or more away.  (One of the roads in the preserve is called MileorMore!  LOL!!!)   There is a picnic shelter here that I am assuming can be rented for outings.     A photo of the view in the extras.  

The photos did not load in order!   I don't know why!

This morning on my Facebook page a memory photo came up from May 2015 which was a sign that I found in a shop that said.."my favorite thing to do is go where I've never been".     Today I did just that!

It was a good day!