Once again we were running from cold weather and drenching rain. We were headed for Grayton Beach but had an extra day until we could get in. This was the first time we found an opening here. We always seemed to hit the area during spring break when everything was booked but we got lucky this time. The park has several trails, most of which were partly under water on the afternoon of our arrival. It was cold and windy and hiking quickly moved very low on our list of things to do so we called it a day after our first trip around the campground loop.
One highlight, however, was the deer moss (or deer lichen) which seemed to be all over the place. It looked like pale greenish-grey puff balls. Each is a combination of an algae and a fungus. The algae has the chlorophyll and provides sugar from sunlight. The fungus gets moisture from the ground and provides oxygen. Rangers told us colonies of this size take decades to grow. Collected and dried, they are used in modeling of scenery (trees and shrubs).
On Wednesday we did get to hike the Rocky Bayou Trail. It wasn’t very long but it was dry enough to enjoy. We intended to walk the Sand Pine Trail but the park is in the process of restoring the stream that was dammed to create Puddin Head Lake.
