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Our trip to the Santee Coastal Reserve - 21 March 2004

This morning Cathy and I took advantage of the very brief moment in spring when it is warm enough to be really comfortable outside, but the hordes of mosquitos and gnats haven't yet arrived to make our lives miserable.  We drove about 45 miles north (about half way between McClellanville and Georgetown on the coast) to the Santee Coastal Reserve.  The reserve boasts 24,000 acres of marsh and coastal forrest.   We rode our mountain bikes along both the 1.9 mile Marshland loop and the 7.2 mile marsh bike/hike trail.  During our ride we saw literally every variety of sea bird that I'm aware of and a wide variety of other native and migratory birds.   Unfortunately, I was never quick enough or close enough to get any bird pictures worth sharing.   We had a spectactular day, but I'll let the photos below speak for themselves.

I've included low resolution versions of all the images for the folks who are using dial-up Internet access.

Carl


Carl on a small bridge crossing the water spilling out of the Washoo reserve. Low Res
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Bald cypress along Washo Reserve. Low Res
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Frog's eye view of the Washo Reserve. Low Res
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Cathy riding on the trail through the woods on the Marshland loop. Low Res
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Carl at the West end of the Washo Reserve. Low Res
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This area used to be a rice plantation.  There are many canals through the marsh that look like this one. Low Res
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This is the largest gator (of MANY gators we saw) that we saw...       maybe 12 feet long. Low Res
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This wide angle shot shows the huge expanse of march this gator has available to inhabit. Low Res
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There were several observations blinds set up for visitors.   We sat in this one for about 20 minutes before we ran out of stuff to eat and got bored. Low Res
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This is a boat heading north up the Intracoastal Waterway.   I took this picture from the top of an observation tower we found near the intersection of the Intracoastal Waterway and the South Santee River. Low Res
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A panoramic view from the top of the same observation tower.   The image is misleading in that it makes the two waterways look like they might be parallel.  In fact they intersect at a 90 degree angle.  This picture is looking almost due West toward Highway 17. Low Res
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