My daughter and her friends have invited me to BP for several days on Cumberland Island, GA. The plan is to take the ferry across and hike 3-4 miles to the campground then hang out on the beach.

I’m still thinking about it. They’re going in July and it will be hot. The campground has cold showers which is a plus.

Has anyone been?

I’m still on the fence but leaning towards not going…the heat.

Me: I don’t want to make your friends uncomfortable by joining your hike.
Daughter: I really want you to go, I’ve never been embarrassed by you, my friend’s think you’re the coolest mom ever!

Ferry ticket purchased. How can I say no to that?

I plan to take a tent and a hammock and have been thinking about buying a bug net for the hammock. The hammock might be cooler for sleeping but having a tent will make me feel more secure.

Just got home, had a great time. It was hot…112* heat index. Thank goodness for cold showers!

My daughters friends bailed for various reasons so it was just the two of us.

It’s been a long time since I’ve been to the beach and I have little to no experience with hiking or camping in the coastal region so I was delighted with the flora and fauna on the island. The mossy trees are amazing and the armadillos were numerous and unconcerned by us and often walked through our camp, snuffling the ground. We also saw deer, lizards, moths and butterflies, birds, crabs, and wild horses.

The ferry dropped us off at the main dock, Seacamp, where we were met by a volunteer who checked our camping permit and reviewed the rules. Most people stay at the nearby CG and bring coolers and camping supplies that they load into carts. We were part of a handful that camped at other areas of the island. I was definitely the oldest of those with a backpack, the median age seemed to be 25 or so. We started hiking at 1pm and it was sweltering but started raining almost immediately which cooled us off. It was a 3.5 mi hike to camp that took us about 1 hr 40 min. Our site was right next to the bathroom which had a great shower, a flush toilet and potable water with several spigots outside plus an outside sink. We couldn’t have done this trip without the cold shower.

The beach was gorgeous. On day 1, it was totally deserted and day 2, only had 2 other people. The beach shelter I brought was nice but the biting flies made it hard to sit on the beach for very long. We enjoyed playing in the surf and looking for sharks teeth. (Didn’t find any)

The morning of day 2, I took the map and a bottle of water and started walking. I wanted to visit a cemetery but the walk was in full sun and it was too hot for that so instead, I did a loop hike. I’m unsure about mileage but it wasn’t far, maybe 3 miles? You can only go so far in that heat. It was a quiet hike and I started thinking about alligators stalking me and how I might defend myself.

Mercifully, the bugs weren’t bad so I didn’t use the bug net and the mosquitos were controlled by applying bug spray.

While I was really happy to finally be carrying a backpack, we should have done this as a bikepack trip instead of hiking, we could have seen more of the island. In cooler weather, it would be fun to backpack and stay at different sites but it was too hot. It was definitely an enjoyable experience.

a few more pics…

In cooler weather, it would be easier to explore the island but it will be more crowded. I think I’d rather go when it’s cooler.

On second thought, it was nice to have the beach to myself.