Mothers' Day Beach and Marsh Hike

I was originally hoping to go for a hike in the mountains today, but my legs are moderately sore and stiff from yesterday's 12 mile training run. So instead, I will belatedly post a few photos from my hike a week ago. This was a 4.4 mile hike to do some Beta testing for my DeLorme PN-60 GPS, so my focus was on trying different things and seeing how the GPS responded to them more so than the hike itself.

I hiked along a nature trail, then crossed down to the beach, hiked down the beach a bit, and crossed the dunes back to the dike trails. I hiked down the east dike trail as far as the wildlife observation post, then turned around and hiked back down the west dike trail, where I had seen the copperheads the week before. After a bit, I reversed myself and went back to the car.

This hike was in the middle of the day, and wildlife was scant. I did see a deer and numerous turtles, which would invariably slide into the water as soon as I stopped. As if I would somehow be able to cross 50 feet of water and muck and grab one from the log before it could react!

The GPS handled itself pretty well. Here are a few photos from my hike:

I was proud of myself to spot this deer along the trail in a heavily vegegated area. I had a sense of movement, stopped, and found a vantage point to peer through shurbs, and there she was.

The beaches at Back Bay and at False Cape State Park are simply gorgeous. A few years ago, I hiked along the dike trails and down the beaches all the way to North Carolina, a round trip of about 20 - 21 miles.

This impoundment created for wildlife looks something like a stream.

View across the marsh at a wildlife observation area.