Goose Creek State Park, November 5, 2009
Do you have a few hours to spend amongst the splendor of the natural world? A world where the gentle river waves lap upon the shore and huge live oaks look like bearded giants, as they host the spanish moss that waves like the old man's beard in the breeze.
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If you do have a few hours: Take the short Live Oak Trail, which is a short .40 of a mile down to the Pamlico River, and its beautiful sandy shores. I did take that walk on Live Oak Trail, and then meandered onto Huckleberry trail, .50 mile, until I found my way back to the Mustang. The trails traverse under a canopy of tall pines, and the giant live oaks that feast upon a bed of dead leaves and pine straw that lay flat upon the soft sandy soil that carry the trails down to the wide river.
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From this quick walk in the woods down to the water's edge, I took a number of pictures of this wondrous place. It was so quiet, I could only hear the few birds chirping, the plink of the falling pine straw touching down upon its sandy bed, and the constant lap of the gentle waters of the Pamlico River.
The gentle Pamlico River lapping upon the sandy public beach and swimming area: Above. The public picnic area: Below.
The public swimming area, with the saw marks of large pine taken due the encroachment of the Pamlico River: Above. Looking past the live oak, barely hanging onto its place in this ever-changing world, down the Pamlico River, and out to the Pamlico Sound; about 35 miles southeast: Below.
The remnants of one of the grey ghosts of the Pamlico shoreline - a ragged cypress tree - standing along the waterline: Above. The remnants of a pine that did not hold its place: Below.
This graveyard of trees that once held down the shore line suggest that the Pamlico River is becoming wider: Above. A byproduct of these dying trees - driftwood with a coat of barnacles: Below.