A Visit to Myrtle Beach State Park - Wednesday - October 12, 2011

It has been raining off and on since Sunday, with wind in the 20 mph range for those days as well. I had to do some contract work in Edenton, NC and Nancy has been working at Home Depot. After my dentist appointment this morning, the sun finally broke thru the clouds and Nancy suggested we take a trip to Myrtle Beach State Park.
 00 - MBSP sign
00a - MBSP Map

We have never hiked the short Nature trails here, so today was going to be the day.
In addition, we knew there were several geocaches located in the park and
we could search for them along the way.
00b - MBSP Trail Map

We put on plenty of bug spray and set out on a small hike along the Sculptured Oak Trail to the pond and then a right onto the Yaupon Trail to the Ocean. The mosquitos went along with us, but the bug repellent spray seemed to keep them at bay. It was extremely humid and I was sweating like I was in a sauna…maybe we were. Nancy snapped a bunch of pictures as usual, but we didn’t see a whole lot of wildlife along the way.
01 - Sculptured Oak and Youpon Nature TrailOur Starting Point

Now down to the pond02 - Pond02b - Pond Sign

Well, not much wildlife today…  the pond was dry
even with all the rain we have had the last few days ;o((
02c - Dry Pond

Beautiful wildflowers though…
02d - Dry Pond Wildflowers

and a Gray Catbird:o))
02e - Dry Pond  Gray Catbird

After the pond, we followed the
Yaupon Trail toward the ocean.
03 - Youpon Trail Fork

The first geocache was on this trail and
I am zooming in on its location.
03b - Youpon Trail Getting Close

We went right to the spot and spent considerable time searching
but never found the cache.  This tree with the cross on it is
what we found, the cache was missing ;o(03c - Youpon Trail No Cache but tree with cross

We continued on until we reached the ocean road.
This is a picture of the end of the Yaupon Trail and
the Maritime Forrest we hiked through.03d - Youpon Trail - the end Maritime Forest (2)

Our next geocache required us to walk to the other end of
the state park, near the campground.

Here is our first view of the State Park Fishing Pier.04 - Walk along Road - Fishing Pier thru Sea Oats

We passed beautiful wildflowers along our walk.04b - Walk along Road - Red Wildflowers04c - Walk along Road - Yellow Wildflowers04d - Walk along Road - White Wildflowers
This one, the Beach Morning Glory,
plays a very important role in preventing beach erosion.

We are getting closer to the pier!!04e - Walk along Road - Fishing Pier from Beach


We got to the pier and will return to it later,
but first we wanted to walk the boardwalk to find the next geocache.  05 - Walk along the Boardwalk - Walkway and MB
This boardwalk runs from the fishing pier to the campground walkway. You can see downtown Myrtle Beach not that far in the distance.  Myrtle Beach SP is located right next to all the tourist areas and not far from the airport. 

You will hear and see big planes if you camp here.
05c - walk along the boardwalk - Planes in Flight Path

But if you want to be close to all the action, it is a great place to camp!!
The campground is larger than Huntington Beach SP,
but a little tighter to maneuver.

Wish I had a photo, but here is the map!00c - MBSP Campground Map
We prefer Huntington Beach, but either campground is nice and
provides you easy access to the ocean.


Now, back to the boardwalk… 
We really enjoy this little boardwalk along the ocean.  There were many good signs providing lots of nice to know information.

(Click on any photo to enlarge)

04f - Walk along Road - CCC Sign04f - Walk along Road - Sand Dunes Sign


The next two signs were very interesting. 
Never thought of wind and salt as pruning tool ;o))

05a - walk along the boardwalk - ariel sign05b - walk along the boardwalk - Salt damages shrubs

There were hundreds of Gulf Frittilary Butterflies
along the boardwalk!!
05d - Walk along the Boardwalk - Gulf Frittilary Butterfly


At the end of the boardwalk, there is a cement path that leads to the campground.  I sat to take a little rest.  Notice the huge Live Oak Tree behind me.  Hard to believe they can get that big and survive many hurricanes!!06a - Walk on Campground Path - Bill and Live Oak

At the end of this path, we went back into the Maritime Forrest to search for geocache number 2.  We didn’t have to go far until we found the spot… but again,
the cache was missing ;o((
06e - Walk on Campground Path - Cache 2 hole

We did see this pretty little bird.  Any idea what it is??06d - Walk on Campground Path - Bird


Back out of the woods, we head off to find geocache number 3.
We took a short cut through some woods and wound up at
the nature center.
07a- Third Cache - nature center

It was closed, but we did see this beautiful cardinal on the ground :o)) 07b- Third Cache - cardinal

We followed the path around the nature center and wound up right where we had park the car!!  But the GPS told us to keep going to find the last cache.  We went a short distance into the woods and saw this interesting fungus!!07c- Third Cache - fungus and bug


and then….

there it is…

THE GEOCACHE!!

07d- Third Cache - cache found

Bill opened it up and signed the log:o))07e- Third Cache - signing cache log

While we only found 1 out of 3 geocaches, we had a wonderful hike and
learn a few things along the way!!


We went back to the car, took off our hiking boots,
drove down to the fishing pier and took a nice stroll out on the pier
to see what was happening.
 08 - Fishing Pier - Entrance08a - Fishing Pier - view out the pier

There were quite a few fishermen and
they seemed to be catching mostly spots.08b - Fishing Pier - got a fish


This couple had a cooler full of spots and
were busy cleaning their catch.
08c - Fishing Pier - cleaning their catch

This fellow was hoping for a handout!!08d - Fishing Pier - bird looking for handout

This Pigeon must be named Dorothy…
look at those ruby slippers
08f - Fishing Pier - Oz Pigeon Red shoes


Here is a picture of the end of the pier.08e - Fishing Pier - end of pier

You can see how close, Second Street Pier is to the the State Park Pier. 
It’s just a short walk north!
08f - Fishing Pier - view to MB 2nd street pier 
What was a great way to spend a warm afternoon – hiking, chatting, strolling and just generally enjoying each other’s company. Now, if we could only get this house sold we could do this more often!

9 comments:

  1. Again, lovely pictures of the flowers, and the butterfly as well!

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  2. Boy what a fine afternoon. Thanks for giving me my beach fix. Try to do this more often will you please??!!

    Love the RUBY SLIPPERS! Beautiful pictures of Dorothy and all the other sights!

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  3. If you have to be stuck with a house for awhile, you sure picked the right spot to be stuck in! I love to walk the beach and surrounding area. I feel so alive when I'm by the water :)
    Enjoyed joining you for your hike :) Let's do it again soon! :)

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  4. I think your bird may be an american redstart. We're having lovely weather here in Virginia Beach to the north of you. Love the beach area!

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  5. We've stayed there a number of times too. We've been on the pier a few times and have never seen anyone catch a fish so it's nice to know that it can be done. We know the paths too so we were able to follow you on your hike. We like the shortcut at the Nature Center.
    Syl

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  6. We have gone geocaching a couple of times -- certainly rookies. This post is a good incentive to try it again. Thanks!

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  7. Nancy here...

    I encourage everyone to give geocaching a try. While finding the cache is cool...it is the hike and the time spent in nature that is the best. Many times, the cache takes you to places you might not have found on your own...some really beautiful spots. I consider geocaching just a great excuse to do something we should want to do anyway:o))

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  8. That is such a beautiful place, and so close to your home. Love the variety, the trails, the trees (that live oak is amazing!) and the wildlife makes for lots of enjoyment.

    Too bad there is a geocache thief on the loose there... ;c)

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  9. We haven't been to Myrtle Beach SP and think we need to add it to our ever growing list! Thanks for sharing!

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