As the title mentions, I have a newfound respect for all the outdoors men mentioned in magazines and articles. And, I’ve always considered myself a fairly capable outdoors man, but this weekend I realized just how quickly things can get difficult when you’re away from modern society.

Marisha and I took a trip to Cumberland Island, located in southern Georgia. The idea was to hike out to the camp site, and enjoy a nice weekend in the wilderness surrounded by wild horses and beautiful hanging oaks. We definitely went prepared for the trip. We had all the associated food and supplies packed within two back packs and one shoulder bag. We had the reservations ready, and we were excited to get on the island and get on the go.

The drive there took a total of three hours, which wasn’t all that bad. Straight up I-95 to exit 1 and into the quaint little town of St. Mary. Our ferry was scheduled to depart at 11:30, so we arrived early and meandered down main street for a little bit. Finally, it came time to head over to the island. After 45 minutes aboard the ferry you get off at Sea Camp, where everyone scrambles to grab the carts for the supplies. It’s unbelievable how much people bring for a couple days. Unfortunately for Marisha & I, we didn’t get a cart because we were headed for the back country.

And this is where the problems began. I hoped we were early enough to get to Stafford Camp which is about 3.5 miles out and developed with water & restroom facilities. Unfortunately we were too late! A boy scout troop came over first thing in the morning and filled up the camp. So, there was no other choice than to hike out to the next closest camp site, which was Hickory Hill at 5.5 miles out. The hike out took about two hours, which is pretty good time considering the 40 pounds of gear on my back and the additional 20 on Marisha’s back. She was a trooper, never complaining or anything.

The hike was tiring but doable. We took the main road for about two miles before trekking through the forest for the rest of the time. The only thing I didn’t like was the lack of markers stating distances or locations. The only way to way find was by using the roads you crossed along the way. The campsite itself was quite pretty, nestled under an oak tree with a small open for everything. So, the first thing we do set up the tent and then it’s time to look for water. Here’s where the main problem comes to fruition. The nearest water site is almost a mile and a half away from us. So, we start hiking because we need more water for cooking and cleaning. So, it’s off to get the water.

One thing about the Hickory Hill campsite is that it’s nestled in a marshier area of the island. What this means is that the bugs can be fairly intense, as they were this evening. While getting the water things quickly escalated to miserable, and we made the mile and half journey back to camp. Marisha jumped in the tent to hide from the bugs, and I proceeded to work on dinner. From here we calmed down and the outlook was a little better. As the sun went down we carried our tired bodies into the tent and bedded down for the evening. It was early though, so we stayed up for a few hours talking, and the consensus was that it would be better to make our way out the next day instead of waiting until Sunday, due to the amount of energy it took to get out and we both had to work on Monday.

I definitely won’t say it was the best nights’ sleep, but it was a comfortable night in the tent. In the morning we broke camp early and headed on our way back in. We knew there were two ferries leaving the island that day, one at 10:30 and the other at 4:45. The reality of the situation was that we’ll probably be stuck there all afternoon waiting, but we started hiking anyways. It was hard to coax the muscles to start working again, but we got moving at a good pace. We had less than two hours to make the 10:30 ferry, and I think we both wanted it pretty bad. So, we moved! Somewhere along the way, I took over the shoulder bag from Marisha to help her out. And in less than two hours we made the 5.5 miles and caught the boat right as it was leaving from the dock.

In hindsight, it was a fun trip. But, I would have definitely planned things differently. Making a 3.5 mile hike or even a 5.5 mile hike wouldn’t be out of the question as long as there is water available at the site. I hope you enjoy this tale of what happened on Cumberland Island, for now I’m going to put some Cortisone on the bug bites.