After action of the Tuesday Group Hike at First Landing State Park (12/14/21)
On Tuesday Dec 14th , It was a beautiful day for this group of 23 hikers and 3 dogs (Aubrey, Boston, and Scooter) who came out to enjoy the sunshine and explore some of the trails on both the Bayside and Landside of First Landing park. We met at 9:15am and started hiking around 9:30am down the beach toward Fort Story, seeing a few birds and enjoying the wonderful weather. We stopped to see one of the 4 yurts that the Park has recently built, an great alternative to camping (more luxurious than tents, but no running water, electricity or indoor cooking facilities). Each yurt has a large wooden deck with tables and deck chairs where you can chill out in the evenings while cooking on a grill that is provided. We continued our walk through the camp grounds with no campers around, giving us the whole area to ourselves. We crossed Shore Drive to the land side of the Park were we hiked on a trail near the road, the Club helped the Park clear this trail, which is adjacent to the road, so as to reduce pedestrian traffic on the road. We then crossed the road to Long Creek trail and hiked along the Creek where we saw many buffleheads, a common loon, and a few other birds. This is a great place to watch the buffleheads which come in late fall/early winter and eat mainly mollusks (especially snails) and small amounts of plant material. In the summer they will eat aquatic insects. It is so much fun to watch them dive, although it’s often hard to get a good shot of them. We hiked to the platform on Long Creek Trail, where we stopped for a water/snack break, gave the dogs some water, and took some great scenic pictures. We then turned around and hiked back the way we came, except taking the Fox Run trail for a change in scenery. We ended the hike around noon, hiking around 6 miles. Ten of us went to Ballyhoos for lunch, where we had the place to ourselves and good food!
Bob Mooney
View Bob's photos: https://photos.app.goo.gl/nc616ZwbbmxqLWii8
View Bill's photos: https://photos.app.goo.gl/fc96Uko9WHfiijwH7