Geocaching Journals ~ Sunny South Carolina Saturday 3/1 (Photo Essay)

I headed out this morning around 10:30 to begin a day of caching. The main destination for the day was Huntington Beach State Park in Murrells Inlet. I've been looking forward to finding these hides since Nana To Seven Cutiepies offered to loan me her parks pass a few months ago.

I had enough time before meeting Larry and Columbo (since I can't remember his real name) to find two caches. The first was a log-only micro hidden in a tree cubbyhole. The other was a small Tupperware container and it was in some saw-grass type stuff in the Piggly Wiggly parking lot. Just as I was rehiding this cache, Larry phoned that they were on their way.

I met them inside the park and we got into one vehicle, leaving mine parked. We drove to the North end of the park where there were 3 geocaches. The first, called Spooky Forrest, was a short .10-mile walk (one way) on a nature trail. The cache was an ammocan.

This was the view before getting onto the trail.

From a nearby observation deck, Larry spotted this guy.

Of course I went down closer to snap several photos. I have a real nice closeup that I am saving to put in my Gather gallery.

The next cache was Pelican Beach, which was located near Pelican Point. This cache was approximately 1.5 miles each way, but I think it was more like 3.25 miles of total walking when all was said and done.

It was a beautiful, warm and very windy day for walking along the beach. This was probably the best time of year to hunt this one since the beach isn't full with the in season tourists yet. There were only people scattered along the sand. Many of them were gathering shells.

Below is looking back at the point walkway that we took too the cache.

This next shot is an ocean view from very near where the cache was hidden.

The cache was a small, screw-top plastic container that contained a few trinkets and the logbook.

While walking along this area, I had noticed these schools of little itty bitty fish. We climbed down the rocks to get a closer look. The fish swam off before I could capture their picture, but I did find some interesting plantlife in the water.

Above is a sea sponge and some other sea life. And the photo below is a closeup of another section of ocean plantlife.

Once we rounded the corner from the point walkway and entered the beach area again, the wind was really whipping. Below you can see a seagull who was coasting in the winds. The photo is a tad out of focus because the wind gusts really knocked you and even the anti-shake was no match for the gusts.

I can't remember what type of birds are shown below. Larry and his friend did mention what they were from one of the park signs, but I can't recall their name. I snapped this shot because I thought they looked like they were having a meeting of the minds or something.

This Great Dane was walking his owner. Again a little out of focus because they were briskly moving and I didn't have the right setting on for this type of motion shot.

When we got back to parking, the two Springer Spaniels below were getting some water and resting after their long walk.

Larry and Columbo dropped me at my car and I continued to get the remaining four caches in the park. The next was a quick one called Micro in the Wilderness. I really hate it when people hide micros in the woods. It's such a waste of real estate.

I then headed to two virtual caches. Huntington Beach Keebler Cache was kind of uneventful since I thought there were other places in the immediate area that looked more like the cache spot than the one used. This was an old cache though that was probably placed the year I began caching. So the tree may have looked better back then.

The other Virtual was Archer and Anna. It was at the old historic mansion that's here at the park. I got the information I needed to log the cache and took a few photos before heading to the last cache here.

Main entry to the Alalaya Mansion is shown above. Below is a capture in the courtyard breezeway area.

The final cache in the park was Kerrigan Gnome Home. It was a 1 mile walk to and from this ammocan hide. I made quick work of it, but my legs were really beginning to feel the strain.

On the drive to the park exit, I spied the following pair in the marsh. There were actually a lot of Egrets, but this one was the closest to me.

This Heron was really stunning. He kept watching me to see what the black thing was in my hands.

Once I was out of the park, I grabbed a few more caches on the ride back to my parents place. There was a plastic jug cache called On Frontage Road followed by a micro cache named Welcome to Murrels Inlet.

The final cache for me today was a small cache located in a marina area in Murrels Inlet called Marshwalk Oak. Once I signed the log, I snapped a few photos, including the one of the seagull below.

Hope you had fun following me on these 11 caches.

My legs are still complaining from all the walking, lol!