Bon Secour

"Don't fence me in" - Cole Porter

Some days are just to good to be true.  Often times I feel as if I am in a hole, deeper than any other hole and a day comes along like today and well, the hole isn't that deep any more.  It is amazing the healing powers that this earth has, just to be out in it and let the sun hit you in your face.  I wish everyone could experience the feeling of excitement and joy that wandering around this old world gives me, it's very powerful.

Even though we had a later than usual start, the wife and I decided to head to Bon Secour.  We have been wanting to check the trails out there for quite some time and today would be the day.  Bon Secour is broken up into four trails:  Jeff Friend, Centennial, Pine Beach, and Gator Lake.  We did all of them today except for Gator Lake Trail, now that I recall I don't remember even seeing, must have walked right by it.

Jeff Friend Trail:  After an hour and half or so car ride from Mobile, Al we arrived at the trail head parking lot of Jeff Friend.  This trail is very easy and most of the way is gravel or boardwalk.  It makes a one mile loop back to the parking lot with a boardwalk that has very nice view of the water.  This trail is just a taste of what beauty lies at Bon Secour.  If you don't make the loop, Jeff Friend comes right up to the Centennial trail.

Centennial Trail:  This is where the hiking really begins and you can feel as though you are away from

civilization.  It is a sandy path surrounded by palmettos, sand pines, slash pines, wax myrtles and many other of sand loving plants with plenty of places to rest in the shade.  About half way into the trail you leave the sandy pine forests and find yourself in the bottom lands, almost a swampy vibe.  It has a really nice boardwalk that takes you out into the wetlands and is one of the most amazing views of the whole hike in my opinion.  We stayed here for a while taking pictures, chasing frogs, and just taking in the view.  It is so amazing at the many different habitats
on this hike, it was almost if you were on an island in the middle of nowhere. The boardwalk was flooded, so we had to turn around and trek through the marsh for a bit and back into the woods we went.  So many different things to look at, it was almost a sensory overload and hopefully by the pictures you can see why we were almost here for five and half hours.  At the end of this trail it t's into the Pine Beach Trail.

Pine Beach Trail:  Seems to be where most people start and finish.  We hiked to the parking lot and sat

down underneath a huge old tree and had our lunch.  The day was going
wonderful and we had no cares of time or ever getting home.  After lunch we would hike to the end of Pine Beach Trail and realize that it takes you straight to the beach.  My wife loves the beach and it was like the best of both worlds for us today.  Who would have thought just ten minutes ago we were in the middle of the woods and now we would be on the beach.  Before we got to the beach we would take a minute on the tower that overlooks Gator Lake and Little Lagoon.  This was one of the most beautiful landscapes we had seen so far and with the breeze blowing we hung out there for a few minutes.  We crossed the lagoon and where surround by water and sand dunes.  The golden sea oats where amazing as we made it to the beach.  We sat down and decided to walk the sand bare footed.  At this point we had hiked almost five miles and it felt good to get out of our shoes, little did we know that getting to the beach at this point would not be an easy task.  Up and down, up and down surround by sandy dunes.  One last hill, as we made it to the top it overlooked Alabama's most perfect beach.  I have lived here my whole life and never though that we would have anything like this.  Almost as far as the eye could see it was undeveloped and forever it will be this because of Congress back in the 80's.  Who says all politicians are bad.  We let the crystal clear water hit our tired, worn out feet.  By this time it was almost five o' clock, so we needed to head back.  We stopped in the same spot and dusted our feet off, put our shoes back on and back to the Jeff Friend trail head we would go.  We still had a long ways to go before we could call it a day.

On the way back was just as fun, even though we were tired and trying to make it back before dark.  It was cooling off, so everything was moving even more this go round.  Frogs seem to stampede into the water by the dozens, it was one of the craziest things I have ever seen.  Dragons flies everywhere, just buzzing around and enjoying life.  In the middle of our path on the Centennial Trail was a very

small pygmy rattlesnake.  It was not moving, wasn't afraid of us one bit. He was a ornery little fellow.   This is his house and we are but guest, we walked around him, took a picture and on our way we would go.  We got back to the Jeff Friend Trail and decided to do
the other part of the loop, which I am glad we did.  It was a beautiful sight seeing the sun slowly going down and we could even see the moon trying to come out at this point.  If you have never been here, I highly recommend it.  Even though everything we did today was 8.5 miles it was worth every step we took.  If the human race hadn't ruined the beaches and they still looked like this, I wouldn't have a problem going.

This earth is not our home, we are but guests here.  It isn't until you see something like what I saw today until you truly understand it.  In the many different habitats we walked through today, everything had its place and reason.  From the marshy wet lands to sandy pine forests and from the lagoon to the sand dune covered beach straight to the ocean it was all there for a reason.  Not for us to tear down and put our man made structures on, but to observe and take it all in and thank Mother Nature for

letting us be her guests.  I am almost jealous of the wild, it all knows its place and what it is supposed to do, as long as we let it be.  Thank you earth, I grow wiser each time I wander you.  Until next time.