Bulls Island

“Bulls Island” at Cape Romain National Wildlife Refuge (this is the place we actually applied for, but they had all of their volunteers so we ended up at Francis Marion NF), is an undeveloped barrier island within the Cape Romain National Wildlife Refuge. It was established in 1932 to help wildlife and to preserve their habitat. Bull Island was a well-known hideout for pirates waiting to raid ships along the coast. The ruins of the Old Fort on Bull Island are believed to be what is left of a Martello tower that was built in the early 1700s, which Union troops destroyed during the Civil War. During the Revolutionary War, British warships used the island as a restocking station.
Bull Island is considered a Class 1 wilderness location, meaning it has remained relatively unchanged and unaltered by man. A ferry is the only means of transportation to the island, and visitors are not allowed to stay past dark.

on the way to the island  it was low tide so were were able to see people digging for clams..

this guy has to wait until the tide comes back in to go out..

an oyster bed..

lots of birds including the Brown Pelican

harvesting oysters..

Oyster Catchers

we had a great talk on the way over, it was a bit cool but I was dressed appropriately, the college kids were not! they all gave me funny looks while on the dock, but on the boat I just smiled as I was the only one that was warm!

most of the paths looked like this..

from the Observation Towe we can see Jacks Creek, a 500 acre (I think) fresh water pond. not sure how that works... maybe it is not fresh water..

from here we headed to.....Alligators Alley.....where we seen about 50 alligators..

and the Grand Daddie...

after seeing all those gators we needed a rest by a beautiful pond..

next we went to what is known as the Boneyard..  the shore gets beat up by the waves, moves the sand to the other side of the island and leaves behind dead trees.

Eric playing in the water...  really rinsing off shells..

and a Horseshoe Crab molt

we picked up a few sand dollars and other shells, maybe we will put them on the wall in the Sauna!    we walked at least 5 miles yesterday and we walked about 7 miles today, and needless to say we were pretty tired.  this was a bit pricy but well worth the trip.  they only take the ferry out on Saturdays in the winter and this was the first Sat since we have been here that was not cold or rainy!