Back to reality, back to light weight jackets, and back to life in the mountains. Here is Chipley practicing his best move (so far in doggy agility). We had to cross over a couple of small streams. He went right over the water and never thought about what he was doing all because Cocoa Joy had gone before him. And where was Cocoa when this photo was taken? Oh . . . behind me . . . pulling to go on down the path toward the river. She always leads the way.

Here are a few final shots taken on the way back to the boat at Cumberland. Being on the island is truly a once in a lifetime experience. But the fun thing is this: it doesn’t have to be that way. If you live close enough, it can be enjoyed over and over again. Call for reservations. The Park Service only allows a certain number of people on the island each day. Overnight camping and backpacking are allowed in certain areas. For the most part, the facilities are primitive (There’s no Coca Cola on the island, no machines and certainly no vendors.) Bathroom facilities are few and far between but well maintained. What you pack in, you must pack out. Still it is a very worth-while trip even for families with small children. Plus, I saw lots of older people hiking on the island this time. The best thing to do is bring sunscreen, bug and tick spray (a must), a camera, and enjoy all you see and do.

There are several pathways like this on the island. Maps are given out at the visitor’s center and are easy to follow. Most people do not get lost—I don’t think. These sun-speckled routes (like the one above) were cut through maritime forests by early owners, who were made up of some of America’s wealthiest families.

The Park Service continues to prevent the ruins at Dungeness from falling in or completely being over grown by vines. However, the nearby recreation house that once contained an indoor swimming pool and racket ball court has collasped. When I first visited the island in the ’80′s, it was still standing but barely. Long time residents continue to recommend Cumberland Island: A History as a must have book on the island’s history.

I thought I would post a couple of the seagull photos I took while on Cumberland Island. While we were there, the sky was cloudless and a deep Indigo blue. I knew that when I looked at my photos everything would be blue, blue, blue. A friend with me suggested that I use a photoshop action that would add clouds to the sky. That could be fun at some point, but I thought I would just give you the Cumberland sky—uncut and unedited.

These little guys were sitting on the dock when we left the island. They both seemed quite content to pose for my camera. I wondered if they were friends. C. S. Lewis wrote, “Friendship is born at the moment when one person says to another: What! You too? I thought I was the only one.” I also found it interesting that one of them brought the other a gift. Notice the small, colorful object in the center.

For the most part, tabby and brick walls are all that remain of the once elegant Dungeness located on the southern part of Cumberland Island.

The first Dungeness was located on this site. Some of the ruins of the second structure are pictured above. Construction on the first mansion began in 1800 and was ready for occupation in 1803. It was 90 feet tall—four stories on top of a very high basement level. It had 30 thirty rooms and its foundation was made of tabby (a concrete made from limestone, water, and oyster shells) and had walls that were six feet thick.

When it was completed Dungeness was hailed as the “most elegant residence on the Georgia coast.” The garden and the grounds contained roses, orange trees, and olive grove, fig trees, lime trees, pomegranate, citron, and guava trees. In his book, Cumberland Island: Strong Women, Wild Horses, Charles Seabrook wrote “the grounds were also graced with sago palms, Indian-rubber trees, and coffee plants.”

Grand Avenue is the main road linking the north end of the island to the south end. It passes by Grayfield Inn, dense forest that contains twisted live oaks, palmettos, bayberries, magnolias, hollies, yaupons, and longleaf pines. In recent history the island’s history is connected to the Carnegie descendants and the heirs of Asa Griggs Candler, the Atlanta pharmacist who discovered Coca-Cola. At one time the Carnegies owned 90 percent of the island and the Candlers laid claim to the rest. Today, the Park Service is the largest land owner, though I don’t think anyone but God really owns it. Cumberland Island National Seashore is a national treasure that has been saved from extensive development. In earlier history, Colonel James Oglethorpe, the Spanish, and the Creek Indians all had ties to the island.

I didn’t get any closer than this, and I didn’t pull out a longer lens mainly because the guy on the left suddenly noticed me taking photos and threw his ears straight up—which, I think, in horse language is not a good sign. The sand dunes behind these horses are “young” and much lower than the ones that are located further inland.

(He’s still watching, watching, watching.) The ranger who gave us instruction before we boarded the boat to Cumberland told everyone not to feed the animals and . . . don’t try to ride the “wild life!”

This photo is not even a fair representation of the live oaks that are on the island. They are huge and some of their limbs hang out so far and are so strong you can walk up them.

I need to post something this morning. The day is going to be so full, but I can’t shake the memory of being on Cumberland out of my mind. I want to go back. It is vast; it is wild; and it is free.

The beach at Cumberland is the longest undeveloped beach on the Atlantic coastline. The are a couple of signs as you step on to it but that’s it. No other form of human existence is visible.