Andrew Jackson State Park

Just a walk in the park.

So I was back East visiting Cliff and Michelle and Hunter. On the Monday before I left, decided to finally check out Andrew Jackson State Park, Lancaster County, SC. It was just a few minutes down the road, a Monday morning and warm. I checked ahead of time and learned they open at 0900. After finishing up some lite shopping and comparing food prices between CA .vs SC at the nearby Harris Teeter, the time aprpoached 0900 and off I went.

Based on the time and state park personnel availability, there were three main points of attraction that were available: a one mile nature trail, mock up buildings of the time, the lake. I had pretty much all day to check this out, but managed to get it all done in about three hours. That included hanging out on a park bench listening to some tunes on the iPod. As far as other electronics, just had the cell phone. I left the trusty Garmin eTrex at home. No geocaching on this trip.

Very open trail, well maintained, suitable for jogging. Thankfully no ticks.  There were many thin spider webs. Being spring and all the forest canopy was not that heavy. Not sure if the gps would have coverage. Sometimes a lite forest can cause disruption. The sign said this was a one mile loop trail.

The bird sounds were pretty cool. I'd think that they were tweeting to one another. Did not see any critters other than a squirrel or two. Managed to take camera video with the bird sounds. Maybe as some point I'd try to upload those sounds.

The State Park has this cool lake that is about 25 minute walk around. Small aluminum boats can be rented as well as camp grounds. A few ducks were hanging out and a goose or two. Ducks are relatively friendly. They would peck any crumb's or random food items.

And finally, three pine cones.

Hiking

Not really a hike, but this is the closest label that fits. This was a second trip to Northern California and again took me to the Yuba City area. I stayed on base in a visiting officer quarters which was surprisingly next to Beale Lake (which I was unaware). There was some time before I needed to attend to an appointment. So I took a walk along a very well kept sidewalk and heard the sound of water. Being interested in all things water, this grabbed ahold of my attention. Not even an 1/8 mile down the sidewalk and this is what was presented to me.

A most excellent opportunity to test out digital SLR camera settings, mainly slowing the shutter speed so that the water would look silky. Thank you to all digital camera technology and the ability to hold 5000 photos. This provided a lot of storage space as many shutter speeds were tested. It was hard to decide which photo to post, eventually settled on the above. A co-worker is an photographer hobbist and takes photos of running water to see the water turn to silk. So I tried to do the same thing.

Here is the actual lake formed by the dam. No worries though, they have the "fish run" or whatever they call that water pathway so fish can make it upstream into this lake. This is the afternoon time around 6:15 pm. Lucky there was ample sunlight as this was my only opportunity. Peeking into the still water from above there were many fishes cruising around looking for things that little fish like to eat.

Looking down stream. Really nice bubbly brook sounds.

Once last view of the bridge and dam / waterfall. There is a more lengthly trail system. Since I had a time constraint, additional hiking will need to wait for later. I heard that this area of Northern California dries up pretty good in the summer and gets fairly warm. Guess my next trip will need to wait. I'd like to blog the trip up the I-5 the next time.