I’m writing this from the warmth and comfort of Jacksonville airport, waiting to board my plane back to Chicago, and I can finally feel my toes for the first time in 4 days. My fingers have also thawed out and I am now wearing the normal amount of layers for a person that hasn’t been camping out in sub-30 degree weather. I suspect I smell more fragrant than most, however. You know how in my last post I mentioned, very casually, that it was snowing on Cumberland Island? Apparently, this is the first time in over 100 YEARS that its snowed here – which would explain why we were getting multiple emergency weather alerts of increasing hysteria levels throughout the day on Tuesday, ahead of the last ferry departure from the island. The park service even laid on 2 extra boats in an attempt to encourage people to leave the island. Should you choose not to leave, it was made clear, in no uncertain terms, that you Were On Your Own until the next ferry on Thursday, should you choose to stay and brave the elements.
We stayed.
Partly because we are camping bad asses (shitty sleeping bags aside) – but partly also because we didn’t pick up the extra boat notification message until 15mins before it was due to leave – by which time we were halfway into a 15 mile roundtrip hike to Plum Mansion. Ah well.
Our trip had begun on the Sunday night, as the group gathered at a Jacksonville airport hotel, ready to head to St Mary’s the next morning, where we’d board the ferry for our 45min ride over to Cumberland Island. We were originally going to be a party of 28 people (split across 2 group camping sites) – but a number of folk had looked at the weather forecast and decided to Nope it out, so in the end, there were only 20 of us in total. Or maybe there were 19 of us. It remains unclear.
I thought I might be in a spot of trouble as we were dockside in St Mary’s, waiting for the ferry. We’d arrived at 8am, ahead of our 9am departure time, so we could get checked in and receive the mandatory “don’t try and ride the wild horses on Cumberland Island” briefing from the park rangers. It was around 42F, so still a fairly reasonable temperature – but I was already cold. As in “shit – I wish I’d remembered to pack that extra pair of gloves” cold. Which was a bit puzzling as I felt colder than I thought I should, given the temperature – until Beau pointed out it was because of the humidity – apparently high humidity in cold temps (a shitty combo I’d not been exposed to before) makes everything feel much much chillier. Who knew?? We did go and grab some coffee and cinnamon rolls to go, before we got on the boat, which helped a bit – but I already knew the next few days were going to be a bit of a test of endurance and mental fortitude! At least this time, I’d left the jam at home and brought long pants.
I will say this. Cumberland Island itself is gorgeous. Although the extreme weather overshadowed my time on the island, there’s something to be said for having been part of such a unique experience. The island has a rich history and abundant wildlife that you are welcome to read about here: https://exploregeorgia.org/city/cumberland-island – ( TL/DR: 90% of the island was owned by the Carnegie family back in the early 1900’s) and the remaining buildings (some in ruins, others preserved) offer a fascinating insight into privileged life during the Gilded Age. On our first day on the island, we walked over to the site of Dungeness Mansion https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dungeness_(Cumberland_Island,_Georgia), now in ruins after it was destroyed by a fire back in the 50’s. There’s something very poignant and sad to me about grand old buildings that have crumbled into ruins. Also… I wanted to run around and explore them – but alas, the Park Service had everything roped off, so we only got to peer at it from a distance. We walked back from the ruins along the beach – which, on a warm day, I could imagine would be a very pleasant experience.
It was not a warm day.
The next morning, we hiked 7 miles from our campsite to tour Plum Mansion (“it was Rev Green, in the library with the candlestick”) which has been preserved to show visitors how the mega-wealthy lived (the mansion was a wedding gift from Lucy Carnegie to her son, George Lauder Carnegie – beats a toaster, right?). Our tour round the mansion was conducted at lightspeed, as this was the day the freezing rain and snow was forecast to hit the island around 5pm, so we were all very conscious of having to hike almost 8 miles back before Snowmaggedon descended. We left the mansion around 2pm and then route marched the entire way back pretty much without stopping! It was flat the whole way, which helped, but even still – its been a while since I’ve walked 15 miles in a single day. No blisters or cramps, so I was pretty happy with my overall fitness level which bodes well for my upcoming trip in March (more on that soon).
As predicted, it did indeed snow overnight, preceded by a freezing rainstorm that loudly battered away on the roof of my tent for hours. It was like sleeping inside a drum. Amazingly enough, I did manage to get some sleep but woke early, so got up at around 6am and headed off to the ranger welcome station (designated as a warming station) to thaw out and dry my damp sleeping bag. Unfortunately the power – and thus heating – gave out at 7.30am due to a massive power outage on the mainland (Georgia is really not prepared for such wintry weather!) – but it was still (marginally) warmer than sitting in my tent, plus I had the added benefit of cell service, so I was able to blog (yey!) and start to edit some photos. Which is where you found me on my last blog.
By now, it was Wednesday and – as the park service kept repeatedly telling us yesterday – there were no ferries today, the next (and only) one coming at 11am on Thursday. As it happens, 2 state troopers came by the campsite at around 10am, to check in on us (I think we were the last campers left standing on the island at this point) and to offer to evacuate anyone who was really struggling. By this point, I had already decided to leave a day early and catch the Thursday ferry back to the mainland, vs my original plan of Friday. One more night of fart-fueled warmth and emergency-blanket moistness felt do-able to me so we all smiled and said we were OK, but thanked them for checking in.
I stayed pretty close to camp on the last day, alternating between the smoky campfire and the chilly ranger’s station, taking photos of the various woodpeckers and assorted birds that flitted in and out of camp, as well as the unique landscape of live oaks and saw palmettos covered in a fine dusting of snow. As you can see from the photos, it looked pretty magical. Most of the rest of our group decided to go on a hike to see the Greyfield Inn HERE, but I was happy enough bimbling about, playing with my new camera. I’m slowly learning how to use it – its way more complicated than my trusty Canon Digital Rebel camera, but as long as I have it figured out ahead of my next trip, that’s all that matters!
One consequence of the power outage was that the toilets in the toilet block were no longer able to flush – and perhaps more critically, the water pumps were not working so no more fresh water (I just re-read that sentence, and I think I have my priorities in the correct order – right??). Fortunately, we were a resourceful bunch, so a big pile of snow was gathered up and boiled JIC (just drink around the leaves and twigs and you’ll be fine) and the absence of flushable toilets was no problemo for this group AT ALL. Pee outside in nature? We can do that without breaking a sweat (or even stride, some of us). Poop into a bag and carry it for miles? No worries! (for context, see https://sazzinthecity.com/2024/10/paying-my-backpacking-dues-with-those-number-twos/) Luckily, the power was restored before we had to start peppering the woods with cat-holes – probably much to the relief of the park service. Given the interruption in service, though, there was a boil notice on the water for the remainder of our stay – but given all my liquids were consumed in the form of hot, black coffee in an attempt to stay warm, that was fine by me.
Our last evening was spent, as before, huddled by the campfire to keep warm and engaging in some light trash talking. Many of the people on the trip have known each other for many years and hiked together multiple times, so as you can imagine, there were quite the set of stories to tell, re-tell and embellish wildly. This reached its natural crescendo after dinner, when official goodbyes and stories and gag gifts were shared with Steve, to wish him well and to welcome Beau as the new owner of Fitpacking (btw, trips for 2025 are now open – see HERE). My gift was a roll of (unused) toilet paper in a Ziploc bag. Pure backpacking gold and the most important currency there is, especially towards the end of a long trip. I was pretty happy with my contribution.
With that, and after another night spent under a damp quilt, with strategic placement of 4 handwarmers, my time on Cumberland Island drew to a close. A few other people had also decided to leave earlier than planned – but 7 hardy souls chose to remain until the end. As you might expect, there was nobody on the ferry over to the island – and it was just our group plus one random lady who were on the 11am ferry outta there. A few of us stopped at a little place across the street from the dock for lunch, before we went our separate ways. I cadged a lift back to Jacksonville, to collect my big purple suitcase from the storage locker, and then headed to the airport where I’d managed to change my flight to a day earlier AND use miles to upgrade myself for the 2hr journey back to Chicago. I figured after the last few days, I’d earned it.
OK – we all know that travel can expand even the teeny tiniest mind. So what did I learn from my latest sojourn to Cumberland Island?
- Cumberland Island is gorgeous and ridiculously scenic and – despite almost freezing my bits off – its beauty was only enhanced by the once in a lifetime snowstorm that we experienced. If you get a chance – go! In fact, if you want to recreate my experience – but with less hypothermia – you can sign up right here! https://fitpacking.com/_2025/CumberlandIslandNationalSeashore
- Cold humidity is the worst humidity. I will never complain about the frizziness of my hair when in Orange County ever again.
- Big one here- sleeping bag ratings are important! And also useless. Check whether your bag is rated for comfort vs survival, look at the number, and then stick at least another 10 degrees on top of that just to be on the safe side. Err on the side of more pants, less jam.
- 15 miles is a piece of cake when its flat and you are not wearing a 40lb backpack. Why do I not do these types of hikes more often?
- Nalgene bottles make great hot water bottles when filled with boiling water and placed inside a wool sock
- Nalgene bottles should NEVER be considered as alternate bathroom solutions, no matter how frigid the conditions.
- No judgement should be applied to those who, in their darkest moments, have considered breaking Rule Number 6.
- Packets of tuna and cold tortilla wraps are singularly unappetizing lunch choices when it is below freezing outside. Best stick with the extremely bougie 1882 Olivieri panettone leftover from the holidays instead.
- If you have the AutoISO on your camera and its jacked up to 10,000, your images WILL be noisy.
- Don’t run in a campsite at night. You WILL trip over unseen guy lines and fall splat on your face.
Well, that’s it for now. Until the next time, here are some bird pictures….
