2009-02-20 There was no update yesterday because yesterday was boring. Today: it took me all morning, but I finally built up enough thrust to break free from Charleston's gravitational pull. Doing so required the crossing of Ravenel bridge. Take a look at the picture. It is much bigger than it appears. Fortunately, there is a pedestrian/bike path hanging off its side. Unfortunately, there were several dozen teenagers on the path. These kids had the spatial awareness and reaction time of woolly bears, but they danced around like monkeys. It was treacherous. I also visited Angel Oak. Take a look at the picture. It is also bigger than it appears. Apparently, this is the largest tree on the east coast. Maybe not the tallest, but definitely a thick spidery thing. I spent altogether too much time today on busy roads. In an effort to avoid this, I followed Old Jacksonboro Road. This route started off nice enough with very little traffic. Eventually it began oscillating between pavement and sand. Then I was forced to climb over a gate to continue. Near the end the road was barely a pair of tire tracks through a swamp. But at least there were no big trucks. If I were smart I'd still be hiding out in a hotel. We all know better, though. It never broke 50 degrees today. On my last check it was supposed to drop down to around 25 tonight. In setting up camp near Ritter, SC I deviated slightly from my usual routine in preparation for the cold. I set my hammock up low so that I'm basically laying in the ground. I also donned all of my layers. Now it's just a matter of seeing how much I suffer. Morning update: I slept good until about midnight at which point I realized that my "tent" was collecting too much condensation and my sleeping bag was slowly becoming soaked. So I rolled out of the tent and spent the rest of the night laying on the ground, which was colder but drier. All told my sleeping bag held up like a champ. My thermometer showed 23 degrees when it finally got light out. This explains my frozen water bottles. Also, about a thousand ducks just flew over heading north. That's a good sign, right?

Ravenel bridge Angel Oak Angel Oak's trunk Ace Basin National Estuarine Research Reserve