Hiking Team: Dave Miller, Rosie Miller, Joe Gillivan
Date: December 2, 2023
The 1.7-mile trail began outside and just north of Fort Pulaski and ended with a close-up view of the Cockspur Island Lighthouse. The lighthouse was built in 1856 marking the entrance of the South Channel of the Savannah River. It is only 46 feet tall which is why the short lighthouse survived the bombardment during the April 1862 Civil War battle for Fort Pulaski.
The flat trail was a mix of sand, shell and dirt and was surrounded by palmetto, scrub palm, salty marsh grass and semi-tropical plants. We saw lots of migratory birds and hundreds of fiddler crabs especially as the land became soggy due to the high and low tides. Since occasionally a gator would enter the fort’s moat during low tide, Rosie kept scanning the foliage along the trail for a gator or eastern diamondback rattlesnake to suddenly appear. The end of the trail became a nice boardwalk with historical signage and a great view of the lighthouse. In the distance you could see a larger lighthouse across the channel at Tybee Island. Photo #4 are confederate cannon aimed at Tybee Island.
