Woodland Pond: Part 1 of 3 at Carolina Sandhills NWR

 

“Everywhere is something which could be beautiful. You must only be able to see and to know what and how to take off, to crop from the infinity.” - Florin Constantinescu


    This day demanded the polarizing filter to clear up the glare from the sun's light reflecting from the water. And how the blues and greens did pop! As I wrote in my post from April 1, 2023...

    Driving along toward home in north central South Carolina, I began to get hungry for lunch. I had some homemade pulled pork nice and warm in my Hot Logic mini portable oven and a couple rolls and some mayo were ready. But where to stop? Quite out of nowhere, on my left suddenly was a sign for the Carolina Sandhills National Wildlife Refuge. A quick signal and brake and I was easily in the nice quiet parking lot. In fact, I was the only one there. Although the visitor center should have been open, the staff must have been elsewhere because I saw nobody else during my visit. 

    After popping the hatch, pulling out my chair, and enjoying a couple delicious pork sandwiches, I decided to have a look around the refuge. Unlike Pinckney Island NWR near Hilton Head where I’d been exploring, Carolina Sandhills was accessible by vehicle so I drove a bit, pulled over, hiked, took some photographs, and repeated this routine the whole way through the refuge. What a wonderful experience. 

    I’ll write more about the unique features of Carolina Sandhills NWR in a future post but for now, picture pine forests growing out of huge sandy dunes with various ponds and lakes sprinkled in. This particular pond was the first image I made that day and I think it’ll give you a good idea why I was so excited to happen upon this place. 

    Peace be with you, my friends. Enjoy your travels, wherever they may take you. A little serendipity is a wonderful thing.

Clicking on the image will open it in full screen

‘Woodland Pond’ an oasis of vibrant blue water and sky backed by the longleaf pines of Carolina Sandhills National Wildlife Refuge off of U.S. Highway 1 in McBee, South Carolina.

www.johnjgiardinaphotography.com


Location: Carolina Sandhills National Wildlife Refuge, Jefferson, SC 29718, USA

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