THE OUTDOORSMAN

BY JUSTIN HARDY

LAND AND WILDLIFE MANAGER FOR THE PALMETTO BLUFF CONSERVANCY

With a title like “The Outdoorsman,” you may be hoping I’ll wax on about the time I ate rib meat off a fresh kill in an ice storm during an earthquake when eight of my fingers were broken from fighting a bear in shark-infested waters.

But no. Not today… Today, it’s all pretty leaves and flowers in the fall.

The deciduous forests of the northeastern United States are famous for their fall color change. This annual wham-bam of color is spectacular, sure, but it holds ominous notions. It signifies the beginning of a long, wet cold that a Southern bumpkin like me can’t fathom. After a brief explosion of color comes gray and drab. It is true that I have zero experience with actual winter as I have rarely left my Southern comfort zone. “Winter,” down here is…well…it ain’t bad and that’s just fine. Our mild winters mean that the forest is always green, always alive, and always loud to the eye. Hell, they should call it the “fall color stay” down here.

Though the South doesn’t display a dramatic, landscape-wide color change, we do have several species that show off. This pageantry occurs in easy-to-find patches scattered throughout our perma-green maritime forest. Hickory trees and witch hazel show bright yellow. Sweetgum and sparkleberry trees get a swirl of purple and red. Sassafras, bright red. Creeper vines, purple. The list goes on. If you want a tour, River Road Preserve and Sand Hill Loop Nature Trail truly shine with color. These locations are unique and easily accessible with miles of hiking and biking trails. When you are in these places, you won’t have to search very hard to find the colorful oddballs. They stand out like an ostrich at a chicken fight. The South also has a plethora of flowering plants well into October. The Oak Island area of Palmetto Bluff in

October is our crown jewel. Deep green pine tops and scattered live oaks are the overstory of an ocean of purple blazing star, yellow goldenrod, and white boneset. The bronze-colored native grasses have puffy, white seed heads that sway in the breeze at eyebrow height. Fourforty-five in the afternoon is the perfect time to visit. The light hits at just the right angle and everything shines like tinsel at Christmas…a seventy-degree Christmas.

Alone in the forest on a fall afternoon, a cool breeze from the north slides in and breaks across my shoulders. The chill is short-lived but it reminds me to be grateful for the temperate beauty I’m standing in. I’d imagine our wild neighbors share the sentiment.

MY THREE TAKEAWAYS:

• PALMETTO BLUFF IS STUNNING IN THE FALL. • I WOULDN’T KNOW WINTER IF IT BIT ME ON THE HINDQUARTERS. • REAL OUTDOORSMEN LIKE FLOWERS AND PRETTY LEAVES.