Last year, winter came early for Atlanta. And not only was it early; it was brutal. Naturally, I started to plot an escape at the earliest opportunity. That escape trip took me down through Savannah twice, down to Anastasia Beach, and finally back up to Blackrock Beach.

We spent four hours on the Blackrock Beach trail and took so many pictures, it will take three separate posts to detail this one trip. So let’s get started!

Gearing Up

We arrived at Blackrock Beach some time in the late afternoon. Shortly after parking in the dusty lot, my mom messaged me to say it was 30-degree weather in Atlanta and it was raining, so I decided to make her jealous with this sunshine-selfie.

After that, it was time to gear up. We were told about driftwood and teepees, so we had our cameras ready. I packed from the house, but Winston had three cameras, plus his phone, and took a longer time to decide what to take with him.

The First Trip to the Beach

In a few minutes, however, we were all packed and ready to head off into the woods. I’ve hiked the north, south, east, west, and midwest of the United States, and I had never seen terrain and plants like this before, on a trail.

 

After a while, the dirt gave way to sand — a dead giveaway that we were getting closer and closer to the beach.

 

We had only just done a bit of exploring before Winston started to wonder whether or not he had remembered to lock the car.

I was eager to switch my sandals out for my hiking shoes, now that I realised this would be no ordinary beach trip, so I was only too happy to head back with him.

Turns out the car was locked, but we were now better prepared for the hike ahead.

The Prickly Detour

On the way back, I noticed a small clearing to our right. It was hard to tell if it was a real trail or not, and there was only one way to find out — so off into the Floridian jungle we went. Trail or not, the terrain was unforgiving, littered with tree branches and prickly bushes.

I was dressed in shorts, in anticipation of a regular beach day, so my skin did not thank me for the prickly detour. Still, what’s a few scratches and bruises to see what’s at the end of the green tunnel?

As it turned out, the answer was nothing — or perhaps more accurately, just more of the same. I was determined to keep going, to see if perhaps there was some hidden trail further ahead, but we ended up just stomping around in the open savanna of prickly bushes for a bit.

After a while, we finally realised accepted, the trail was a trick. We were in the middle of nowhere, with the beach no longer in sight, wondering — in true millennial fashion — WTF. What was the point of a cut in the woods that led to nothing at all?

I was a little saddened by Mother Nature’s betrayal, but with the beach we had glimpsed ahead, I could hardly complain.

It took us some time to find that old trail that led back through the canopy of prickly bushes, but in time, we were on our way out.

Back at the Beach

 

As you can see from the video, we had a treat awaiting us on the beach. I had never seen driftwood like this before, scattered everywhere along the shore. Next Friday, I’ll share our adventures amongst the driftwood of Blackrock beach!

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*All videos and all photos of Alexis Chateau (me) in this blog post were captured by Winston Murray.