the
Outdoorsman BY JUSTIN HARDY L A N D A N D W I L D L I F E M A N AG E R FO R T H E PA L M E T TO B LU F F CO N S E RVA N CY
With a title like “The Outdoorsman,” you may be hoping
list goes on. If you want a tour, River Road Preserve and
I’ll wax on about the time I ate rib meat o a fresh kill in an
Sand Hill Loop Nature Trail truly shine with color. These
ice storm during an earthquake when eight of my ngers
locations are unique and easily accessible with miles of
were broken from ghting a bear in shark-infested waters.
hiking and biking trails. When you are in these places,
But no. Not today… Today, it’s all pretty leaves and
you won’t have to search very hard to
nd the colorful
oddballs. They stand out like an ostrich at a chicken ght.
owers in the fall. The deciduous forests of the northeastern United
The South also has a plethora of owering plants well
States are famous for their fall color change. This annual
into October. The Oak Island area of Palmetto Blu
wham-bam of color is spectacular, sure, but it holds
October is our crown jewel. Deep green pine tops and
ominous notions. It signi es the beginning of a long,
scattered live oaks are the overstory of an ocean of purple
wet cold that a Southern bumpkin like me can’t fathom.
blazing star, yellow goldenrod, and white boneset. The
After a brief explosion of color comes gray and drab. It
bronze-colored native grasses have pu y, white seed
is true that I have zero experience with actual winter as
heads that sway in the breeze at eyebrow height. Four-
I have rarely left my Southern comfort zone. “Winter,”
forty- ve in the afternoon is the perfect time to visit. The
down here is…well…it ain’t bad and that’s just
light hits at just the right angle and everything shines like
ne. 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.
in
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.
Though the South doesn’t display a dramatic,
The chill is short-lived but it reminds me to be grateful
landscape-wide color change, we do have several species
for the temperate beauty I’m standing in. I’d imagine our
that show o . This pageantry occurs in easy-to- nd
wild neighbors share the sentiment.
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
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P A L M E T T O B L U F F. C O M
MY THREE TAKEAWAYS: • PA L M E T TO B LU F F I S ST U N NI N G I N T H E FA L L . • I WO U L D N ’ T K N OW W I N T ER I F I T B I T M E O N T H E H I N D Q UART E R S . • R E A L O U T D OO R S M E N L I K E F LOW E R S AN D P R E T T Y L E AV E S.