Wandering thru Tishomingo State Park

NOTE: We are about two weeks behind in posting our blogs. As things are changing quickly in our country because of the COVID-19 pandemic, please understand that some of our activities and decisions would be different if they happened on the day the blog was actually published.

We had some beautiful weekend weather after we arrived in Red Bay, Alabama. While we wait for our appointment, we have time on our hands to do some wondering. While many of the surrounding states have stay-at-home orders, Mississippi and Alabama are still in the "social distancing" phase of the pandemic. We think that the best place to keep our distance is just over the state line at the Tishomingo State Park in Mississippi.

The state park's brochure described this park in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains with "unique landscape of massive rock formations and fern-filled crevices found no where else in Mississippi." Since we love massive rocks and ferns and mountains, we knew we would love this outing.

We started our hike at the pioneer cabin, situated along a bubbling creek in the woods.

The young men of the CCC (Civilian Conservation Corp) lived and worked in this park during the 1930's. Everywhere we turned we found evidence of the characteristic rock work that this group has sprinkled all across the United States.

It's neat that these hand-made rock features live on almost 90 years later!

After hiking the 3/4-mile loop around the cabin, we headed up and up onto the longer CCC Camp Trail.

In our 6-mile loop trail we met only one other person. It was easy to give him a six-foot space to pass us.

Denisa loves the surprise of an occasional wild azalea blooming in the woods.

What a wonder to find this delicate pink blossom against the new green leaves of spring and the bright blue sky. Who would ever know that a pandemic was brewing all around us?

Between the rocks and the flowers, we have wandered into another of God's wonders today!

We surprised a few deer, and we saw countless squirrels in our hike through the woods. But our wildlife picture of the day was really tricky to photograph. Several times we heard a slight movement in the dry leaves near our feet, and once we even spotted the wet-looking tail that caused the noise. Only once did the tail (and the attached body) stop on a rock long enough for us to snap a picture.

We think this slimy creature is a skink, loving its home in this moist environment.

Half-way around our loop, the trail led us beside Bear Creek. After last year's clear mountain rivers, it's hard to be impressed with these muddy southern creeks.

The only way to cross the river is on the swinging bridge constructed in 1939 by the CCC.

It did have a lot of swing in this old bridge, whose capacity is only five people at one time.

At the time we were visiting, all Mississippi State Parks were open to day visitors, as well as overnight campers. Those campers had to be in self-contained units, and the day visitors wouldn't be able to stay all day, because all the bathrooms in the park are closed. But we did appreciate having a place to get outside for some good exercise away from people. We didn't realize how we take that for granted in our travels! Thanks Tishomingo State Park for letting us wander your beautiful trails today!