Saturday, July 29, 2006
Cape Hatteras
After three nights at Oregon Inlet, we headed south and had planned to camp at Frisco N.P.S. Campground. We had a site all picked out and then found out that to fill our water tank and dump waste water we had to go to Cape Point N.P.S. Campground about 6-8 miles north at Buxton. So........ we decided to stay at Cape Point were we have camped several times before. The campground is within spittin' distance of the Hatteras Lighthouse which you can see in the pictures.
The ocean was as beautiful as ever here. This view was taken near the point looking east at Diamond Shoal. For those who are not familiar with Diamond Shoal, this is where the warm Gulf Stream from the south meets the cold Labrador Current from the north. This has created shallow shoals extending out 8-10 miles from shore. Consequently, there have been numerous ship wrecks over the centuries. Fog is common here with the warm moist air from the south clashing with the colder air from the north. It also creates beautiful cumulus clouds on summer afternoons.
We "hung out" here for three days since there were no fish. On Sunday, we went to the Buxton United Methodist Church. The first evening that we were here, I saw a little commotion on the other side of the campsite next door which looked like someone was encountering some kind of critter. Since I am basically nosey and fascinated with critters, I went over to investigate. There is was, along the side of the road, about a 10" Cottonmouth with his snow white mouth wide open. No mistaking who he was. I discouraged killing it so one of the campers picked it up on a stick and threw it across the street into the bushes. ( Why didn't I get it's picture? )
More to come about Cedar Island ..............
