A little more than two weeks after Hurricane Matthew struck Hilton Head Island as a category 2 storm, and the cacophony of chainsaws is a near constant reminder of the extensive tree damage our beautiful island has sustained. Our home sustained only minor damage and no flooding; we were extremely fortunate, but many others were not. It has been heartening to see how our community has come together in this time of distress, restoring my belief in the innate kindness of mankind.
But anyway, I’m not here to wax poetic about hurricanes and community, I want to talk about beaches. All the public beach parks, with the exception of Coligny, remain closed st this time. I did, however, manage to walk Mitchelville Beach today by coming through the back of Barker Field.
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- This is the boardwalk between Barker Field and the parking lot at Mitchelville Beach. The walk was still sound, but the several inch deep debris shows that the storm surge traveled this incredible distance from the shore (which is pictured at high tide).
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- The formerly tree covered and shady parking lot.
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- The trees and greenery framing the beach entrance used to be one of my favorite sights.
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- The storm surge reached at least to the edge of the parking lot.
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- Must say that I am not a fan of this addition. It makes it feel like any other beach park, and Mitchelville is not just any other beach park.
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- The building of the Spa looked okay, but the boardwalk will need to be rebuilt.
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- The entrance from Fish Haul Creek Park is hard to detect unless you know where it is.
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- A very large sandbar (sand island?) in the mouth of Fish Haul Creek.
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- Walking west, the water is lovely and warm.
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- The beach renourishment had obliterated all the wetland openings to the sound.
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- But this one just west of the observation deck from Barker field is now larger than it was originally.
It was not yet high tide and I could not tell how deep this opening to the sound was, so I did not attempt to cross. I shall return later this week at low tide with the intention of making it to Dolphin Head (the sea wall) in Hilton Head Plantation.
