Georgia - Day 23 - in the Mistletoe campground

Mistletoe State Park, Appling
Saturday, 15 April 2023

I'd made this series of reservations with an extra day at most campgrounds, hoping that would give me time to catch up/stay current with my blog.  I reckoned without the thoroughly rural nature of Georgia's non-urban areas: I couldn't get an internet signal, or at least not enough of one to get any work done.

Instead, Dext and I took several walks around the campground.  Today was sunny and warm - a very pleasant change from the chilly and wet weather we've been having.  But because of the previous rain, we found plenty of muddy places in the roads and paths.  Still, the sun was nice.

The campground is divided into 2 sections.  Both are hilly, though our side was much more so than the other one.  I know because Dext and I walked over to the other section - still hilly but not nearly as abrupt as ours.  Both sections are on small peninsulas that stick out into Clarks Hill Lake, offering nice views to many campsites (though not ours).  There are thick woods of mixed trees.  We met several people who were happy to pat Dext and let him meet their dogs, which he was always polite about, I'm happy to say.

On one walk we went in to the section of walk-in campsites.  There were 4 of them - 2 of them occupied and all quite a ways into the woods from the road and parking area.  I sure wouldn't have wanted to haul equipment all that way with mud on the trail.  But the area was very quiet and peaceful.  The sites at the ends of the 2 branches of trail were right on the lake.  Dext and I went down to check and found deer tracks in the mud by the water.

In that area I saw a small sparrow with a rufous crown and black and white stripes at its eyes.  The bird book told me later it was a Chipping Sparrow - 5½" from beak to tail tip, so yes, it's small.

Chipping Sparrow

I never figured out why this campground was so popular, as demonstrated by most of its campsites being taken this weekend.  There's a boat ramp, which I could see was a draw for some in the other campground, but for our side - I just don't know.  Maybe I'd have felt differently if I'd had a more habitable campsite.  But we had some nice walks.