Gulf Coast life

A Not-So-Peaceful Nature Walk

A couple months back, Alex, Afton, and I took a little excursion to the Grand Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve on a Saturday afternoon. We found a birding trail and set out for a peaceful nature walk. 

birding trail at Grand Bay Reserve

We saw some pretty flowers as expected, but soon, things got a little creepy.

pretty green and brown leaves and flowers (Mississippi nature photography)

There were SPIDERS.

spider on web in nature (Uninvented Colors Photography)

Now, I am not especially afraid of creepy, crawly creatures, and I have seen spiders on nature trails before (including this time last year), but this time, it was a bit crazy how many there were.

spider and natura trail

We turned left...

overgrown hiking trail with arrow sign

SPIDERS.

spider on web on hiking trail

We turned right...

arrow sign on nature trail

MORE SPIDERS.

creepy spider with leaves in web

There were massive webs stretching completely across the trail, and they were hard to see, so we accidentally walked straight into them several times. By the time we realized how hazardous this was going to be, we had gone too far to turn back. 

spider web macro nature photo with bokeh

Our meandering quickly gave way to shouting, pointing, leaping, and ducking. It was quite the obstacle course! I was a little creeped out, but not enough to quit taking pictures. ;) 

spider with web and bokeh (Uninvented Colors Photography)

We survived! And we've had some fun adventures since, so stay tuned for two (at least) blog posts about our October fun. I promise they'll be cuter and less creepy. :)