Congaree Swamp National Park '12

Navigating the Swamp is easy on the boardwalks.	Massive Bald Cypress trees crowd the boardwalk	Bald Cypress soaking up the Park's water	Seeing the Park would be next to impossible without the 3+ miles of boardwalk
Cedar Creek canoe and kayak trail	Cedar Creek reflecting the canopy	Cypress knees pushing up through the swamp grass	Four-foot tall Cypress knees
Mirror image on Weston Lake	A massive 6 ft diameter Loblolly Pine	Giant Loblolly Pine breaking through the canopy to daylight	A Dark Fishing Spider - 5 inches from tip to tip - hides in a hollow tree
A patch of Cabbage Palms - a close relative of our state tree, the Palmetto	Bald Cypress and its knees thriving in the swamp water	Exposed roots seem to be fighting for daylight - strange looking	The remnant of a bootlegger's moonshine still enclosure
Hurricane Hugo damage 23 years after the storm. Hugo spawned many mini tornados that felled dozens of trees in the Park.	Large trees flattened by Hugo in September of 1989