Exploring NC

It has been an interesting week for me.  Since last Friday I have driven hundreds of miles and have searched out 3 different lakes and a couple of new parks.  The first 2 lakes I went to turned to be way better in person than in camera.  Unfortunately, all of the recent rain turned both areas into soggy marshlands…so I found myself knee deep in mud trying to avoid snakes.  Finally at the second lake, I was able to view a beautiful sunset and get a decent picture of it but mud unfortunately swallowed up a rubber piece of my tripod leg.  I packed up my gear and as I started the hike back I noticed the rain picking up.  I looked at the radar app on my phone and found out a thunderstorm was about to hit me straight on!  I picked up speed, but soon became completely drenched by the storm.  After about 30 minutes, I made it back to the car, and thankfully my photo gear was still dry! …and as an added bonus, even though I was drenched, I didnt have any more swamp on me 🙂
Here is the picture that I took:

Later on in the week, I managed to stumble upon a nice swamp/birding trial while looking for storms.  This place was awesome! ..and fortunately more dry than the last place.  Unfortunately it was about 90 degrees and extremely humid, so I stayed long enough to withstand the heat and mosquitos and got a picture of some crepuscular rays.  I am covered with poison ivy and bug bites…but altogether an interesting week in the swamps!