A trip to Johns Island to see one of the oldest living things in these United States.
When you leave the streets of Charleston and drive southwest on Maybank Highway, the landscape quickly turns into sparsely populated, jungle-like low country. Here and there shopping centers crop up, as well as gas stations, restaurants and tourist stops, but they quickly fade from memory and leave a visitor with a sense of being in the wilderness.
For me, after a very busy week in the office, this road provided welcome solitude as I drove out to Johns Island see the Angel Oak. The road narrowed to one lane sometime after it crossed the Stono River. Everyone drove at a speed that would embarrass a sloth. There was no right-of-way, only courtesy. You go first. No, you go first. Well, all right. You sure? Yes, please be my guest. The silent conversation played out through windshields at every stop.
Finally I made a sharp turn onto a dirt road, and half a mile later, there it was: The Angel Oak. Part of a 1717 land grant and currently still on farm land, this southern live oak predates the United States by at least two hundred years. It could even date back to the days of explorers like Columbus. It looks dark and twisted with arms spreading for yards around its mammoth trunk.
The arms run along the ground, looking like monstrous snakes rippling through the earth.
Last year’s storms didn’t touch this tree. All around it, support beams and guide wires hold up the spreading arms. The temptation is to climb it, of course. But signs and (more effectively) crowds of people are around to make sure that this is the closest I got.
It was the first day of spring. The foliage in this particular park is still drab, not because of the cold but because of the high live oak canopy: the Angel Oak itself has a canopy that covers 17,200 square feet, and it’s not the only tree in the park. The bright Charleston sun pierced through the canopy so the contrast was too much in the photos (and this is probably the case most days, meaning much Angel Oak photography is heavily edited).
It’s difficult to capture all of this tree, and it’s difficult to capture how beautiful it is. If you’re in Charleston, stop by and see it! The park is free and open Sundays. It’s only a few minutes from downtown Charleston. And really, is there anything more romantic and dramatic than a big old tree?
~The Dauntless Princess~