Picnicking at Pickens

This past weekend I had a couple of good friends in from the Tampa area- Evan, Kelsey and their friend Cat. We spent the first several days hanging out around the house catching up, drinking intermittently, and preparing various delicious foodstuffs, but we all wanted to get outside for an entire day and enjoy the fantastic weather before they returned home. I borrowed three bikes from the shop for them, so we decided to park at Chickenbone Beach and ride out to Ft. Pickens with a picnic lunch. I brought along my trailer and a cooler, thus defaulting to the role of dedicated supply bike.

We were somewhat slow to get moving, so it was around 1:00 PM by the time we loaded up the bikes, obtained picnic food, and trundled on down to the last parking lot before the Ft. Pickens entrance station. For the first couple of miles we fought a slight headwind, so the going was somewhat slow, but once we got to the first battery everyone recovered quickly and set about exploring.

All but one of the pictures after this point can be credited to Cat, because I am terrible about remembering to take photos when I am having fun. Thanks Cat!

I found a way in to one of the restricted areas at Battery Worth, but everyone else yelled at me and informed me that I was acting on a terrible idea, so I backed out.

Cat showed a propensity for riding off of the road and into the sand, which resulted in her crashing twice. Thankfully, a scrape on her knee was the only notable injury sustained.

After checking out most of the batteries, we headed on to the fort itself. Since we didn't have any way of securing all our stuff, I relaxed with the bikes (and the food!) while Evan, Kelsey and Cat explored the fort.

In search of a suitable location at which to hang hammocks and set up the picnic, we embarked down a gravel bike/walking trail which eventually took us back to Battery Worth. There we ate, relaxed for a while, and listened to two Ospreys engaging in a domestic dispute over some nest building issue.

Evan and Kelsey enjoyed the cloth hammock, while I looked like some sort of bizarre cocoon-monster in my meshed camping hammock.

As the sun began to set, we embarked once again, this time with a fading tailwind that pushed us towards the end of our little journey.

Shortly before sunset, we pulled over to the side of the road and walked out onto the beach to watch the sunset. It was a perfect end to one of the best days in recent memory.