Beach Fog - Hilton Head Island
A place in between
Hilton Head is a wedge shaped Island connected by highway to the South Carolina mainland and is about 25 kilometers from Savannah Georgia, as the crow flies. The place is paradise for golfers in the spring and fall and is a quintessential American tourist trap, right down to some very tacky but fun mini golf. Yup, guilty of mini golf. If you just roll with it, a tourist trap can be a lot of fun.
Hilton Heads permanent population hovers around 38,000 but in peak season, the population is estimated to swell to over 150,000. On top of that, on a peak summer weekend day, it’s estimated that as many as 80,000 can arrive as day visitors. In the peak of summer, it’s too hot to golf. So what are all these people coming for? The Beach!
Hilton Head beach is magnificent. Witnessing beaches from Australia to Hawaii and much in between, there are no more epic beaches. It’s 20 kilometers of surf and sand right on the Atlantic Ocean. If you head pretty much straight across the Atlantic, you eventually come to Casablanca Morocco, on the northern tip of the African continent. This area is part of the American deep south low country. It’s aptly named since most of the area is just above sea level.
In March, the month that this study was created, there where few people outside of a large contingent of Snow Birds, which is what we lovingly call Canadians who winter in the US south. The Snowbirds stand out. The temperatures in March are around 15 + C (60+F) and the Snowbirds are wearing t-shirts and fairly light jackets or windbreakers and the hardier, with shorts. The locals are wearing heavy coats, hats and even some have mitts. For the locals, it’s winter. The weather here can change in a heartbeat. It can be sunny or rainy or both, but when the fog rolls in, something really magical happens. It becomes a place in between.
High tide drifts of seaweed
The drifts of drying seaweed mark a high tide, long gone. It’s a line that travels the full 20 kilometers of the beach. This line is a constant reminder of the battle between land and sea even with the water 100 meters away in low tide. It’s hard to imagine the water moving that much.
The fog has a chill and it’s thick. You can feel it as it moving with face, ears and hands. It brings out a shiver and makes the hair on the back of the neck stand up.
It feels like being watched but nobody is watching. The body can feel the fog is not safe but the mind wonders why. This is primal, like watching the flames of a fire. How many generations have feared what cannot be seen.
Watching the Sea
The ocean is vast, alive and you can feel it. Most everyone is looking out to sea. Remarkable. There is rain out there. You can smell it.
The waves are at peace and as quiet as they get. It’s like a magnet pulling us to look out, but at what?. Maybe it’s the distance to land, a distance beyond comprehension. The coast of North Africa, is over 6700 kilometers away. Maybe that is the magnet, the draw. Maybe that is why most are looking out to sea where there seems to be nothing to be seen. Time becomes a blur. The draw is what you feel by looking, not what you see.
Looking the other way
Turning around and looking the other way changes nothing. There is still the feeling that someone is watching. The hair on the back of the neck is still standing up. The swirling blackness is still in the sky.
The clouds break a little and sun peaks through instantly burning the fog away. A moment of hope and warmth. It feels good. The capture Is make and the brightness is blinding but moments later it’s gone. The fleeting moment is recorded. It did happen, all hope is not lost. The feeling that someone is watching is less.
The Dogs
Looking inland, another break-up in the clouds appears. This one is bigger and much farther away. Maybe fog will burn off or maybe not. The trees and palms are more visible. The pathway inland is visible. It’s all happened in minutes and there is a feeling of heat.
The dogs are moping. That would say the fog is here to stay and the glow is just a momentary glow. The dogs are staying close to their humans with heads down and tails tucked. Dogs know. They are wary of the fog and ready to protect.
Low Tide
It must be low tide. Some pooling water reflects another cloud break-up. This one makes a tremendous glow. It must be a huge one. The wind is picking up and so is the serf. The waves are getting noisy.
At low tide, small dunes form with pools of water. Star fish, small crabs, small fish and Horseshoe crabs get caught. The birds are always ready and fog or shine, they feast. The pool here is drying out. Anything caught here is long gone. The circle of life.
The glow goes away. The fog rolls back in like a cloak. The glowing pool is gone. The glow only lasted a few minutes.
Pea Soup Fog
After walking for a while in this thick dark fog, all people disappear. Looking back reveals a growing glow of a large low tide pool. It’s like a shimmer of sun that’s not quite able to break out.
The fog is so thick it’s winning. There is an odd smell wafting through the fog. There are factories along the coast. Maybe the fog is holding the pollution down near the ground. What are the odds the pollution would find its way here?
This is Pea Soup Fog. It’s dark and it’s thick and it’s smelly at times. There is a historical context. Pea Soup Fog is a British saying that came from the polluted fog that covered London. Records of polluted fogs in London started in the 1600’s and went on until the mid 1950’s when air pollution finally got under control.
Soft coal for heat and industry put a lot of soot and sulfur dioxide in the air. Combined with a bit of fog, it became a toxic mess that was lethal to those with respiratory problems and the elderly. The name eventually got shortened to Pea Souper. The name further evolved to a London Fog and later on to a London Particular. In a weird twist of words, London Particular became the name of a really thick pea soup with ham.
The Beacon
The light was changing fast. Aligning to the low-tide pool, the light started to glow directly behind. What are the odds. A perfect battle between fog and cloud. The perfect lighting, like a beacon., perfectly centered over the pool. Amazing that I actually happen to be there to witness and capture.
The pool is deep and things are floating around, looking for a way out. I see no birds. Maybe the fog is too thick for birds. Maybe flying in fog is too much. Will the tide come back to save whatever is alive in that pool. It would be an odd twist of fate.
The light is skittish and wants to hide. The shapes of clouds are visible up high. Closer to the water, It’s hard to tell when the clouds end and the fog begins. The pea soup fog comes back with a vengeance, tinged with partially sulfur like, partially metallic like smell.. Maybe a thermal inversion is holding all that down at ground level. The glowing reflection is gone and only the capture remains as proof it happened.
In the shadows
The pool of water seems to go off to infinity. The pool is getting deeper and the ocean is behind me. I find my spot and now it’s a waiting game for the clouds to part. The pool is matt and without soul in the swirling fog. The clouds part and a couple appear out of the swirling mist at the same time. I almost miss it. Another perfect moment. It must be a good sign.
Too quickly the people are gone and the light with them. It seems too dark to see the ocean. This spit of land is wide. At least i can see the edge of the pool. The fog is so thick if feels like it’s becoming night. The chill is back and the hair on the back of my neck is standing up again.
The Tide’s coming In
I have been fooled by mother nature. The spit of sand stops. This is no pool of water but the tide coming in. That’s why it kept getting deeper as I walked along. I notice the waves are louder and the sound is bigger.
The view from the water is amazing with just a hint of the tree line but it needs a person for scale. Time drags on, waiting for a human form to appear. The light is there but all the elements are not. I wait. It’s only been a few minutes but my shoes are now below water. It feels like the ocean is trying to pull me in. Still, no human.
This must be the incoming tidal surge. It’s going well above my ankles. Finally a human appears and the capture is made. The sand spit is all but gone and the shore seems shockingly much further away. The water is half way up to my knees. My imagination starts to run wild. I am deep enough that something in the water could decide to have a taste. A ridiculous though yet I move quickly to the safety of the beach.
The Waves
The sandbar is gone, the pools are gone, the scenes I found are gone. The fog is thinner over the ocean. A dark horizon is visible. I am lost, once again staring out into the nothingness. Can I capture this feeling.
The waves have picked up. Each time the waves break they go higher and higher up the beach. It’s remarkable how much change happens in such a short time. I need to find my way home. I’ve been walking for hours.
The fog is lifting and nothing looks familiar. The spits and pools have been erased by the waves.
Tide pool
The moment has arrived. I recognize the drifts of seaweed on the right. I am back to where I started. There are a lot more people now. This feels like the last capture in this experience. I put away the gear and clean up the tripod legs from sand and water.
I begin to notice It’s getting colder. My shoes and socks are soaked and my pants are wet past the knee. My t-shirt and windbreaker are not enough to stop the shivering. A few hours of fog have chilled to the bone.
It’s funny how I never noticed much of this while photographing. It’s time for a hot shower, hot tea, a blanket and a mindless book!
The Beach splits. It’s another Pool as the tide comes in. I won’t be fooled again. I think the Who sang that line.
For the moment I continue to be lost. Nothing looks familiar. The brightness grows and I see the house near the beach.. I recognize that spot. I am very close. The tide pool is covering the beach and the glow is perfect.
More and more is visible as the fog is lifting. There are people walking slowly. Lots of time to set-up and capture. I am lost no more.
Back to where I started