Day 52 – Wild Horses, Cantankerous Crab, Feral Equines Make a B-Line for the Aliner – June 12, 2018

When I went outside this morning at dawn, the wind from the night before had changed into a warm and somewhat gentler breeze. The sky was clear and the sun was beginning to rise in the east. I walked over to the beach to see what for me is a rarity: the sun rising (instead of setting) over the ocean.

Assateague National Seashore is located on a barrier island on the east coast of Maryland and Virginia. It’s most famous feature is the group of wild horses that roam the marshes and beaches. Supposedly, these horses are descendants of domestic horses brought here in the 18^th century by early settlers. Over time, the horses became feral and have developed the resilience to survive out here.

The second most famous feature of the park is the hordes of biting mosquitoes. When I got up this morning, I didn’t see anything of the first feature, but I experienced plenty of the second feature.

Karen and I slathered some DEET on ourselves, made a picnic lunch and went out looking for wild horses. We were about 300 yards down the road when we saw the first ones of the day. As we headed out of the park, we saw several more. We even had to stop a couple of times to let turtles cross the road in front of us. We took a short hike in the sand dunes and encountered a feisty crab along the way. The animals were awake and enjoying the morning.

The plan for today was to explore the southern end of Assateague Island to see the Assateague Lighthouse and Chincoteague Island. As you go south on the island, you pass through what seems like miles of corn fields. The heavy forest land has been cleared in many areas and you can see large old farmhouses sitting out in the middle of the corn.

On the way, we stopped at Wallops Island NASA Flight Facility Visitor Center to learn about tracking weather and other celestial matters. The U.S. Navy was conducting aircraft carrier training flights at the airfield across the road, so there was lots to see while we were there.

After crossing over Chincoteague Island (the billboards along the causeway leading into town were so dense, it would make the Burma Shave people envious), we had a nice picnic on the beach at Tom’s Cove. Then, it was back to camp to have some cream of crab soup for dinner in the Aliner.

Just after dinner, and once the sun had set, we had some visitors to our campsite. We looked out the window of the Aliner and saw three wild horses heading right for us. One of the three looked like a youngster and was keeping close tabs on what I think was its mother. 

Karen grabbed her iPad and I got my phone so we could snap a few pictures. Karen was outside the trailer when the horses got real close. She hopped back into the trailer (all the warning signs say these guys will kick and bite you) for safety. She stuck her head out again just as they were standing between our car and the trailer (see below) and then she quickly retreated again – pretty entertaining (for me). After that, it was lights out.

Next: Toana, VA