Bear Island
The last pull of the ebbing tide carried my kayak seaward as I paddled through the salt marsh channel. My destination was Bear Island, a pristine, four-mile-long barrier island facing the North Atlantic Ocean in Hammocks Beach State Park near Swansboro, NC. For twelve autumns while on vacation I had followed this marked paddle trail out to Bear Island where I walked the wide sandy beach, gazed at the blue ocean, listened to the rolling surf, looked for seashells,…