Winter Return 2009

I returned in January 2009 to Bald Head Island to revisit the spot where I had last left the fort, hoping to make it through to where I could see what looks like a storage area of some kind. I had rented the house and had arrived with all the gear; and not 20 minutes after I arrive I fall down the stairs. I was up in the widows watch and the stairs were spiral with misleading widths, and I musjudged, and brought my weight down on my foot. My ankle swelled to twice its size within two hours, and all the tendons became purple, pulled, twisted and swollen. It has been eight days since I fell and I am still having problems with my ankle. Next time.

Satellite Photo Of The Fort Complex

This is a satellite photo of the fort complex and supply depot. Note the deepwater port to the left and the four supply sheds in the middle; one of which still seems to be intact. The left side shows the actual firing pits depicted in the photos below.

Artifacts I Found

I found two items of interest on this first visit, which was just to determine what I needed to explore this site more fully.

1) I found a round stone, which was large- about 1/2 pound; which was masoned in an odd way. It was joined together. Obviously man-made- but for what I do not know.

2) I found a piece of metal that is very old and large, about the size of a pistol. I must put it in the shop and see what is under all those oxides that have developed over the years.

Main Entrance To The Lost Fort of The Carolinas

This is an extremely important photo, as it shows the location where I wanted to get to, and thought I would be able to walk along the leading edge and reach the supply area in the rear. However, I was not prepared for the the alligators, snakes and spiders that were in this area. There were just too many poisonous spiders- (everywhere). The snakes were moving away from me- rapidly! in the grass in front of me, and although I could not tell for sure given my limited optics, I believed there to be an alligator lying still about 100 yards away, and directly in my path of access. This is really quite a fort.

Forward Edge of the Leading Firing Pit

This photo gives some indication of the forward edge of the front part of the fort.

Forward Firing Pit: Lost Fort of The Carolinas

This was the most convincing part of hwat I've found so far. It is the forward firing pit. I've placed my "snake stick" in the leading edge showing just a portion of depth. This forward firing pit was deep enough to allow a man to stand and fire a rifle toward the shore, which lies 100 yards from the leading dune from the beach. This is a large complex, and I was only able to get to the forward firing pit on the first expedition to the site. This first expedition was to determine the right equipment needed to fully determine the extent of this large complex. This fort appears on none of the known battle maps from the Civil War. Through research I have determined that this is because of confusion about what was where during 1861 to 1864 when the site was abandoned. As far as I know I was the first to revisit this remote location, with knoweldge of what it was, in 160 years.

Remote Location of the Lost Fort- A Serious Hike

Also, I said I was wary of the spiders as opposed to the alligators- go here to see why...