Assateague Island :: Adieu

It was with some degree of sadness that I bid farewell to Assateague on Saturday morning (October 24th). It had been so peaceful and quiet the previous four days but when Friday evening arrived so did more people. The campground loop where I was staying, which had been nearly vacant, was now filled with weekend visitors. The spell was broken, it was time to go. Besides, rain was in the forecast for the next few days!

The golden glow of the sunset over the marsh. My last night at Assateague.

Not as colorful as the morning's sunrise had been, but quite lovely. Indeed.

Assateague Island :: Sunrise

One of the things I had promised myself that I would do while at Assateague was to get up early enough to watch the sunrise over the marsh. The first three mornings had already gone by and I hadn't gotten up in time but when Friday morning (October 23rd) rolled around, I awoke before the sun was over the horizon. The clouds in the sky were bathed in streaks of orange and pink. It turned out to be a spectacular sunrise. One of the best. Ever. Mother Nature outdid herself that morning.

7:00 a. m. Walking over to the marsh boardwalk.
It was cold. And Dark.
But I just knew it would be worth the effort.
That was an understatement.

7:07 a. m. From the middle of the boardwalk.

7:13 a. m. From the far side of the boardwalk.
Looking just a little to the south of the sun.
The sky and marsh were completely bathed in wonderful light.

7:18 a. m. From a distance, using the telephoto feature.
Looking directly into the rising sun. Magnificent.

7:22 a. m. From the same spot as the previous photo.
Longer telephoto setting.
The sun rising over the horizon.

7:24 a. m. The morning has risen.
Breathtakingly beautiful. Quiet. Tranquil.
All mine, and mine alone. Until now, when I share it with you.

7:32 a. m. My only companions were the birds.
A small flock of Snowy Egrets.

Assateague Island :: More Wild Ponies

Stopped traffic was a common sight whenever ponies were spotted along the roadside. I wasn't immune to their allure either, almost always stopping when I saw a group. This day I was riding my bicycle out to the bridge, which was a little over 3 miles from my campsite. This is at the intersection to the main road out to the Island.

Assateague Island :: The Wild Ponies

For many people, the only reason for going to Assateague Island is to see the Wild Ponies. If so, it could be a little disappointing for them, especially if they only spend a few hours on the island. A 20-minute video shown at the visitor center provides a good, if somewhat romanticized view, of the little ponies that have roamed the beaches, pine forest, and salt marsh of Assateague Island since the 1600s. There are two theories regarding the stout little ponies: one is that they arrived on Assateague's shores when a Spanish galleon ship, with a cargo of horses, sank offshore. The other is that they are remnants of the herds of early colonial settlers who grazed their horses on the Island. Apparently a Spanish ship wreck was discovered recently in the waters off Assateague which gives credence to the first theory.

Both the Maryland and Virginia sides of Assateague Island have wild ponies; each has a herd of about 160 and a fence at the state line keeps the two herds separated. They roam the island in bands of 5-10 ponies so you aren't going to see a lot of them all at once. I did see a group of 10 or so one day sauntering through the main parking lot on the beach side of the island. They were there long enough to stop traffic, then moved on down the road.

Although there are 30+ miles of beautiful white-sand beach, the part that is easily accessible to visitors is only about 5 miles long. Undoubtedly, the ponies roam the beaches too but I never saw any on the beach though they were grazing along the road on the beach side of the Island. I did see quite a few ponies on the bayside - in the marsh areas and in the campgrounds. My suspicion is that there were one or two bands of ponies that roamed those areas and I kept seeing the same horses over and over ;-)

These guys followed me around for quite awhile one day. I'd back off and they'd keep coming. Eventually they tired of the game and went off looking for better pastures.

The grass must have been pretty good alongside the marsh boardwalk. On this day there was a group of six of them. Three were on the boardwalk and the other three were off in the marsh. The ponies aren't very big. Short and stout is an apt description. In the background there is a woman standing next to two ponies, she towers over them. The tallest ones that I saw were maybe 5 feet tall.


There are signs posted stating that you are not to feed, touch, or even approach the horses. I never saw anyone feed them but did see a few people touching and petting them. I didn't go searching for the ponies. If they were in the same area where I was I'd go see them but I really didn't get too close. They are considered to be wild animals but they are definitely not afraid of humans. The ponies are left on their own, to fend for themselves. They are not cared for or treated if they become sick. The only food they get is what they find for themselves: marsh and sand dune grasses, rosehips, bayberry twigs, persimmons and even poison ivy.

Assateague Island :: The Beach

Seeing these hoof prints in the sand gave me hope that I'd actually see the "wild" ponies on the beach.


But those tracks were from horses brought in by some campers. The big black ones are Percheron horses. Really big ones.

Assateague Island :: The Marsh

Amongst my favorite spots at Assateague was the marsh boardwalk. It was almost as though it was my own domain. Seldom did I see more than two or three other people there at the same time. Peaceful. Quiet. Serene. Relaxing. Different at different times of the day. I spent many hours walking the half-mile pathway and simply sitting, watching the birds and animals and soaking up the sunshine. The weather, quite remarkably, got better with each passing day. Clear blue skies. Cool to warm temperatures. Sunshine.

Assateague Island National Seashore

It was as if I had entered a different country. Indeed, I had. Driving south on Route 213 on Sunday morning (October 18th) from Elkton, Maryland, the land became more rural and flat. No more big hills. Traffic was nearly non-existent. A welcome relief from the hustle and bustle driving of the past few days. It was still raining but from the weather reports I was hearing on the radio, I had missed the worst of it. By early afternoon the rain stopped, the clouds were clearing though the sun had yet to make an appearance. There were reports of flooding in the low-lying areas along the eastern shore so I stopped early for the night.

Monday morning brought clear blue skies and sunshine, a glorious morning though cold with temps in the 40s, but at least it wasn't raining! In just a few hours I arrived at the Assateague Island National Seashore south of Ocean City, Maryland. There were areas that were flooded due to all the rain they had received and some of the campsites were affected. I drove around the “loops” in the bayside campgrounds managed by the National Park Service and located the “perfect” spot. It was a relatively large site with a view of the bay and just a small low area, close to the bay, that was filled with water.

That afternoon there were several visitors in the area where I was staying...