Even so, along these rivers and many others in the region, it is entirely possible to experience solitude and a sense of wilderness despite the relative proximity of cities such as New Orleans, Slidell, and Bay St. Louis. It’s also easy to get unintentionally lost in the 250 square miles of bottomland, hardwood forests, and labyrinthine bayous of the Lower Pearl River Basin, where the Pearl splits into three rivers, the East Pearl, Middle Pearl, and West Pearl. These forests are so dense and junglelike that a U.S. Navy Seals special boat team conducts live-fire riverine warfare training in a restricted part of the basin in Hancock County, Mississippi.
The river enters open water at Lake Borgne, connecting to the western end of the Mississippi Sound and the undeveloped chain of barrier islands that make up the Gulf Islands National Seashore and includes Cat Island, described in this story. Like the river basin swamps, those uninhabited wilderness islands could indeed offer refuge from a breakdown on the mainland, as getting there in all but the most settled weather requires a seaworthy boat. During countless camping trips to the islands by sea kayak, I have found a world of solitude and peace on the edge of the horizon, just visible from the busy mainland to the north.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Scott B. Williams has been writing about his adventures for more than twenty-five years. His published work includes dozens of magazine articles and eleven books, with more projects currently underway. His interest in backpacking, sea kayaking and sailing small boats to remote places led him to pursue the wilderness survival skills that he has written about in his popular survival books such as Bug Out: The Complete Plan for Escaping a Catastrophic Disaster Before It’s Too Late, and Bug Out Vehicles and Shelters: Build and Outfit Your Life-Saving Escape. He has also authored travel narratives such as On Island Time, an account of his two-year solo sea kayaking journey through the Caribbean. With the release of The Pulse (2012) and The Darkness After (2013), Scott moved into writing fiction with plans for many more novels in the future.
More information about Scott and his current works in progress can be found on his website: www.scottbwilliams.com.
Refuge: After the Collapse Page 22
