We went off looking for trails in Alachua County Sunday morning. I had originally planned to work on quite a few projects. Maybe even take a nap after the last few days of a pretty strenuous schedule for me. Sandra was also planning to tackle her huge myriad of writing projects. It was decided that we needed to go spend some time together. So off we went to into Alachua County.

Our first stop was a trail with a big name of ‘Hogtown Creek Greenway’. A kind lady left her 30 acres to Alachua County for a park. There was no map for the park and it seems folks are going around and creating their own trails. I like that. I don’t like what I call the “Driveway Trail”. It’s a trail that’s big enough for vehicles. Even the boadwalks. That’s usually because the guv’ment folks who are suppose to be stewards to the park use the trails as roadways to pick up trash, make sure the trails are clear at the end of the day or as thoroughfares. I know it’s easier for them, but it sure does ruin the trail effect with trails so wide and giant truck tracks on the ground. At least there were no paved trails!!! What’s great about the self made unofficial trails is that they are more hiking friendly and a terrific experience.

Our next stop was Alfred Ring Park. It started off as a ‘Driveway Trail’ but continued on to a good trail and hilly walk. I started getting exhausted less than halfway through, which might be evident by the drawing I struggled to create. The drawing is of what is left of trees that had fallen at some point and would otherwise be under water if not for the drought that is a very obvious problem across the state as we travel around.

Our last stop was at Dunn’s Creek State Park with a nifty trail that winds around some wet spots and full of good ol’ Florida vegetation. The drawing is from there.

Now for a rant involving two other parks we visited:

We did go to parks I didn’t care for. One was a Civil War site in northern Duval County. The Milton Encampment was the middle stop for confederates to stop in between Jacksonville and Olustee. It should be a fascinating park. Instead some landscape architect went nuts and given free reign to ignore the history and just make a pretty place and spend lots and lots and lots of taxpayer dollars.

Can you imagine a historic site where symmetry is the rule??? Or a ton of cash poured into creating a log bridge out of concrete that has concrete logs molded to look like logs and then a slab of concrete put on top to hide the logs? And that the bridge is thought to look like this but not even sure if the bridge was even in the area??? There is a farmhouse being reconstructed with two giant banners as large as the house surrounding it to let everyone know it’s being renovated. Two? Did they need two? I’d question one. With a seven foot tall fence surrounding the structure you’d get the ides that the place is being worked on.  That there are no roadway signs to this financial sinkhole. I could go on. All of this in a very rural and well hidden area. Clearly Duval County had truckloads of cash to burn. The Dade Battlefield should be the historic park that others strive for. It’s easy, accurate and considerably cheaper than the mess of the Milton Encampment. Let history speak for itself.

The other park is in St. Johns County and was deplorable for it’s asphalt roadways slicing all over the park along with the asphalt trail that has an incline that a person in a wheelchair would be smart enough not to traverse. The human use of this park is reduced by all of this to only a third of the “park space”. Three oversized retention ponds leads one to believe a developer traded land so they wouldn’t have to have the retention area in their project. Such projects are directly across the street from the park. Sad also to see sod being laid out in the retention ditches. In a month mowing will begin in the rention areas that tax payers will have to cover. Why are we mowing so-called rention areas???? Why were chunks of forest torn out for the ponds??? Why did this happen at all when the park is full of very deep sinkholes that the park is keeping the public out of???? Ugh! This is an aspect of the Growth Management laws that needs to be revised.

As we were leaving Jacksonville looking for botanical wonders for Sandra to record for her newst book we came across this park very near the Southernmost edge of Duval County. It’s a terrific historic park with a small village of structures from the 1800s. The farm house above is from 1876. There are cracker homes, logging machinery and a dock that leads far out into the St. Johns River. This would be a great place to create some outdoor art. The park is off State Road 13.

We left from Bok Tower to find Slocum Gardens in Winter Haven. All we found were two worn signs and a parking lot. Apparently the hurricanes did away with this landmark that had been in Polk County since 1938.

We next went to Bartow. First stop: My hero, Jacob Summerlin’s grave. Anytime I’m in Bartow I stop by. This was Sandra’s first visit. Next stop was to find a park Sandra had heard of but didn’t know where it was. Where else to get answers but at the local ice cream shop??? The proprietors of The Cool Shoppe Ice Cream Cafe, indeed, did point us to two parks. Unfortunately neither met Sandra’s criteria.

We finished in Hollis Garden on Lake Mirror in Downtown Lakeland. You can learn more here about this garden. This is a very British park with individual areas of specific flowering plants. The drawing above is of one of those flowers that Sandra called a yellow pansy.
 

We were on a day long trek during this Saturday through Polk County researching Sandra’s current book she’s working on about Florida’s botanical wonders. Our first stop was Bok Tower Sanctuary. I’ll let you learn more about this National Historic site for your self by visiting here.

The park has changed a bit since I was last there a few years ago. The hurricanes did some tree trimming throughout the park. If you didn’t have that ability to compare, you would have no idea that hurricanes pummeled the area.

Many people know of Bok Towerand it’s being on the highest point withing the Florida peninsula and that there is an abundant array of flowering plants to walk amongst. What many do not know is that the park also maintain’s natural Florida areas. We took a walk on a natural trail. Two of the drawings are from that hike.

The other drawing is of a decorative fence door along the pond that makes it way to surround the tower.

We launched off of the Lake Dora shore at the Lakeside Inn in Mount Dora Thursday along with members of the nature based tourism divison of the state tourism group. We cut across the lake at a pretty good speed through freezing temperatures. Along the way, Captain Reg and his crew gave us an overview of the lake and it’s area. Soon we slowed down and drifted into a tributary of the lake. We drifted through some fantastic natural areas. With a very low water level, the cypress knees were nearly spooky as the matrix of roots entertwined and reached out from the water.

As we continued through we found mobile home parks intermingled with the cypress swamp. An otter travelled with us for awhile, zipping through the water, over and under fallen tree limbs.

 

We also were fortunate to be able to view quite a large number of birds. The best of this was the giant pine where a giant eagle’s nest was nestled in it’s arms high above us. In the nest is a collection of eggs. At the edge of the nest standing watch was mama eagle. A little further from the nest on a lower limb sat the valiant daddy eagle. Above all of them was a vulture hovering. He wisely kept his distance.

From Goldhead we continued west to Cellon Oak Park just 3 miles south of Lacrosse. The focus of this park is the largest oak tree in Florida. The estimated age is somewhere around a thousand years old. Oh, if this tree could talk!

After Ravine Gardens, we headed over to another ravine in Goldhead State Park. This one is much more natural and thus also a much more strenuous hike. Lots of up and down, up and over, tired and exhausted.

This is a sketch of the beginning of the stream thatr flows through the park.

We were on the trail of the botanical wonders of Florida as Sandra continues to work on her latest book. We found ourselves at Ravine Gardens, which is near Palatka. Built by the W.P.A. in the ’30s, the place was dug out to create the ravine and tons of flowering plants were planted all around the giant ravine. Few are native and the exotics are everywhere.

The structures built by the W.P.A. are great as always and it is always fascinating to see another accomplishment by this odd concoction of the U.S. Government. There’s a lot of good hiking around here. Both above the ravine and inside.

The sketch is of a fallen tree with a sizable hole in it. Inside the hole was the collection of rainwater mixed with the sap of the tree. I would’ve tried it, if I had had some ice cream and a blender. Here, also, is a photo of me drawing.

Found this feller in Melbourne Friday evening.
THAT’S how hot it’s been around our state the last few months.
I’ve NEVER seen one of these guys any earlier than late March.
With the big freeze coming in a couple days, I have to wonder
how many lovebugs we’ll see in May. 

Sandra, her father, myself and Sandra’s niece who’s birthday is today all went hiking. We started at  Johnson Pond Trail, near Dunnellon, and hiked 1.7 miles. Two sketches from that is below.

 

We then went on to Goethe State Park to the Big Cypress Trail to see the 105 foot tall and 109 foot diameter cypress tree. One of the largest in Florida. I sketched what I could of it and that’s to the upper right. Below is a photo of me trying to take in a small part of this magnificent tree.