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Ochlockonee River State Park
December 6 - 9, 2020
This was part-two in our central-to-north Florida camping trip. It was the first trip where we ever called it quits early due to conditions. Namely, it was too cold, and we did not have the right equipment, especially me.
December 6, 2020
We arrived in the evening and didn't have time to do much besides stroll the campsite loop path before sundown. That did give us time to admire the beauty of the place and discover it was home to an unusual animal - white squirrels! The park has a population of North American grey squirrels that mutated to have no pigment in their fur. They still had black eyes and little grey dots on their heads.
Note - picture taken from internet, not by me
The weather the first night was cold but bearable - low was 54°F.
December 7, 2020
We did a lot of kayaking the next day. It was a lot colder than what I was used to in a kayak, so I was layered up heavily to stay cozy until I worked up some heat. It was worth the freezing spray because the bird activity was next level - we kept having large flocks fly over and around us. They looked like bank swallows but I didn't get a good/still enough look to be able to ID. There were maze-like paths through the reeds which I adored.
We did some risky navigating down a river branching off from one of the main lakes while the tide was going down (Ochlockonee River connects to the nearby bay), then realized that we wouldn't have remotely enough time to get anywhere and make it back before the water was completely gone. It gave us the exciting opportunity to butt-scoot our kayaks over mud shoals on our way back, an accomplishment I am deeply proud of.
That night started getting a bit colder - 43°F, but I could still handle it even if getting up in the night to pee was brutal.
December 8, 2020
Next was a trail day. It was even colder during the day, between the 30s and 40s. While my boyfriend had bought special thermal gear, I neglected to do so and assumed enough layers would be good enough. They were not. Despite hours of hiking I had a hard time warming up. Woods were pretty, though. They were a little dead due to winter weather but there were still abundant wildflowers and birds living it up in the pine trees.
That night was the worst, the weather got down to 34°F. I had to get up to pee multiple times and, because it was still Florida, the outer layer of the tent was wet with humidity and soaked me every time I got in and out. All my clothes and coat, our picnic throw, plus the emergency blankets still didn't keep me warm.
December 9, 2020
That morning we agreed to admit defeat to the elements. While we were packing up, I found a thick blackish-red spider the size of a quarter under my sleeping bag. Poor thing had probably crawled inside for some warmth. I felt awful when I had to put it out in the sand, it's little legs immediately scruched up against its body. I hope it found a good leaf to scuttle under :(
Lessons learned: a tent ideal for a hot swamp is not suited for weather below 40°F, a sleeping bag rated for 32°F just means you won't die at that temperature but it won't keep you comfortable, and the right clothes make all the difference.
Lake Kissimmee State Park
December 4 - 6, 2020
This was part one of a two-part camping trip. We stopped in for two nights at Lake Kissimmee on our way up to north Florida.
December 4, 2020
We arrived in the afternoon and did some trails in the woods. I encountered the most charming white wolf spiders that apparently evolved to blend in with the lovely white quartz sand we have all over the state. One held still enough for me to get a fantastic shot.
December 5, 2020
We spent our next day there kayaking up and down a long stretch of canal we'd wanted to try after seeing it on our first visit. It was more than worth it. The sky was mostly clear, the weather was cool, and the water was glassy - it was perfect conditions. The river started out with tall grass and lily flowers before transitioning to live oaks dripping with spanish moss and palms. It eventually spit us out into Lake Rosalie. We explored the marshy entrance and watched some common gallunile run on top of the lily pads and honk at each other before heading back.
December 6, 2020
We packed in early and took off for our next destination - Ochlockonee River State Park.
Everglades National Park
November 16 - 18, 2020
November 16, 2020
We kayaked Coot's Bay Pond after arriving, curious if the waterway connecting it to Coot's Bay was flooded enough to navigate. It was not, and was instead a minefield of submerged branches and spiders. Soooo many spiders. I was kept flicking them off my kayak only to watch them RUN across the surface of the water.
We did a night hike for the first time in the Everglades and it was amaaaaaziiiiing. Encountered a glowworm in the sand, tons of wolf spiders including a mother carrying her many babies, and frogs everywhere. And, of course, bats swooping in every direction.
November 17, 2020
The next day we did a couple of early morning trails, including visiting a boardwalk so damaged by a recent hurricane it was unusable, before shoving off in the kayaks down the Wilderness Waterway (an artificial canal carved from Flamingo to Coot's Bay and beyond). We took a break on a dock and a tricolored heron let me get shockingly close to it, it was totally unbothered by me and only left when my boyfriend decided to (rudely) walk right up to it.
Then we pushed off again and made it the rest of the way to Coot Bay. We paddled around part of the perimeter, spotting a very exotic looking orchid (possibly a mule ear orchid, I distincly remember speckled petals, it was so amazing I had to swing by to see it again on our way in). It was a total of ~5 miles round trip.
I accidentally got uncomfortably close to a gator that was chilling under a walkway in the kayak launch. It was an important lesson - never pull in anywhere where something could be hiding.
We took another night hike just around the campgrounds. We saw tons of stick bugs, including some males riding around the females, and more cute little wolf spiders. Most exciting, we happened upon a pygmy rattle snake in the middle of swallowing a large frog. It shook its little rattle like hell but with its mouth full there wasn't much it could do but menace at us. I got a very blurry video and zero pictures.
November 18, 2020
We hit up the trails near the entrance on our way out of the park and discovered some amazing graffiti on a bench.
Myakka River State Park
August 11 - 13, 2020
This park had its flaws, namely being infested with massive wild boars with big appetites and short tempers, but I still really enjoyed it.
Auguest 11, 2020
We arrived in the afternoon and only had time for a couple of trails before sunset. We took one down to a lake shore and saw a massive congregation of vultures. We could hear them and SMELL them long before we ever got in view of them.
Auguest 12, 2020
The entire park had a distinctly prehistoric vibe to it. The trees were huge and palms and ferns dominated everything. There were also TONS of deer that were much less shy than ones I've encountered elsewhere. It was also a fairly small park, we managed to do most of the trails by the end of the first day. It would have been a great place for the kayaks but alas, we were on foot.
Auguest 13, 2020
Day two was more of the same, just trying to squeeze every bit of exploration out of the park that we could. At one trail, we immediately were descended upon by a group of the cutest piglets you could possibly imagine - there was more than a dozen of the little pink, black, and spotted babies merrily snorting and rooting around. Not wanting to meet their mother, we immediately left. I wish I had gotten pictures but boars are probably the #1 scariest animal in the Florida wilds to me, I'm pretty sure you have better chances against bears, wild cats, and gators than 500 pounds of angry swine.
Later that evening while driving through the park to take in the sights (since we'd already seen them twice over on foot) we saw a hog in the distance and it was huuuuge.
Jonathan Dickinson State Park
February 22 - 23, 2020
We only stayed a single night at this park. While the trails were highly impressive, the campsite was a bit disappointing.
We took a long scenic roundabout route to the campsite that took us through a lot of different ecosystems. There was a LOT of metallic, brightly colored bugs, including orchid bees which I got my single blurry shot of!
However, when we got to the campsite it was pretty anticlimactic. It was labeled as a primitive site and it definitely qualified, there was no latrine or facilities of any kind, just a flat patch of grass with a post. But there were residential areas a 10 minute walk away, just on the outside of the edge of the park.
It was late afternoon by the time we got to the site. Clouds had been gathering for aa hour and we managed to get the tent up just in time to get out of the rain. Then we had a relaxing couple of hours hanging out in the tent, enjoying the rain. The smell of rain in the middle of a forest is unlike anything, it was delicious.
It was worth a day visit for the hiking but I'll definitely never camp there again.
Everglades National Park
January 4 - 6, 2020
Janurary 4, 2020
We hiked out of Flamingo campground down land-based trail that leads to Clubhouse Beach, our campsite on our previous kayaking trip. Despite being in the 'dry season' it was still flooded, and despite being January it was hot as hell outside. The trail started in tree cover but eventually led to a big open saltwort prairie. It was so pretty out there but the mosquitos were brutal. We went a couple of miles down before my boyfriend called it due to getting bit.
We went to the more touristy entrance areas for an easier stroll before sunset.
Janurary 5, 2020
We started out the day by hitting up the ecopond by our campsite just after sunrise.
We tried a couple of other trails, including Christian Point which was almost entirely blocked off. The boardwalk was barely above water and had a fallen tree blocking it but we climbed over. The number of spiderwebs made it apparent we were the only ones to go down there for a while, most sane people would have turned back immediately. I encountered the biggest bromeliad I'd ever seen, it was easily 3 feet across if not bigger. But my boyfriend wanted to turn back before long on that trail, too.
We followed another trail for a few miles that took us through the trees to a massive mudflat before hitting the ocean. I wish I could remember which trail because I loved it. There were tons of orchids in the tops of the trees but they were too high up to see without binoculars.
At one point we walked down a length of trail alongside the big river that was surrounded by sweet acacia trees (Vachellia farnesiana). It was hard to tear myself from sniffing them, the scent was heavenly. The little yellow puffball flowers were so cute!
And, most exciting of all, I spotted my first slime mold!!! It was a good one, too, chocolate tube slime mold (Stemonitis splendens). I definitely took a little twig and knocked some spores around while I was there.
Janurary 6, 2020
We picked a pine wood trail for our last day. It was a fantastic day for bugs - lots of butterflies, a whole bush swarming with polka dot wasp moths (Syntomeida epilais), a faithful beauty moth caterpillar (Composia fidelissima), and TONS of wildflowers.
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