A hill at last!

                                             

Atop a landfill in Coral Springs

I owe my Floridian friends a big apology, as for the past few years I have been complaining bitterly that the hiking trails are boring, as the terrain is so flat.

Well, that’s not quite true at all as I hiked the most wonderful trail last week, with hills and valleys that were absolutely invigorating.

No I am not talking about the trails at that park in Coral Springs called “Three Mountain Park,” for those little hills which they call mountains are really landfills 😂.

Well, I shouldn’t be unkind as my Saturday walks up those inclines do prevent the muscles in the backs of my thighs from seizing up.

The only problem with this new trail that I am raving about is that it is six hours away and the only way will be able to hike it regularly is to move Jacksonville.

And that's just on my stars!

We got to visit those undulating trails on a recent camping trip to Camp Chowenwah in Clay County Florida.

Thanks to our local ‘guide’ Stephanie, we were taken to Jennings State Forest, about half hour away from our base.

The great thing about this Forest, is that it has around eight color-coded trails ready-made for your specific fitness level.

These range from easy to extremely difficult.

From our party, three hikers took the easy trail, two the moderate and three the difficult.

The two moderate hikers were Jennifer and I.

We took the Pioneer Trail which was said to be around six miles and there was supposed to a be a waterfall en route.

The trail started out as a normal Florida flat track with lots of shrubs, thatch palms and beautiful wild flowers but no trees. 

Luckily, we started out early and it was cloudy so we did not have to contend with the boiling sun.

Gradually, we started to ascend and as we did, the thickness of the forest increased.

Below us we had the presence of the North Fork Black Creek and its tributaries,  which you could see from every angle. As we hiked, some sections got so steep that the at the operators of the trails had installed wooden rungs and even easy bypasses.

As we enjoyed the trek, I kept listening for the roaring waters as a sign that we were approaching the waterfall. 

However, we continued walking for what seemed like forever without any sign of it.

This was when I started to suspect that it couldn’t be all that spectacular, for if it were, it would have been marked on our hiking map that we got at the Ranger station and there would be markers on the trail directing us to it.                                                                                                                                                                              When we almost reached the top, at Harris Overlook to be exact, there was a map and Jennifer noticed that we should have taken a trail on the left, to get to the waterfall.

At that point, to get there we would have had to descend quite a bit and after that difficult but invigorating trek to the top we decided that it was not worth the effort.

It certainly wasn’t, for those who took the easy trail had ended up at the waterfall and what they saw would have made me weep, if I had gone back down there to see it!                               

For when Sonia sent me the pictures of what they found, it was not something I would have called waterfall.

That's the waterfall!😏

Besides the waterfall not being worth the effort had we turned back to look at it, we would have been soaked. For shortly after we passed the marker, it started to rain.

Initially, as there were lots of trees, we did not get too wet and it did cool us off, as the climb had been strenuous. I was a bit worried though that there might have been some lightning, as Florida is famous for its lightening strikes, so it is not wise to be among trees at such times.

Luckily there was none.

After we descended for a mile or two with the rain still falling steadily, we came to a clearing and what did we find? It was the park where Rosie, Beth and Sonia who had taken the easy trail, had their vehicle and they were just about to drive off when we appeared.

So, we happily jumped into their truck. This saved us from a thorough drenching as we had now left the covering of the trees behind and had come into the open.

Rosie and Beth

It was a wonderful day of hiking but my one regret was I saw no animals!

Jennifer did spot an armadillo, but by the time she alerted me, it had gone into hiding. 

No, that's not quite true, as when we were at the Ranger’s station, there was a huge rooster looking quite at home as he voraciously picked insects from the grass. 

The next thing we saw was him hightailing it across the road, to where he had a girlfriend and babies, we were told.

And there had been numerous exotic and ordinary birds accompanying us with their various melodies and screams, and of course the ever-present woodpeckers were having a ball as usual.

This was by far the best hiking expedition we went on in the area and whereas those of us who did the easy and moderate trails had a whale of a time with no repercussions, around the fire later, we learnt that those who had opted for the difficult trail did have some bruises, aches and pains.

But that all part of the process isn’t it?

Links; Joan, my views: No more cruising! (joan-myviews.blogspot.com)

Joan, my views: Glamping (joan-myviews.blogspot.com)

               Joan, my views: Anti immigrant crap (joan-myviews.blogspot.com)

MEMORIES

                                              

 

No more cruising!

Have you ever wondered what happens to those large cruise ships when they can no longer sail?

A cruise ship burial ground

I hadn’t, but would have guessed that they end up mostly as scrap iron. However, on the trip to Green Cove Springs, I learnt that some end up as artificial reefs on the floor of the St. Johns River.

That's useful!

Green Cove Springs is a tiny city near Camp Chowenwah where we camped recently. Then our local 'guide’/fellow camper, Stephanie, took us on a tour there.

From the pier, we could see an old Carnival Cruise ship which was going to be sunk to create a reef, but it was missing the funnel as it had been torn off as it sailed beneath the bridge which joins the area to St. Augustine.

Bridge to St. Augustine in background

The pier draws a lot of visitors whether to fish, hang out or just enjoy the view.

The aquifer is 28 feet deep 

This small city is the County seat of Clay County, Florida. The area was first inhabited over 7,000 years ago by Native Americans. 

It is developed around a warm hydrological mineral spring locally known as the "Original Fountain of Youth." 

The sulfur-smelling spring feeds an adjacent public swimming pool and a number of attractions were built around the area for recreational purposes.

The area has a number of historic buildings but perhaps the best known is St Mary’s Episcopal church. 

It was built in 1878 and has sets of stained-glass windows which are said to be among the first to be used  in the United States. 

Below these windows, you see other openings which serve as fire escapes.

St. Mary's

As we walked around the city admiring the architecture, I noticed that Senator Marco Rubio has his campaign headquarters there. 

What amused me was seeing that he had a washed-out tattered ‘Trump 24’ flag in front ofthe building. While I suspect he was displaying it to impress Trump’s base, I couldn’t help wondering if he deliberately allowed the flag to become decrepit, as Trump had so often insulted him publicly and christened him Little Marco.😅

Anyway, that’s an aside, for this small city is really pleasant and attractive.

Links.

1) Joan, my views: Glamping (joan-myviews.blogspot.com

 2) Joan, my views: Anti immigrant crap (joan-myviews.blogspot.com)

MEMORIES

A tattered Trump flag outside Rubio's office

 

Glamping

                                      A full moon shines brightly through the trees.                                                                                         

 My initial reason for joining Meet-Up on moving to Florida, is that I love to find out as much as I can about my environment, especially the outdoors, while getting maximum exercise and meeting interesting people.

Jennifer gets the campfire going

Sticking with the Boca Raton Outdoor Adventures group led by the knowledgeable  Floridian Jennifer Weise, has allowed me to do just that.    

Our latest trek was to Camp Chowenwah in Clay County, just outside of Jacksonville, Florida.

On this trip, I dragged a long-time school-mate, Sonia along, only to hear we have now been dubbed Columbus and Vasco de Gama by another. 😅 

Only hope we don’t turn out to be as wicked as those two were!

As usual,  I stray.

It was supposed to be a camping trip, but I am overjoyed that it was instead a glamping affair, with only one person Stephanie, camping in a tent. 

And because she lives in the area, she also  proved to be an invaluable guide.

                       Stephanie, the authentic trooper.                            

Chowenwah was just up my street, as it has comfortable log cabins with private indoor bathrooms, microwave and fridge. Some even have air condition, but those do not have the other private facilities outlined above. The camp even has a swimming pool and tree houses but both areas were closed due to a little damage caused by hurricane Ian.

Our comfortable cabin

In the main section, the creek came up about thirty feet, but caused no damage as it quickly receded.

The camp is a beautiful 150-acre recreation site on Black Creek, located in Green Cove Springs near its confluence with the St. Johns River.

This river is more than 300 miles long and 3 miles at its widest point. It is the longest river in Florida. It also flows in a northerly direction.

My only problem with that location is that a housing scheme was allowed to be constructed right beside the beautiful recreation area, so the animals that one would normally see in areas such as this, were nowhere to be found. 

Isn't this housing scheme just too close? 😡

 I did however run into a small water snake near the tree house area but he disappeared quickly into the pond when I tried to video tape him.

Birds however abound and one night, a din sounding somewhat like a convention of rowdy owls, appeared to be quite close.

A tree-house 

On our first night as we gathered around the campfire as a bright new moon peeped through the trees. There were loud, frequent sounds of hickory nuts falling from great heights, to the point that some of our campers suggested that if we were struck one, it could cause a lot of damage. 

Luckily, that never happened.

Ian brought water about 30 feet up

I had never seen hickory nuts before though and was curious as to why people never ate them,  although squirrels do, so clearly they are not poisonous. That spurred a fellow camper Chrissy to break one of the nuts to try it. It was no easy task and the nut crumbled, so that’s clearly one reason why humans do not bother to eat them. The pieces she gave me to try were tasty though.

With our convenient and comfortable base at Camp Chowenwah, we were able to do quite a few interesting hikes and explorations.

 So stay tuned.

Link; https://joan-myviews.blogspot.com/2022/10/anti-immigrant-crap.html?m=1

 Memories

Bridge to Jacksonville