Hiking along a flooded Econlockhatchee

Fall weather is finally here.  Today the high temperature was supposed to be around 80 degrees, and humidity is low… the only downside for any hiking plans has been the amount of rain that we’ve had over the past few weeks.  I seemed to remember the the trails along the Econ river were higher than the river and surrounding flood plains, so we decided to go take a look from the Barr St. trail head.

As expected, the river levels are up very high.  After we got home Tina looked up the historical data and confirmed our guess that the water levels are about six to eight feet higher than they have been over the past year.  It’s not the highest it has ever been, but definitely in the range of a typical high-water level.

This made the trip interesting, but as expected, the trail itself was mostly dry as we started out.  It was pretty amazing to see just how high the water levels were from all of the recent rains.  As the trail went along the edge of the river there were several spots where we remembered climbing down to get to the waters edge, but now even some of the trees are under water.

One of the nice things about this trail is that there are a couple of spots to sit and take a break to enjoy the view.  There has been a new addition since the last time we were there – a pretty good size tree has fallen across the path.  I suspect that it won’t be long before the Florida Trail Association (FTA) folks cut this up to clear the path, but for now, it makes a perfect stop to sit a spell.

No time to dally here though – we were planning on having lunch at the bridge that crosses the river about 2 miles down the trail, so after a quick photo we were on our way.  We usually see a lot of wildlife along the river, but today was an exception.  I suspect the current was a little too fast for the usual turtles and alligators, but we did see an interesting spider.  A Golden Garden Spider (Argiope aurantia) with a zig-zag pattern in her web caught our attention, so we looked it up to see if we could find out what it was doing.  It seems though that no one really knows what the zig zag pattern is for.  Some say that it is for camouflage, others say it is to attract insects, and others say it is to warn birds away.  I guess it will just have to remain a mystery for now.  If you’re curious, I’m pretty sure this was a female because the female is about four times larger than the male.  This spider was about 2.5” from leg tip to leg tip.  I really hope there wasn’t one nearby that was 4x larger!

Well, that wraps up our lesson on arachnids – let’s get back to the trail (we’re really ready for lunch by now).  About half way towards our destination, we cam to another one of the many bridges along this trail.  This one had a warning sign mounted on each side.  The bridge feels a little spongy, but stable enough that I wasn’t worried about it falling as I crossed.  I suspect that this is on the list of planned maintenance for the trail.  I find it amazing how this work could be accomplished; it seems like everything would have to be carried in by hand (maybe by mule?) and the work itself must have it’s own challenges.

Just a little bit further along the trail from this bridge we found an ideal spot for another bridge to be built!  Even with all of the bridges that span this trail, mother nature did find a spot to wash out the trail.  We were so close to the old railway bridge that we really wanted to find a way past this spot, but we didn’t have any luck.  The closes we found was a palm tree that had fallen across, but it was too small and long to use comfortably.  The water looked like it was around three or four feet deep, so falling in wasn’t an acceptable alternative.  As we looked around, we could see watercress that was about five or six feet from the water, so it looks like the water has already receded from the highest levels, but it still has a little way to go.

Instead of fording the water, we decided to turn back and find another spot along the river for our lunch.  There were several nice places in the sun, so we picked a spot not too far from the beginning of the trail.  After lunch, we finished our hike and took a drive over to the Snow Hill Road bridge to see what it looked like there, and that trail entrance was completely underwater.  The trails along the Econ River are some of my favorites, but they may need a little more time to dry out.

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Hiking Hal Scott Preserve–White Trail

After seeing pictures of the area and descriptions of seepage bogs, how could I not look forward to hiking through this area?  Hal Scott Preserve even has a bit of history to it that goes back to the Timucua Indians and has campsites that are several thousand years old.  To be hones, I didn’t see the campgrounds (I probably wouldn’t recognize a thousand year old campsite if I was sleeping in it), and the Timucua  Mounds are in the northern part of this preserve.  Still, it was a great day to get outside – blue skies and cool breezes followed me around for the whole trip, and there wasn’t a mosquito to be found.
Heading west from the parking area where there were already a couple of cars parked, but I think most of them were there for the fishing since they seemed to be mostly by the pond access area.  After passing the trailhead the path takes a turn to the south along the edge of the fishing pond.  As I walked up to the edge, I saw several fish in there – this is probably a nice spot to drop a line.
My first plan for today’s hike was to make my way to the camping area by the canals.  I saw some photos on Google Earth that showed picnic tables down there, and I had it timed so I’d arrive there right about lunchtime.  As I headed on past the pond, I had to get a panoramic shot of the palmetto fields and blue sky.  Notice the trail – it is mostly a forest road for the whole hike, which is a lot less primitive than most of the hikes around central Florida.

Turning south at the trail intersection that leads to the campsite, I noticed that there didn’t seem to be a lot of traffic on these trails, judging by how few prints there were.  In this area, I saw no hoof prints, only one set of foot prints, one bicycle, and (surprisingly) some car tire tracks.
It turns out the car tracks were from some visitors who were already occupying the campsite.  (This group campsite must be reserved, and the water management district does allow campers to bring a small number of vehicles to the campsite.  This sure put a damper on my plans for where to have lunch; instead of sitting down for lunch I ended up eating while I hiked.
Before heading back the way I came though, I did a little bit of exploring at the end of the canal down here.  After getting a quick photo of a pump well, I went down to the creek that runs out of the canal towards the river.  This area must be what was referred to when I read about the seepage bogs – this swampy area seems to border both sides of the Econlockhatchee River.  While I was here I tried creating a photo sphere from the middle of the swamp.  It came out pretty good, but I don’t know if it will work here in the blog or not, so if the one in the table below is just a weird looking flat image when you click on it, try the link.
After heading back up to the main trail (and finishing my lunch along the way) I came upon an area that looks like they might be adding a new section to the trails.  If you zoom in a bit, you’ll notice that two of the trees on either side of this cut area have big white bands painted on them.  While I suppose this could be a planned fire-break, I don’t really think so since this trail curves around and later rejoins the trail that I was walking on.  I might have to come back next year sometime to see what this turns into.
From this point, the trail continues on to the Econ River.  There is a bridge further west, but this part of the trail was flooded over.  Here I had a choice.  Do I put on my water-boots and go to the bridge, or continue on to the north with the white blaze trail that I had been following?  I decided to stick to the original trail, but not before I took another photo sphere picture of this spot.  Like the other one, I tried putting the picture directly in the blog down below – let’s see if Google's blogs work with Google's photo spheres.
So after playing around with my camera, I jumped back to the white blazed trail and headed north.  Most of this part of the trail was pretty uneventful.  I did see some bobcat tracks in a muddy spot before a couple on horseback approached.  Since they came from the direction that I was headed, I asked ‘em what the trail was like back there.  They said it wasn’t bad, but there were a couple of wet spots.  Now, if someone on a horse says there are a couple of wet spots on the trail, I think I’ll pay more attention. 
From here the trail was pretty close to entering the woods again where, right as the shade starts, there is a small stream that flows to the west and I expect that it feeds into the Econ river.  The road / trail crosses the stream and heads further north, but it was time to start heading back, so I headed back south a bit to take the trail that the equestrians said had a couple of wet spots.
For some reason, I was expecting to come up on more wet spots than I did, but what was lacking in quantity was made up in quality.  There were two spots that couldn’t be crossed without getting a little bit wet.  Ever since hiking in Seminole Ranch, I’ve been carrying some overshoes that were perfect for these spots.  The water was only about a foot deep, so being prepared let me keep my shoes dry for the rest of the trip.
It was nice to get outside today; and sometimes a solo trip is perfect for clearing one’s mind and just enjoying nature.  There are a lot more trails in this area, so I’m sure I’ll be back.  During the spring the water levels will be lower, and I might just be able to cross some of the spots that I held back from today!
As always, for details of the trip or to see where the photos were taken, look at the map at the end of this post.

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Hiking Little Big Econ State Forest (Snow Hill Rd.)

Just north of the bridge that goes over the river there is an equestrian trail head for the forest; this was our destination for this week’s hike.  The small, $2 per person, usage fee that is paid on the honor system (like most of the trails in this area) right next to the gate between the trailer parking area and the forestry service office space.  We parked next to the forestry office spaces.  There were plenty of spots, and many of them were shaded.  Though this is an equestrian trailhead, there are hiking trails that are a little tight for horses, and others that are shared use.
From the forestry office, we followed the road / driveway southwest where it ends at a picnic pavilion.  This would be a great place to end a hike with lunch.  It is covered, so there’s plenty of shade, and it’s out in the open so there is a really nice breeze.  Just past the pavilion is the entrance to the woods.  There is a kiosk next to the trail entrance, but today there were no maps or notices posted.
Beyond the trail head is a boardwalk that goes over a swampy area before reaching the river.  It was a little wet from last night’s rain, and that made the boards a little slippery to walk on but that beats the alternative if it wasn’t there.  Keep an eye on the vines growing on the trees next to the boardwalk – most of them were poison ivy.  The vines didn’t encroach on the boardwalk at all, but we always keep our eyes out for that nasty plant.
The boardwalk ends right at the Econ River where the trail follows an open area with little “beaches” along the way.  As we walked along the river we startled an alligator who was sunning himself by the river.  I just saw a flash of his back as he jumped in the water, and after about half a minute he popped back up to spy on us as he tried to figure out who interrupted his late morning nap.
After watching him watch us for a few minutes, we continued on along the river and came up on what probably used to be a great swimming spot.  It was a tree that had fallen into the river with boards nailed to it to make a ladder.  The boards are old now, and many are gone, leaving a lot of rusty nails sticking out.  It was right around here that I got a nice panoramic photo of Tina by the river.  If you look to the right hand side, you’ll see the path that we were following, and on the left is the tea colored river.  The color of the river comes from cypress trees – even though the water looks brown, it is clean.

From here the trail bears to the north and leads to a small flood plain that feeds the river.  We did a little wandering in this spot before we found a good place to cross.  Once we got past a little creek, it was just a matter of walking on clumps of grass to get through it with mostly dry feet.  From here the trail took us back into the forest where we found the trail with white blazes.
The white blazes took us through a lush forest and the only place where we had to cross water had a bridge built over it.  It seems like this is another one of those trails that doesn’t get a lot of use.  Even though it was well marked, there weren’t any signs that we could see of recent foot traffic.  Hiking through areas like this is especially fun because I know that there aren’t that many people who get to see what I’m looking at!
This path took us to a trail junction where it joined a horse path that goes north/south.  This is a landmark that we knew – we were here before when we hiked along the river from the Barr St. trailhead.  We followed the horse trail south to the river from here and just enjoyed the view.  The bridge area is a great spot to just sit for a bit and watch the river flow.
After exploring the river’s edge for a bit we decided to head back.  The plan for our return trip was to follow the horse trail to the north until we got to some benches and then head back east along another horse trail before looking for another path that would take us back to the flood plain.
When we arrived at the first open area we saw some old fence posts; probably from an old ranch, and this was where we broke away from the horse trail.  Hindsight is always 20/20, and this is no exception.  I think we would have been better off just sticking with the horse trails.  It turns out that we had to do some light bushwhacking through the field and woods before we joined back up with the white blaze trail that we followed into the woods earlier.  The horse trail would have been an easier hike, so this just added a little adventure to the trip.
This was a fun hike, and with the rain letting up over the past week or so, the trails are less muddy.  The weather is also starting to get a little cooler, but not much.  By the time we finished up today it was about 90 degrees out, but there was a nice breeze blowing so it was a nice day to be out.

If you’d like to see where the pictures were taken, click on the “map details” link at the bottom of the trail map.

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Hiking through the Enchanted Forest

This week took us to the Enchanted Forest Sanctuary in Titusville FL.  This is a surprising find situated right between a town, railroad tracks and a small airport – all within a stones’ throw of Kennedy Space Center.  It’s a really interesting spot to visit – it took us through three very distinct habitats and it also has some history to it to boot!
We started our trip by signing in at the Gift Shoppe.  There is a kiosk just in front of the sign in area that has a map of the area, showing where each of the named trails go to as well as the types of habitats that will be crossed.  At the Gift Shoppe we saw a bunch of banana spiders (also called Golden Silk Orb Weavers).  These guys are harmless, but they are huge and have a very strong web.  It must be their big season to come out because they were all along the trail.  We easily saw several hundred of them.  One nice thing about them is that the tended to have their webs way above the trails, so there really wasn’t much of a chance of walking into one.  Still – we were watching.  The thought of one of these guys climbing up to give me a peck on the cheek is just a little too creepy.
As we headed out, we took the Coquina Trail which is the northernmost of the trails in the sanctuary.  The trail starts out by crossing over the Addison / Ellis Canal; there is a sign by the canal that gives a little history about it.  It seems that it was a failed attempt to build a canal that would drain the marshland in the St. Johns River Valley so the land could be sold to farmers.
As it turned out, there was a ridge of coquina that went through the area that is now the Enchanted Forest Sanctuary, and the equipment that they were using to build the canal just couldn’t handle it.  It is possible that, if they were successful, they could have ended up flooding the valley with salt water from the ocean and the area would have ended up being uninhabitable.  Good thing they didn’t make it!
Hiking along the northern part of this trail, we went through an oak scrub habitat which was very open with sandy soil with lots of flowers and plants along the way.  Soon the trail turned to the south where it goes downhill to a bridge that crosses the canal along the edge of a mesic hammock, and quickly intersects Biodiversity Loop.
We headed back east from here to walk around the Ridge Trail Loop which is once again in an oak scrub area.  In this loop, we didn’t see any animals besides some lizards and quite a few skinks, but we did see a lot of tracks.  In one spot we saw some very clear bobcat tracks – we later learned that there are quite a few bobcats in this area.
We followed this trail around to the Tortoise Trail which then led to Magnolia Loop.  Magnolia Loop goes through both a mesic hammock and a hydric hammock so there is a lot of shade.  It was back in this area where we saw a massive oak tree.  This was easily more than four feet in diameter, and we could see where it was growing strong “folds” around the base as it gained strength the carry it’s own massive weight.  It had branches that were big enough to be trees on their own, and I wouldn’t be surprised to learn that this tree was at least a couple of hundred years old.
Going north from the loop along Tomoka Trail, there was a long boardwalk that went through a swampy area of a hydric hammock and another shorter boardwalk through a wet area of a mesic hammock.  All through this area you could see the resurrection ferns in all their greenery after all of the rain we’ve seen lately.  We also noticed that these boardwalks weren’t wood – they are made with recycled plastics that look like wood.  Probably the perfect material for this area since wood would break down a lot sooner here than it would in a drier spot.
As we wound up our trip for the day, we headed back along the Biodiversity Loop towards the Gift Shoppe.  We stopped in a chatted with the folks there, and learned about some of the areas that we didn’t see.  The biggest one was the coquina quarry at the southern most part of the ridge loop.  We’ll have to take a look at that next time we’re here.
All in all – we both agreed that this is an enchanting spot to hike.  If you’d like to see the map in detail, along with the spots where the pictures were taken, just click on the Map Details link at the bottom.

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