Florida Panhandle Trip

[kgd]

Just came back last night from an 8 day trip to the Florida Panhandle. I originally booked this trip as part of a wilderness survival course with George Hedgepeth but he unfortunately suffered an injury to his leg two weeks before the course and had to cancel. I still had my air ticket and rental car booked so I took this as an opportunity to explore an area of the U.S. that I have never been in. In the end, I think it was a blessing in disguised. Eight days of driving off and exploring State Parks and National Forests, some of it car camping some of it back-country. Lots of new trees and flora to see and the blessing of a solid week of me time (well me and the mossy's anyway!).

I have a tonne of pics and video will use this thread as my posting place for the trip starting with Day 1 - Camel Lake Loop (Apolachicola Nat'l Forest) and the Garden of Eden Trail (Nature Conservancy). Arriving from Tallahassee Regional Airport, I obtained my rental car (a little VW jetta that was sweet!) and made my way to Trails and Ski, a little outfitters shop that I found on the internet. There I was able to buy a couple of a hiking guide book of the area, a guide to the flora and fauna and also picked up a camel back 2.0L bladder to work with my maxpedition pouch. Also bought 6 Blue Mountain dehydrated meals and then went off to the grocery store to buy the rest of my food supplies along with 20 L of water. Didn't know if many of the trailheads would have water available but it turns out many did. I also had my MSR water filter for working up water on the fly. At day temps in the mid-90's and 60-80% humidity, I knew drinking fluids would be a constant.

After getting my supplies, I then made my way out to Camel Lake campsite for my first car-camping night in the Apalachicola Nat'l Forest. It has a small little 1 mile hiking trail, but served as a good position to begin my exploring the next morning.

Some shots of Camel Lake (pond) trail. I did this short trail early the first morning soon after waking up from a pleasant sleep in my hammock. The circada's were out in full force during the night with the wheecha-wheecha screeching. Very loud at first but after 10 minutes you just sort of filter it out.

Next, I packed my gear back in the car and drove over to a nearby hike to the highly recommended, both from the internet sights I looked at in the hiking guide I bought, Garden of Eden trail. Its a day use only trail sponsored by the Nature Conservancy. This one is one of the most hilly trails in Florida with some spectacular views of the Apalachicola River (Florida's largest river).

The trail was a real tough work out. The contours alone weren't all that bad, but combined with the heat and humidity, it just sapped the strength right out of you. I drank 3 L on the way in and back and gulped down another liter of water when I got back to the car.

From there I drove to Torreya State Forest, which has become my favorite little jewels of the trip and where I returned a second night for backcountry camping later in the week. The first night I stayed in the campground and the next day I did the Torreya trail stopping midway through at the Rock Bluffs primitive campsite for my first back country camping. I'll continue more on that day's adventure in my next post.

Here is a video entry for the first day's journey.

[youtube]hnn3Wb9NL2Y[/youtube]

 

[Stelth]

Beautiful pictures, thanks for sharing. I love Florida. Have you ever been to Fisheating Creek?
http://www.fisheatingcreekoutpost.com/showpage.asp?page=campground

 

[sicily02]

Awesome pics, Ken. the spider ones were cool. It looks like and sounds like you had a great time.

I look forward to seeing what other picts and videos you put up.

Bryan

 

[crossada]

I commend you for making the most of it esp. with it being so hot and humid but it looks like a great time.

Eagerly await the next video.

 

[kgd]

Beautiful pictures, thanks for sharing. I love Florida. Have you ever been to Fisheating Creek?
http://www.fisheatingcreekoutpost.com/showpage.asp?page=campground

Nope, didn't make it there but it looks interesting. I was really working this trip off the fly. Going from park to park and working from a hiking book I bought when I arrived and a little bit of internet searching. The two weeks before the trip, I was teaching my field course and really didn't have all that much time to plan my route. In the end, the ability to explore on a whim was quite exhilarating!

Awesome pics, Ken. the spider ones were cool. It looks like and sounds like you had a great time.

I look forward to seeing what other picts and videos you put up.

Bryan

Thanks Bryan, it was a blast. Will keep posting up new material over this week!

I commend you for making the most of it esp. with it being so hot and humid but it looks like a great time.

Eagerly await the next video.

Thanks buddy. Hot....Man I learned what hot was all about last week. Also am recouping from a bad bought of poison ivy all over my left ankle. No idea how it got there as I'm pretty careful about that, but it was the worse case I ever I got. Thank God you Yanks aren't stingy with the over-the-counter steroids available to you. After getting caught with the stuff, the next day out I found a Wallmart in a little town and picked up some Hydrocortisol cream at 1%. I get back home and my wife says, she has more powerful stuff prescribed from the doc. She recovers the prescription cream and I look at it and its only 0.2%. Ha, that stuff saved my trip!

 

[crossada]

Thanks buddy. Hot....Man I learned what hot was all about last week. Also am recouping from a bad bought of poison ivy all over my left ankle. No idea how it got there as I'm pretty careful about that, but it was the worse case I ever I got. Thank God you Yanks aren't stingy with the over-the-counter steroids available to you. After getting caught with the stuff, the next day out I found a Wallmart in a little town and picked up some Hydrocortisol cream at 1%. I get back home and my wife says, she has more powerful stuff prescribed from the doc. She recovers the prescription cream and I look at it and its only 0.2%. Ha, that stuff saved my trip!

Poison ivy, mosquitoes, ticks, heat, humidity! Sounds like Iowa this time of year. I really don't enjoy hiking very far this time of year because it requires long sleeve shirts and pants which can be suffocating with a pack on.

 

[scotchleaf]

Did you get stuck in any palmetto gardens? Those can be really impassible.

 

[chopchop]

I lived in Florida for 7 years, but always south of Orlando.

Those App forest pic's are great! I've never been hiking in that part of the state. I once visited the Lake Wales ridge area in central FL, but I don't remember any topo relief like that. Looks like fun!

The heat and humidity never bothered me, but I don't think I'd make it past August in your part of the world.

 

[tonym]

Excellent pics Ken. You should of hooked up with FishShooter and hung out in the swamps with him.

You did learn the truth that.....

 

[TheGame]

Thanks for sharing the pics, Ken. I was going to head down to Florida a few years ago when my brother went, but I had other plans the week he went down. Not sure I would like that heat, though. I don't like it being in the 90's and possible 100's here this week with high humidity. I prefer the cold of the winter..

lol@ Tony.

 

[kgd]

Something tells me that girl isn't the jogging type

 

[kgd]

Nights 2 and 3 were stayed in Torreya State Park. Torreya was my favourite place on the trip. Heavy canopy forests that provide shade and cooler then the southern coast. Nice hilly terrain, no bugs but plenty of foliage including a good mix of hard and softwoods. There is 14 miles of trails in two approximate 7-mile loops with 2 backcountry campsites on one trail and one site on the other. The first night I stayed at the main campsite for some car camping to get my bearings and prepare for the next day of backcountry camping. The rangers were extremely pleasant and helpful in my planning and recommended I stay at the Rock Bluffs primitive campsite which held to their complimentary description of the site. There was only one other camper at the main campground, a nature photographer who was writing a book about Florida.

Like the Garden of Eden trail, this area has its share of hills which made the walking interesting and in this case better shade cover. The park felt 5 degrees cooler than everywhere else. The Cicada’s were out in full force here with their whichy-watt-whichy-watt chant broken up by the hooting of owls and I could even here their wing flaps from my hammock at night. I spotted a bald eagle, tortoise, raccoon and many wading birds by the shoreline of the Apolachicola River. The diversity of trees was stunning and a joy to examine. I loved this place so much, I decided to come back and camp at the same Rock Bluffs later in the week.

Steam rising off hills at the main Torreya car camping site.

Southeastern 5-lined skink

Hammock weathering the inevitable afternoon thunderstorm

Early morning day 3 commencing the backcountry hike. Started off as a road.

Found some human footprints, on closer inspection turned out to be somebody wearing those 5-toed shoes (there were tread lines in the prints). I was thinking about how silly that guy probably looked with his toed shoes…

Southern magnolia trees in abundance here

More of the trail

A close up of those big spiders. We have these same type here, but their abundance and size were rather spectacular. After awhile though you get tired of constantly having to wipe the webs off your face while walking the trails.

One of the large leafed hydrangia’s (I think)…

My trusy side kick – the B. Andrews hybrid bushcrafter-terrasaur knife “terracrafter”. The forced vinegar patina really did its job at keeping corrosion at bay in this constantly wet, humid environment.

Another view of the Apalachicola River near the Gregory House

The Gregory Mansion – a Colonial house that was disassembled and moved to the park at this site with a great view of the river. The house had all the antique furniture restored in it. I didn’t go in because I smelled like a sewer rat and I’m not very interested in that kind of stuff.

Escargot

A Manitoba maple (Box elder) – nice to see a friendly bowdrill tree!

Green Anole

Buffo americanus

More knife porn

Another crazy ass spider

A spot on the water just before the backcountry camp site. I used this access point to replenish my water supply using my MSR water filter. Filled up 3 L of water after exhausting the 3 L I carried in with me. Next morning I before leaving I ended up filtering another 2 L to get me back out.

Final little ascent to the Rock Bluffs campsite.

Here we are set up for the night.

The view from the other side of the hammock.

Next day I hiked out. I had planned on completing the Torreya trail but decided to backtrack the slightly shorter route back to my car. I was on my way to Wakula Springs, a more touristy destination, but one with the famed boat tour and I was psyched to get my first view of the gators. Will continue the rest of the post tomorrow. Attached below is the video.

If there are any Florida locals who haven’t experienced Torrey State Park, I’d highly suggest visiting this area. The rangers aren’t at all uppity and the back country camping fee (including car parking permit) only cost $5.35. Plus they supply you with wood at the primitive site. A really great place and a different terrain and highly unique forest from the typical pine/palmetto hammock. When I return to N. Florida, I’ll be sure to come back here and perhaps plan for the Torreya challenge trail!

[youtube]sZ0YQNpuONw[/youtube]

 

[rwc53]

Ken, I spent 15 years in the Panhandle, leaving there for Texas in 1999. As you well know, not all of Florida is flat! There are some truly beautiful spots in the Panhandle!

Ron

 

[Stelth]

These were all taken in Fisheating Creek a few months ago.
It's in Palmdale, Florida off Highway 27.

 

[kgd]

Cool stuff Stelth, thanks for posting your pics!

 

[Slider817]

WOW, amazing scenery, love those insects, hope to be making it out to Florida in a couple of months, looking forward to some hiking over there

 

[kgd]

On my 3rd night I tried turning that piece of what I thought was yucca into a coal using a bowdrill and two stick technique. It was a total failure. This vid documents my trials and frustrations. If you aren't into primitive fire, probably best to skip this one. If you just like to see a fat old guy suffer and sweat and get frustrated than you might be my wife.....Or you might just enjoy this video I'll post a picture thread of Wakula springs Boat tour tomorrow afternoon. Lots of pretty pictures of aligators I promise!

[youtube]QNT61_UVJkI[/youtube]

 

[kgd]

After packing out and driving from Torreya I headed back towards Tallahassee. The Ranger warned me that I might not be able to get away with using the hammock at many other state parks because of the no ropes on tree’s rule that was becoming more and more common at least at the established campgrounds. So I went off to find an army surplus store and buy some mosquito netting and a ground pad to go with my tarp. I was able to find some used OD green items in such an establishment and also picked up one of the lighter digital cammo army poncho’s.

Wakula Springs is nestled just to the south of Florida’s capitol. It is the largest spring in Florida and spews out water at a tremendous rate with a constant year around temperature of 68 degrees F. Wakula Springs was the site a few movies who used its primordial setting as a back drop. On the list of movies include The Creature from the Black Lagoon and the early Tarzan TV series. It’s a bit of a tourist trap, but after a night of primitive camping I was in the mood for some sit back and watch the entertainment. Basically the park is a big picnic area with a large sanctioned swimming area including a nice sized diving platform situated over one of the deeper holes of the spring. Given the heat and proximity to the city, the place was booming full of people.

The highlight of the park, however, is the boat tour. At $8.00 a ride, what you get is a 45 minute guided tour through the other non-public access parts of the spring. The water is quite clear, although on the day I went, not clear enough to bring out the glass bottom boats to view the deeper holes which on the best days you can see the remains of mastodon skeletons fossilized in the sand. Teeming with turtles, gators and a plethora of shore birds this place is truly a natures wonder. All to be viewed while comfortable sitting on your butt. Whats more to say. Up to this point I hadn’t seen any aligators yet and this boat was a shoe-in to see some given that Wakula boasts the highest density of aligators in Florida. So I was excited about the prospects of seeing so many critters while still in a natural setting.

A softshell turtle

Osprey

Finally, a surprise even to the tour guide was seeing a manatee this time of year. Unfortunately it was in the deeper, public part of the spring and in more murky waters.

Last few pics of this gem of the Sunshine state.

From here I continued driving south towards the St. Marks Wildlife Refuge, camped overnight at a little campground just outside the park (Video already uploaded) and visited the refuge the next day. I’ll continue that post later on tonight.

 

[kgd]

St. Marks Wildlife Refuge

The night following Wakula Springs I stayed at a campground in Newport and tried to work up a yucca shoot by bowdrill but failed after multiple attempts. This time it was a poor sleep. I noticed some real itchiness on my left leg and on inspection found out I had a bad case of poison ivy. We are talking 4 or 5 blisters swelled up the size of a marble with fluid. I didn’t have any steroids with me but took an antihistamine to try and knock it back until the morning when I could get to some drugs. Given the size of the fluid filled blisters making it difficult to fit my show on, I did lance them with my knife (flamed and alcohol swabbed first) and put bandaides on them. That immediately relieved a lot of the pressure but it was still pretty itchy.

Well, that didn’t make for a very good nights sleep. Worse yet, at about 1:00 am, a car pulls up and I see through my hammock a flashlight skipping all over the place. It lands on my hammock several times and then the person bee lines right for me shining the flashlight right in my eye. Turns out it was the Sherriff not used to seeing people in a hammock. He was sort of a dick waking me up like that and he claimed he was just checking on things and not used to seeing people camped out where I was (which was a designated site that I was directed to by the owner of the campsite). I pointed to my vehicle (parked right in front of my hammock) with the registration stub right in the windshield and he then left me alone. I imagine it was the hammock that didn’t sit well with him. I can’t imagine he would have walked up to, waken up and harassed folks in a tent. Mind you, I wasn’t in a very good mood to start with my leg itching like a firestorm.

Next morning I tested my foot and with fresh bandaids on all the blisters and sock liners I felt like I could do a little walking a decided to check out St. Marks since it was literally right across the street from the campground. St. Marks Wildlife refuge is a great place. I wish I would have explored it longer but I had multiple things to do that day. I did about a 3 mile hike early in the morning. Came across numerous deer as well as a great diversity of wading birds, few alligators and some great view points of salt marshes.

Gator in the back

After doing the hike, I got in my car and drove up through the park where it terminates at the coast. My foot was giving me some grief at this point so I was content to drive to points of interest rather than walking too much.

[youtube]qKSGtQSq9Pc[/youtube]

 

[kgd]

St. Georges Island,

I stopped at a nice little steam shop on the coast en-route to St. Georges Island and had a dozen oysters on the half shell ($4) and a half pound of peel and eat shrimp with a local draft. Absolutely delicious. Good thing I stopped myself there because it could have turned into a whole night quickly. Found a wallmart on the way and bought some hydrocortisol cream plus gauze squares, extra bandages and some gold bond powder. This did a great job at knocking my flaming foot into just a mild inconvenience.

St. Georges Island was a lot more touristy than I would have liked. Interesting stilt houses propped up on the beach, but it was full of people wearing beach clothes and I stuck out like a sore thumb in that crowd.

Bridge over to the island

The State Park

The dunes on the park were quite fantastic, made even better at sunset. I did take a bit of time swimming on the flawless beaches, but I'm not a huge fan of swimming in the sea. I'm too used to opening my eyes in the water and hate the taste of salt water. Still, my leg enjoyed the sting (as opposed to itch) of the seawater and it made me fell a bit cleaner, especially after showering afterwords.

I camped at the main campsite, which was more of an RV-park than a tent area. There weren't any trees in my spot and I had to rig up a tarp and mosquito netting. My neighbour took a look at my mosquito netting and told me about the rattlesnake that was right there the previous night. "Where was it, what did it look like?"....She licked her lips and seemed to enjoy what she was expecting as eliciting a fright response in someone who probably looked like a white trash bum to her dressed up in bushcraft fair. When I explained to her that I'd really like to find and see that snake because I've been trying to spot a rattlesnake for 3 days now, see gave me a solid humph and turned away. Ahw, well, she did in fact foreshadow some events to come.

The salt water mosquitoes were murderous over there. Payling little heed to the coating of deet I had on and, despite the heat, I dawned my bug jacket for a little relief. Even just grazing my elbow from time to time on the mesh of the jacket would elicit an almost instantaneous little jab from a pesky arthropoid proboscis. I took a nice stroll along the dunes near sunset giving me a spectacular view of the colours offset by dramatic clouds and scoped out the trail that would take me to the backcountry camping site I planned for the next night. It was a great walk.

I went to bed and found that the mosquito netting worked pretty good for keeping the salt water mossy's at bay (see video). However, he had one hell of a thunderstorm at night and the rain came pouring in from under the tarp. My little felt pad seemed to keep me above it, but touching the ground with my hands was touching a puddle. The rain continued on mercilessly. I probably would have stuck it out if it were for the squeek squeek and squirm and fan across the legs. I turn on my Fenix light and count 5 pack rats who decided my skeeter netting and tarp was a great refuge. These little buggers were hopping all over my legs and despite my best efforts of trying to clear them out, they manage to win the deal. I was the one who was eventually chased out and I spent that last 3 h snoring in the car, but not before getting perforated 600 times by the salt water mossy's before shutting the door. This whole thing discouraged me too much. The mossy's, RV-park, beach clothing, pack rats.....The next morning I decided north is what I like and I headed back towards Torreya. On the way I stopped for lunch in Hell's Tate State Forest and will leave that for the next thread.