Category: Manatee Springs

22 March 2016

For some reason, I woke at 5 am this morning and by 5:30, knew it was best to get up and put the coffee on. Breakfast was hot biscuits with strawberry jam and butter.

My goal for the day was to ride another segment of the Nature Coast Trail. This is a nine mile segment to Fanning Springs and, to be honest, I wasn’t sure I could do it.

The biggest problem was finding the old depot which is the trailhead. I Googled it and found no real address but did find a map that pinpointed it somewhere along SW 4th Avenue. The problem was it didn’t give any intersection. After about 30 minutes, I found the depot was now the chamber of commerce. I parked, sought out a restroom to keep from having to make pit stops where there were none. One review about the trailhead was the restrooms were iffy. That was a generous review. It was pretty filthy. The good news, upon my return, someone had cleaned it.

If you have read my blogs, you know one of my truisms about hiking – just when you think it can’t be any more up hill, there is. I propose a new truism for biking. In whatever direction you are going, there will be a head wind.

On the trip to Fanning Springs I was pedaling against a head wind. I was looking forward to a tailwind on the return. No such luck. The wind shifted 180.

The trip to Fanning Springs took 54 minutes with numerous stops for wildflower photography and one rest stop. I managed to average 10 mph on the outward bound segment. The return trip was faster because I had photographed everything I wanted on the outward bound portion. In all, the distance was 18.2 miles through mostly canopied trail. Best of all, it was overcast and about 72F for most of the round trip.

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It was just after 11:30 am when I made it back to the trailhead and I decided to check off another state park by visiting Rainbow Springs near Dunnellon. There are three sections to the park: a campground separate from the original tourist part and a tubing entrance.

The tubing entrance was closed so I headed to the main park area which was at one time a privately owned tourist “trap”. It was sold to Florida in 1990. To be honest, it didn’t do much for me with the tourist kitsch still obvious. Most of the grounds are tended by a local volunteer group and all the waterfalls were constructed for the tourists. It’s about an hour drive from Chiefland. At least I can check it off my list.

One thing that has made an impression on me is how many snow birds come down and stay in RV parks, state parks and campgrounds. One couple I met next to me was from Ontario and they had been in various campgrounds in Florida for the entire winter. They had an rv, were retired, and move from location to location. That’s why almost all these places have a duration limit for camping. Otherwise, they would stay in one location for the winter and no one else would get to use e camping sites.

Tomorrow, I pack up and return to Fort Lauderdale.

21 March 2017

It was a cool night, as in 47F. It’s a good thing I brought my down bag. I needed it last night. The new mattress works great and I got plenty of sleep last night, a rarity for a first night out.

It was bacon and eggs for breakfast with percolated coffee and then off to do some trails. On the beginning of the Scenic Trail, I ran into a doe and her fawn. She very politely held a pose for me and then they were off.

My first bit of trouble was the way the park marked their trails. The first trail marker did not indicate any of the named trails on the map, simply pointed the direction to the youth camp and ranger station. The ranger station looked farther on the map so I chose that trail. It was a lucky guess. It did lead to the trailhead for the Scenic Trail.

The second problem came with the next split: Scenic Trail and Loop Trail. The signs looked exactly opposite from the perceived direction. I opted for the Scenic Trail and later found myself on the Loop Trail. Muttering under my breath about a stop at the ranger station, the Loop Trail did feed me back into the Scenic Trail.

The next spit was the Clay Trail. It finally dawned on me these are not the usual trail markers but akin to street signs like you see at intersections. I have no idea why they did them that way but once I figured out their system, I was OK.

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The map showed a branch road leading off Clay. I assumed, incorrectly, it would lead to the river. It simply dead ended 0.4 miles down the trail. Note to self – no more branch trails without a description of the end of the trail.

The Clay led into the Fence Trail which led into the Shacklefoot Trail, which on the map seemed to show a view of Shacklefoot Lake. It turns out that Shacklefoot Lake is a temporary lake visible only during river flooding and the rainy season.

Shacklefoot led to the beginning of the Scenic Trail and thus a return to the springs. In all, it was a little over seven miles. Most of the trail was unpaved roadbed. Along the way, I ended up picking up trash others left, including a tin can which cut my right hand and a brand new tennis ball???? Luckily, as a former Boy Scout, I was prepared with my first aid kit in my daypack. As the day wore on, it got pretty warm, but it was easy hiking.

I was warm enough that 72F water of the springs looked enticing and so I changed and went swimming. A couple of families were obsessing over some snakes they saw. One pair were water snakes, but two of the others were cottonmouths. However, they were probably so stunned from the forty degree weather, they were just trying to warm up.

After the swim, I headed to the Walmart at Chiefland to buy batteries. From there I drove to Cedar Key and drove around the town.

In 1993, Cedar Key was voted best small community in the US. It is no longer small. It reminds me of Key West just before gentrification completely took over. It has several quaint hotels and motels, a bar every 30 feet, and water everywhere. It would definitely be worth spending a week on the island in one of the historic hotels and getting better acquainted with the place.

Tonight, I am warming in the oven some homemade Jambalaya I made. The temperature is scheduled for the low 50’s.

20 March 2017

Today I returned to Manatee Springs with the intent to hike some of their trails, complete another segment of the Nature Coast State Trail by bike, and to visit Cedar Key.

I left the house just before 10 am and arrived after 6 pm. The reason for the eight hour drive was I drove State abroad 27 until Winwood and then cut across the state by heading west. The speed limit for most of the trip was 65 mph so that was good (turnpike is 70). The problem was all the small towns where you slowed to 35. However, the drive was infinitely more entertaining than the turnpike.

In particular, the town of Inverness and Dunnellon were really nice. Some day I would like to come back and explore them a little more. They had the classical Main Street with old brick buildings with definite character.

On the way through Lake Placid, I kept an eye out for the infamous caracara. When I first heard this mentioned years ago, I thought someone had invented the name and was playing a trick as in snipe hunting. Later I found out it is a real bird and an exceptional predator. It is a very large bird and very distinctive. You may be wondering why I don’t include a photo.

It’s like this. If I have a camera at the ready in the car, I never see one. If I don’t have a camera ready, they are usually on every other fence post. I had the camera ready this trip, hence the lack of the photo.

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I have become adept at putting up the tent and garage attachment but I did have trouble with my new queen size air mattress. I finally got the thing figured out and I look forward to an excellent night of sleep – if I can get the damn deer to quick roaming the woods behind my tent.

Like all trips, I forgot something. This time it was the batteries for the lanterns. I’ll stop in Chiefland tomorrow and pick up 8 A batteries and 2 AAA. Otherwise, things have gone fairly smoothly.

Tonight, I used a Coleman oven on my Coleman stove to make a hobo dinner using an aluminum foil packet for hamburger meat, potatoes, carrots, and onions, all seasoned with chipotle pepper and rosemary. It turned out perfect and soon disappeared.