Category: Silver Springs

27 June 2017

Boy, am I embarrassed!  I thought I had reserved the cabin at Silver Springs for 3 nights.  Instead, it was for two.  I got up early and hiked the Sandhill Trail as I had planned.  I’m glad I did.  I enjoyed this hike more than the others.  However, the trailhead had no sign about the trail closed but when the trail intersected the Sinkhole Trail, there was the sign saying the trail was closed for a burn!  If I had obeyed the sign, I couldn’t turn around and return to the jeep.

After hiking the trail, I then did the bike trail.  It was a 4.5 mile round trip over roots, puddles, and dips.  This was my first off-road experience and I enjoyed it.

After a quick shower, I decided to head to the other section of the park with the glass bottom boat rides.

I pulled into the other section of the park around 12:00 and decided on a hamburger before the boat ride.  I lucked out and the next glass bottom boat trip was just coming up after I finished the burger.

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About halfway through the trip, I got a phone call from a Silver Springs number.  Since the guide was talking and the electric motor of the glass bottom boat was making noise, I decided not to answer.  Later, I checked to see if there was a message and it was the park letting me know I was supposed to vacate the premises by 11 am this morning.

They were very nice.  I called as soon as we docked and told them I could be out within the hour.  I asked if I owed them anything and they said no.  Apparently, the cabin was rented for the night or I would have stayed the extra night.  Instead, I drove back to Fort Lauderdale.  I wanted to tip the cleaning crew but they couldn’t accept tips so I left $20 in the donation box.  I hate being a bother to people and I put them behind schedule.

As usual, around Boca Raton, I-95 was horrible and the Turnpike was slow.  The GPS kept trying to route me to I-95 and then when I got off, it said congestion and 20 mph with stop and go.  I returned to the Turnpike and with a couple of slow downs, made it back home by 6:30 pm.  I had traveled 2166 miles on this little excursion.

I was glad I did the glass bottom boat.  I think in a past blog I mentioned I have a photo of a glass bottom boat circa 1940.  Dad apparently made it to Silver Springs when stationed at Camp Blanding, just north of Gainesville. It seems I have come full circle.  He was stationed in Florida and so have I been for the last 33 years.  He went to Silver Springs and so did I.

26 June 2017

Silver Springs State Park is actually two parks. One part is composed of the old Silver Springs tourist area with glass bottom boats and the other part, separate, is a regular state park, originally known as Silver River State Park. The state acquired Florida’s first tourist attraction (Wikipedia) in 2013 and combined both parks to form Silver Springs State Park.

For some reason, I woke around 3:45 am completely refreshed and ready to go hiking. I made breakfast (dehydrated granola, berries, nuts with milk powder – just add water) had two cups of coffee and dawdled long enough that I was on the trail by 8 am.

My first hike was the Sinkhole Trail which forms a loop while intersecting with several other trails. The Sinkhole Trail itself is a 2.2 mile loop with no view of a sinkhole.

Just as I started down the trail, a sign indicated the park had bears and they recommended bear spray. Mine was back in the car so I hoofed it back and added it to my pack. It was a good thing I did because I saw bear sign of rotten logs being ripped apart for insects grubs.

About half way along the trail I ran into a buck and doe whitetail deer. They were totally curious about me and unconcerned.

Later that day when I went into town to get some supplies, a doe with a fawn crossed in front of me. The fawn was so tiny, at first I thought it was a very small dog following the doe across the road.

The trail was nice and level, wide, and easily discerned and yet at the same time, poorly marked. You would come to an intersection of merging trails and one direction was clearly marked for one trail but you had to walk a ways down a trail leading from the intersection to see the next trail marker to see if you were on the correct path. It was almost as if you were required to walk the trail in one direction only.

I was going to branch off to the Sandhill Trail from the Sinkhole Trail but a sign indicated a burn was in progress and the trail was closed. I later found out it was not. This seems to be a theme in this park. Another section was closed (a boardwalk) but someone I met later informed me it was fine – he just ignored the closed sign. The museum and all the old buildings for exhibition also said closed Monday-Friday for classes from the local school district – do not enter – with no one in sight.
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In any case, instead of the Sandhill Trail, I looped back and walked the Swamp Trail which had the closed boardwalk.

From there I looped back and walked the River Trail which takes you down by the Silver River where you can launch canoes and kayaks.

The Swamp Trail is a 1.9 mile loop and the River Trail is a 1.9 mile loop, none of which were the correct mileage according to my GPS. According to their mileage, it was 5.4 miles of hiking. According to my GPS, it was more like 7.

I headed back to the cabin for an afternoon nap and then into town to purchase a few things. Silver Springs seems to merge into Ocala as I drove through and almost all the stores are set back from the road. You can only find the store by reading a sign near the road. For example, Lowes and Walmart were set so far back from the road you could not see them from the road.

If it doesn’t storm late this afternoon, a very big if, I’ll try the 4.5 mile bike loop off the River Trail. Tomorrow I plan to hike the closed Sandhill Trail loop and the head to the tourist trap and do a glass bottom boat ride.

Dinner tonight was at Fat Boy BarBQ, in business since 1970. It was very good barbecue with excellent sides of their baked beans and cole slaw.  After I returned, I rode around the campgrounds.  There are 10 cabins and 60 campsites.  The campsites are well equipped but not very suitable for tent camping.  Every park likes to put gravel down for rv’s and don’t realize tents don’t fair well on gravel.

No matter how many times I proofread these blogs, once I review them after posting, I always find typos.  For some reason, this program likes to capitalize everything except after a period.

Continue reading “Linville Falls Trip – Silver Springs – Day 11”

25 June 2017

Bridge out. That was my notification after my GPS routed me the back way to I-75 just south of Macon, Ga. That meant I had to suffer through 10 miles of “recalculating route” in order to complete the detour.

I had just said goodbye to Tom and turned in the key when my GPS asked if I would like an alternate route due to a problem ahead on the road. I said yes. Yet, it led me to the bridge out, showed it on the map when I arrived, and insisted I cross the washed out bridge. I declined.

As I was following the detour, I came upon a severe wreck along a stretch of country road where a wrecker was pulling a car up an embankment deep in the woods. There were two ambulances and numerous highway patrol on scene and since the ambulances were not going anywhere, I assumed there were fatalities.

Later, I must have passed twenty vintage vehicles, a part of some kind of rally. It varied from pickup trucks to Volkswagens, all vintage.

Once on I-75, I hit three major downpours to the point I had to slow down due to hydroplaning. Just before I reached Ocala traffic slowed to a crawl even though the rain had abated. I never cease to wonder at drivers who slow or stop in light rain but barrel through in heavy downpours.

Silvered Springs is just east of Ocala and I checked into the park around 5 pm. The cabin is new and patterned on the one I stayed in at Fanning Springs.

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Hopefully, while here I’ll get some hiking and cycling in and maybe a glass bottom boat ride.

I had a great time visiting with Tom even though he lives close in Wilton Manors.  I think he had a good time and we both indicated we got a little emotional with the FDR sites.

Tom is always smart and lucky – two excellent traits.  His original flight back out of Atlanta was 5 pm which meant 5 hours in the Delta Club Room, not necessarily a bad thing.  However, before he left, he managed to get the 4 pm flight.  He later texted me he got a 2 pm flight with upgrade to first class.  See what I mean lucky/smart?

Early to bed tonight.