Category: Lake George State Forest

March 30, 2016

It rained all night.  When it quit raining, it continued dripping off the live oaks.  I’m one of those people that can’t sleep if someone is out on the street talking, even in low voices but can sleep through storms.  I especially like rain on tents.  I will not say I slept all through the night but got enough sleep that I felt pretty good all day.

This trip was to shake out any bugs that I may not have thought of and I found a few things I would do differently.  However, let me say up front I love my tent, my mid-temperature range sleeping bag, the air mattress, the air pillow, and the sleeping bag insert (like a bed sheet).  I also am in love with my jetboil stove.

Air mattresses have come a long way from the first time I tried to sleep on one.  This one has two separate sides and you blow each up individually.  I was dreading the huffing and puffing but both sides inflated very quickly and surprisingly, stayed inflated all night long.  It rolls up into a cylinder a little larger than a typical aluminum can of food.  The pillow was also a surprise.  It was perfect for my needs and it rolls up into the size of an A battery.

Here’s what I learned.

1. Bring a pen and a pencil (and while you’re at it, some paper).  You’ll eventually need it.
2. Not all dehydrated meals are created equal.  Dinner was a breeze.  You rip off the top of the packet, pour boiling water into it, reseal and wait.  Voilà, Spanish rice. The huevos rancheros for breakfast was a bust.  You start the same – rip off the top, add boiling water, unable to reseal but wait.  Then you cook the eggs in a nonstick pan.  Luckily, the stove I have has attached a nonstick cooking surface.  You were to wait anywhere from 10 to 30 minutes so the beans could soak up enough water to become tender.  Didn’t happen.  You really need to read the instructions on each meal before you decide to purchase it or use it.  Even though meals are made by the same company, different meals are prepared in different ways.
3. Dehydrated food, comme vous le dites, has a peculiar effect on fecal development.  I knew this but had forgotten it.  You tend to be a little runny with a diet of nothing but dehydrated food.  Fortunately, there was a port-a-potty at the campsite.
4. Breakfast would be better done using something to simply boil, such as oatmeal or cereal.  The simpler the better.
5. Starbucks makes some pretty good instant coffee packets.
6. You can never have enough camera batteries.  I didn’t and I could have charged them in the jeep since it has a regular 110v plug but I left the battery charger at home.  I ran out of juice later in the day.
7. Even if you bring bear spray, you need to remember to carry it with you on day hikes.  I didn’t remember and ran into some bear signs on the trail I hiked this day.  Really dumb!

   

8. Did I tell you I forgot my walking stick?  I made extensive lists, including the walking stick, but forgot to put it in the jeep.
9. Boots are best left outside (unless you are in porcupine territory).  Loosen the up before you get in the tent and as you get in, take them off.  It saves cleanup afterward.
10. You can never carry enough water.  You’ll always need more.  Always take advantage of any you find.
11. Bear bells are not loud enough.

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The trail is fairly well marked and I took a lot of photographs.  It was nice to see wild magnolias in the woods and an old friend of mine Polygala nana, one of my favorites.  It’s commonly called candyroot or low bachelors’ buttons.  It has beautiful yellow flowers that when dried, loose all coloration.  There is a possibility the species is P. rugelii but I had no way of telling in the field.

A word of caution if you go.  It’s a nice trail but you do walk through bear country.  Also, they have a couple of “bridges” which are more like planked walkways. They get covered over in slime and are quite slippery.  You would be better walking in the ditch instead of the bridge.

I did see a white tail deer just as I emerged from the end of the trail and as I got in the jeep and traveled to DeLeon Springs State Park, a wild turkey crossed the road.

The trip to DeLeon Springs State Park was interesting.  It’s a natural spring that comes out of the ground and spills over into the waters that lead to the St. Johns River.  They were offering scuba lessons when I arrived.  The main swimming area is over 30 feet deep so it is perfect for scuba instruction.

I took the $14 boat ride down the river and back.  We saw manatee and osprey in abundance and everyone was excited about the alligators but you see more in the Everglades.

I walked their nature trail and that’s when I lost all battery power.  They have a short loop of a trail and a more extensive 4 mile loop that takes at least 3 hours.  You have to register with the ranger for that trail, so I didn’t do it but it’s a possible for a future date.

Since I was low on battery power, I decided to forgo the extra night and drove home that afternoon.  Unfortunately, every route was blocked with traffic jams due to rain.  It took me over 6 hours to get back home.

March 29, 2016

In preparation for my cross country trip, I decided to do a couple of shake-down trips.  One area which intrigued me was near Deland, Florida near the eastern edge of the Ocala National Forest called the Lake George State Forest Recreational Area. They have a 1.7 mile trail to hike and some of it borders the St. John’s River.

I packed everything on the 28th and loaded the jeep. This morning, I did my usual walk in the neighborhood, did my yoga stretches and then swam laps. By 10 am I was finished and I programmed the gps in the jeep and was off by 10:15. It was approximately a four hour, 30 minute drive, mostly along 95. I had a couple of bathroom breaks at rest stops along the way. Once to DeLand, my jeep gps disagreed with the Trails Florida directions. Finally, I loaded the iPad gps and found the entrance to the forest.

My instructions were to call the state forester in charge but apparently she is on vacation.  Luckily, there’s another number of another district forester and she gave me the combination to the lock for the camping area. The charge (honor system) is $10 per night. If you travel further down the unpaved road, you have another fee for the pier, canoe launch and trail.  That fee is $2 per day.  You fill out an envelope and insert into a box with a weatherproof slot. The only problem was neither site had a pencil or pen and I forgot to pack one. There was one other person in the campsite  but they were either asleep in a hammock or out walking.

I decided to pitch camp  and worry about registration later. This was my second try at setting up the tent – the first try was in the back yard. A few mistakes were quickly corrected and it took about 19 minutes.

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Now to register. Remember, no pen. All was not lost; however.  At the beginning of the trail is a sign in sheet with a pen. Unfortunately, it also wanted your tag. I remembered the first part but not the last. I finally got registered after walking the road back and forth to work the pen/tag roulette.

I walked back to campsite and the person who apparently was in the hammock was packing up to leave.  I now have the entire campsite to myself.  On the way back it started thundering.  I had checked Weather Underground for the last three days and no rain was predicted.  However, Dark Skies predicted rain in the next 12 minutes.  Guess who was correct.  I had just completed my dehydrated Spanish rice dinner and finished washing up and the sky opened up.

Warning signs about bears are everywhere.  I do have bear spray with me in the tent but hopefully I will not have to use it.  I walked the campground looking for bear scat but found none.

Looks like it’ll be an early night with all the rain.