October 16, 2021 – Travels with Fred

16 October 2021

I’ve been a little reticent about this trip. It’s been so long since I’ve been camping or hiking any distance and I didn’t know how well I would hold up. I’ve been lethargic of late and didn’t think I had much stamina. Covid seems to affect us mentally as well as physically. I almost backed out of the trip several times. I’m now glad I didn’t.

Last night was one of the quietest nights I’ve spent in any park, anywhere. The campsite was almost full and yet everyone managed to follow the 10 pm curfew on noise. I actually got a lot of sleep, unheard for me on the first night of camping.

My next door neighbors were from Florida also and Mark had actually attended Broward Community College many years ago. He and his wife were interested in my national park trips. He had been to several but wanted my take on some of the ones he had not been to. They did a couple of short hikes this morning and then headed home.

I started my morning with coffee and oatmeal. I was on the trail around 9:30 am and hiked until a little after 11:30. I managed the longer 3 mile hike of Balanced Rock Trail in about 1 1/2 hours. The trail followed the flow of the river for about halfway and then veered east and then back south.

A little before you reach balanced rock, you come to Little Gem Spring. It’s a second magnitude spring which is classified as a flow rate of 10 to 100 cubic feet per second. A category one is anything over 100 cubic feet per second. Since the Suwannee was so high, all you can see is the bubbling of the spring from below. During low levels of the river, the spring can be seen emerging from the bank.

Second Magnitude Little Gem Springs. Suwannee has covered the entrance and all you can see is the bubbling of the water into the river

Alas, the balanced rock is no longer balanced.

What really surprised me was the abundance of wildflowers this late in the year. You can always tell when fall arrives when the golden rod starts to bloom and it is abundant everywhere.

Once I made the loop of Balanced Rock, it fed into Lime Sink Run Trail, approximately .75 miles in length. This is a limestone ravine tided directly to the Cathedral/Falmouth/Lime Sink Run cave system and it is considered one of the longest underwater cave systems in the world.

What passes for a class IV rapids in Florida – only kidding. This was in Lime Sink Run.

From there, I hiked back to the parking area and had lunch and rested a bit. I needed it.

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Next up was the Earthworks Trail, a 0.25 mile trail to the place that once was a ferry landing where the Suwannee and Withlacoochee Rivers come together. It’s quite a site. At one time there were steamboats that traveled the Suwannee and the park has pieces of the machinery along the trail. There are also some Confederate breastworks that once guarded the ferry and landing.

The Withlacoochee River is on the left, Suwannee River on the right

I was getting close to done-in but decided to do the Sandhill Trail of 0.8 miles. It goes through a longleaf forest and also through the remains of the town of Columbus – the cemetery. Most of what composes the state park was the town. It was a pretty busy place at one time with the ferry, post office, general store, sawmill and a railroad line as well as a stage coach line.

All that’s left of Columbus, Florida. The oldest tombstone I saw was a death in 1862.

The last of my hike was a small section of the Suwannee River Trail that connects with the Balanced Rock Trail. In all, I figure I covered in excess of 6 miles. It’s still not a great test of my endurance since everything here is exceptionally flat – thank goodness!

I needed a shower – badly. I didn’t have a dry stitch on me. After the shower, I decided to fill up with diesel for my trip tomorrow to Mistletoe State Park in Appling, Georgia. The closest town is Live Oak, 18 minutes away.

I’ve passed the exit for Live Oak many, many times while on I-10 but never stopped. It took forever to find a place that sold diesel and I eventually had to go all the way through town until I hit the Interstate.

The architecture of the town is quite interesting. It was established in 1878 and from the look of the County Courthouse (Suwannee County), it looks that old.