Torreya State Park – Day 3

19 January 2016

…or I should say Falling Waters State Park and Florida Caverns State Park. I copped out of hiking Torreya today and did these state parks.

I first headed to Falling Waters.  I wanted to see the tallest waterfall in Florida (67′) into a sink hole.  No water pools at the bottom – it simply goes underground thanks to our Karst topography. It is impressive as it tumbles into the sink hole.

The path to the falls is all newly done walkway and steps to the fall for optimum viewing. There are numerous sink holes along the way, prepping you for the falls.

You can then walk through a wire grass/long leaf pine community (again, all on boardwalk) and see the first oil drilling in Florida (they struck gas, not oil, and sealed it). Wiregrass is interesting in that it must have fire to produce seed. There is a close association with longleaf pine which also needs fire to reproduce successfully.

From there, I drove through their campsite to see what the sites looked like in case I wanted to come back and camp.  This park seems relatively up-to-date with new facilities everywhere.  Other than the falls and a few nature trails and a lake for swimming, there’s not much to it as far as entertainment. Just quiet and solitude.  My kind of place.

From there I traveled back east along I-10 to Mariana, Florida and Florida Caverns State Park.  I used to exit I-10 at Mariana when I would return to Mississippi and pass the park every time.  I’d always wanted to see the place but was in too big of a hurry to stop.  I’m glad I did this trip.  I had an hour to wait for the tour and so quickly walked a trail near the cave.

Apparently, wildflowers did not receive the memo on global warming.  Carolina jasmine was blooming.  This is a Fall plant. You could always see it after the trees lost their leaves.

Trillium and rue anemone, both Spring flowers, were either in bloom or about to do so.

I added to my “never seen but heard of” plant list with Allegheny Spurge.  My major professor thought this plant should be within my collection area and I knew he would be disappointed if I did not collect it in Tishomingo State Park where I did my thesis work.  I never did.  The damn stuff was growing like a weed in Caverns State Park!

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Most of the caverns were prepared for public viewing by the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) back in the 30’s. I was told it is the only cavern system in Florida you can tour. The others are mostly under water and even this one flood periodically.

I was surprised at the myriad of formations and the pristine condition of the cave. We had a guide and guide-in-training, so we got some interesting perspectives from each.

We did see one inhabitant of the cave.

Both of these parks are well worth a visit so put them on your Florida bucket list.

One other aside. There was a guy on the tour that looked exactly like my friend Chris – in height, hair color (and amount) and even the way he stood and the mannerisms. I spoke to him briefly and he and his wife were from Canada (Chris originally from England). A true Doppleganger.

For the past two mornings, we’ve been socked in by fog. One of the park volunteers told me he had been working here six months and had never seen it like it has been.  I have to admit, the fog has been nice.  It kept the temperature down and it would condense on the tree branches and drip softly on the tent all night long. It was very soothing and peaceful.

It is predicted to rain all night and all day tomorrow, so I’ll be packing up a wet tent for the trip back.  I don’t mind since I need to clean the inside anyway and will need to air it out when I return.

From the dripping of fog condensate to rain on the tent, it has made for excellent sleeping weather!