The dawned cold! It was 59 F when I got out of the sleeping bag this morning. My bag is rated to 50 F as a comfort temperature but during the night I put on a pair of socks and a jacket. I dozed a little here and there between a visiting raccoon and the erudition of a few teenagers who saw the raccoon which then followed them for a handout. It’s good to know teenagers have mastered the use of the f**k word since they used it about 60 times in 60 minutes. The raccoon obviously has a pattern of visiting all the campsites looking for food. Eventually he and the teenagers went to bed and I got some sleep.
It was approximately a 7 1/2 hour drive with stops to Franklin D. Roosevelt State Park near Pine Mountain, GA. I phoned ahead in case the office was closed but made it around 4:15 pm. I checked in and went to the cabin.
Main office and welcome center of Franklin D. Roosevelt State Park.
The cabin is magnificent! It was built by the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) in the 1930’s and has been restored. I have a massive stone fireplace in the bedroom and the kitchen.
My humble abode for two nights.
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My porch overlooks the valley below. After this posting, I plan to have a glass of wine and watch the sun set.
View from my balcony.
My Dad was in the CCC and got the word he had been selected when as he was plowing 30 acres of bottomland in Pulaski, Ms. He said it saved him. They trained him as a cook until they realized he could play basketball and then put him on a team that traveled throughout the southeastern U.S.
Dad, second row, far right on the steps of the Parthenon in Nashville during basketball CCC days.Statue honoring CCC workers.
Tomorrow, I intend to do the Little White House tour in Warm Springs and then a day hike along some of the trails. FDR’s favorite place was Dowdell Knob and the trail is a 4.3 mile loop so I may do that. Supposedly the grill he used is at the site and there’s a statue of him at the overlook.
I’m trying to get fit for the cross country trip this fall. I’ve picked up the pace with my morning walk, added 20 minutes to my swim time and have a trip planned to hike the Deep Creek Trail/Martin’s Gap Trail/Indian Creek Trail in the Great Smoky Mountains in May.
I’ve hiked a portion of the Deep Creek Trail. Actually, I’ve hiked a portion of several trails in the Smokies but have never completed most. The first time, Crag Knox and I tried to lug a 55 lb pack up Shuckstack Trail to Sassafras Gap. That never came to completion (and we were a lot younger then).
Next was Deep Creek. Charlie Cooper (who passed away this week) and I hiked to a point and then came down. We made our own loop.
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In all of these, I was 40 years younger and in much better shape. I think you can see I’m a little worried about how I’ll do out west with peaks in the 7,000 to 9,000 foot range. The highest point in the Smokies is Clingman’s dome at 6,643 feet.
I’ve decided to be proactive. Today, I loaded up the pack (as I would have packed for the Smokies trip with 40 lbs of gear and water). I then drove to the parking garage at the main library in downtown Fort Lauderdale and hiked up the five stories of the garage (14 flights of stair with 8 stairs per flight) 3 times. I intend to do this as often as I can before the Smokies trip. I probably should have started a little earlier but better late than never.
One great tip I learned from my Bugaboos adventure was how to step in high elevation when you are not used to the altitude. Take baby steps and as you place your foot, shift your weight forward and push up with your knee. This mitigates the stress you would put on your hips and your back and allows you to breathe a more normal rate. It works. I used it on the stairs today and was able to do more than I thought.
It must have been at least 30 years ago I first visited Bok Tower and Gardens, probably during a trip to Mississippi to see my parents. I remember you could drive right to the gardens and walk a short distance to the tower. The gardens were nice but not terribly extensive. In 30 years, things have changed!
First, part of the tower has been renovated and it certainly looks better on the outside these days. I don’t remember being as impressed with it the first time. Second, the gardens are far more extensive and well maintained. They have provided numerous trails through the gardens and have added an old home to their control. There are at least three new buildings on the site. One is the welcome center, another is the garden shop and another is the cafe. They were busily installing a new children’s garden on this visit.
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On my first visit, I only heard the hour struck. Fortuitously, this visit I heard the concert on the carillon at 3 pm by Geert D’hollander, the tower’s fourth full time carillonneur. The tower has 60 bronze bells with the smallest weighing in at 16 lbs. and the largest over 11 tons. Overall the tower supports over 63 tons of bronze.
Grounds of Bok Tower Gardens
You can go into the Founder’s room on the ground floor (available four times a year) if you are a sustainer or above and Tower Club members can access the carillonneur’s studio and keyboard room and bell room. I’m none of those so I enjoyed the outside view.
The tower contains the Founder’s room, above it the Chao Research Center (archive), above that the maintenance workshop, above that the Anton Brees Carillon Library, above that the Carillonneur’s studio, above that the keyboard room and at the very top, the bells.
Many years ago, Al Will, professor of botany on Central Campus of Broward College, introduced me to Archbold Biological Station near Lake Placid, Florida. It got to where I took students twice a year for field trips for many years. The staff and researchers were always very accommodating and they had a library my students flocked to for their research papers. You could stay overnight either in their dormitory or cabins and they also had breakfast, lunch and dinner available for a nominal price – one that students and professors could afford.
Archbold Biological Station
The station was founded by Richard Archbold who came into possession through John A. Roebling II, grandson of the designer and builder of the Brooklyn Bridge. Roebling wanted to construct his wife a home on the grounds of the original 1000 acres but she died before construction began. In order to build the home, he previously constructed the warehouses to hold the materials. Roebling was concerned about hurricanes so he built the warehouse to withstand anything mother nature could throw at it. I think the walls are 12 inches of reinforced concrete. It’s the original warehouse that served as Richard Archbold’s research base.
Archbold Biological Station
Archbold was what most explorers wish they could be – independently wealthy – so he could fund, quite lavishly, his explorations. He ran the research station from 1941 until his death in 1976. The research station is now run by a board and has a full complement of research scientists, either in residence on the station or nearby.
Students loved the place almost as much as I did. It has been about 15 years since I was last at the station and much has changed. They have several new buildings (a welcome center and a new dormitory) and have revamped most of the trails. I walked the newly revamped nature trail and did some of my photography of plants native to the Lake Wales Ridge. Several parts of the trail had been recently exposed to controlled burning to renew the native vegetation (Archbold has its own 1940’s era fire truck that I assume is still used during the controlled burning). free samples viagra For a few individuals, back agony can profit or hang for the long time that prompts a lessening in personal satisfaction or even trigger permanent incapacity. A person experiences lots of panic and anxiety viagra 50 mg during abortion. It has generic cialis no rx been the most popular drug solution ever to treat male impotence. How smoking cause low sperm count? Smokers are more likely to experience sexual side effects. http://amerikabulteni.com/2011/10/05/cumhuriyetcilerin-umudu-new-jersey-valisi-2012-icin-noktayi-koydu-%E2%80%98%E2%80%99no%E2%80%99%E2%80%99/ levitra online sales 1940’s era firetruck used in controlled burns at Archbold.
I was especially delighted to see in bloom some species that I generally didn’t get to see during my field trips to the station because of the difference in seasons.
Asimina obovata (Scrub Pawpaw) Produces a banana-like fruit from the flower often eaten by gopher tortoises and bears.Opuntia humifusa (Raf.) Raf. – Pricklypear Cactus
The research station is noted for its studies on Florida scrub jays. They thrive in the scrub oak communities on the Lake Wales Ridge. Unlike a lot of birds, these mate for life and actually live in communities of extended families – sisters, brothers, cousins, etc. They have no fear of humans and it is not uncommon to be walking the trails and one land on you to see what you are up to. Alas, it was breeding season and several areas I use to go were off limits. I didn’t see any this trip.
All day visitors are welcome. Simply sign in at the welcome center or the main office. It’s worth the trip!
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.
Bring a pen and a pencil (and while you’re at it, some paper). You’ll eventually need it.
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.
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.
Breakfast would be better done using something to simply boil, such as oatmeal or cereal. The simpler the better.
Starbucks makes some pretty good instant coffee packets.
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.
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!
Caution!
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.
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.
You can never carry enough water. You’ll always need more. Always take advantage of any you find.
Bear bells are not loud enough.
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The road to nowwhere.
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.
Polygala nana (low batchelors’ buttons)
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.
DeLeon Springs
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.
Dodging the manatees.
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.
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.
The flight home was uneventful. We even managed to touch down in Fort Lauderdale 20 minutes early and I was home by 3:00 pm. I jumped in the shower and changed to shorts. From 40ºF to 81ºF was quite a change. Fortunately, the humidity wasn’t too bad.
Jim and Holley stopped by at 4 pm and we went over to Southport Raw Bar for happy hour. A pitcher of beer, peel ‘n eat shrimp, a dozen raw oysters, conch fritters, Bahama bread and fish dip later, we were stuffed. I even let them have some. Holley treated me to a welcome back happy hour!
I slept 12 hours last night. It’s been years since I did that. Today, I grocery shopped and had a ton of laundry to do. I also worked on some of my photos.
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Thanks for following my blog! I have another trip at the end of April and will write about that.
The Residence Inn in Louisville is really nice. They do a full breakfast which is included in the price and make sure to come clean your room.
The day started at 9:00 am when we piled into the non-jeep rental and headed for Estes Park, Colorado. We had reserved snowshoes and ski poles at Estes Park Mountain Sport. They had them ready. This place is amazing. If it has to do with the outdoors, they pretty much have it. The rental fee for the poles and snowshoes were approximately $8 each. You really can’t beat that.
It was around 10 am when we left the store and headed into the downtown area. We needed to be at Bear Lake at 12:15 pm to begin our Eco-tour and snowshoeing. We stopped at the Egg and I (those from Fort Laudernale know of the Egg and You) and had a light brunch to carry us over until dinner.
We entered the park and as Michel and I had previously bought the senior pass for $10 we breezed through. The pass is good for a lifetime and allows up to four people free entrance. As far as I know this is the best deal ever in the entire United States. If you are over 65, get one. It’s worth it.
As we began our ascent to Bear Lake for the rendezvous with our park ranger/guide, we started with clean roadway and then progressed to a little snow on the road to the point the road was covered in snow. I quickly inserted the four wheel drive/snow conditions and we made it safely to the trail head. The ranger, Cynthia was there to greet us.
Prior to that, we struggled with snow boots, snow pants, foot warmers, jackets, goggles, and mittens. It’s quite a work out just donning the gear. As it turned out, it was all completely necessary! The air temperature was 17F and with the the wind, the wind chill factor was 10F.
Guess who?
The hardest part is putting on the snow shoes. Think of bending at the waist with long johns, insulated pants, snow pants, and a parka. After about 15 minutes we were ready to go but Michel had mistakenly taken a young girls ski poles instead of her own. It was eventually straightened out and off we went.
Getting Ready
The next 10 minutes was hell. Remember, I hiked the Bugaboos in August at over 7,000 feet elevation. We all thought we were going to die. We were at 9,475 feet and that extra 1500-2000 feet made a big difference. We three all immediately re-analyzed whether we could do the two hour hike.
Fortunately, we finally found a comfortable pace and finished the hike. We had some excellent instruction from Cynthia, the park ranger and how to recover from a fall. (You fall like a turtle because of the pack on your back, backwards and have to roll to your stomach like a whale and then regain your footing.)
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The best part about Cynthia was she knew when to take breaks and allow people to recover from their exertions! She then led us to an area of pristine snow (it had snowed 10 inches the night before) and had us experience the difficulty of breaking a new trail in deep snow.
Eventually, we made it to Bear Lake. The wind was howling and we got to walk across the surface of a fairly large lake, breaking trail.
Bear Lake
We then began a climb to Nymph Lake in a snow storm. About 1/4 of the way up one of the women announced she felt dizzy. It turns out she was 6 months pregnant. She eventually collapses in spite of Cynthia’s ministrations and a volunteer with Cynthia took her back to the parking lot. Later, we found out she was fine.
We then continued our ascent to Nymph Lake. It was a 160 foot climb so our eventual elevations was 9,635 feet. About halfway up the trail, the wind rose and we were all blanketed in a complete white-out of snow blowing from the trees. That was a tremendous feeling.
Trail from Nymph Lake, elevation 9635 feet
If you go to various web sites on Bear Lake, they will tell you the hike is easy. This was not that hike, because (1) we were in snow (2) we climbed in elevation instead of walking around the lake and (3) because of the wind chill factor. This definitely put the hike in the moderate range for experienced hikers but difficult for us flatlanders.
The scenery was spectacular, the sun came out and it snowed at the same time! This was one of those lifetime experiences! We returned and put away our gear and warmed up on the trip to the visitors center. We had our National Park Passports stamped and one more National Park was notched.
The park ranger at the visitor’s center recommended a more scenic drive on our return to Estes Park and he was 100% correct. The views were outstanding. While standing there a young lady from Texas wanted to go to Bear Lake but was overly concerned about driving in snow even though she had a four wheel drive vehicle. We convinced her she had nothing to fear after we told her we were from Florida and made it just fine. I didn’t volunteer we all had experience driving in snow over the years.
I think I’ve decided to purchase a pair of snowshoes. I really love doing this. It brought out the best in we three and gave us a tremendous sense of satisfaction that we were able to do this at our age.
This has been a recovery day. Too little sleep takes a toll. I hate to admit I ate a Gold Rush breakfast in the Gold Pan Saloon this morning: two eggs, hash browns, bacon AND sausage with two pancakes. I was able to wolf most of it down.
Although we had scheduled a third night of Aurora viewing, we three agreed we were done in. The forecast for Aurora activity was low even though the skies were clear. You can actually check the activity online every day through several sites. You can check the Geophysical Institute at the University of Alaska, Fairbanks at http://www.gi.alaska.edu/AuroraForecast. You can also check the Canadian Space Agency (who knew) at http://www.asc-csa.gc.ca/eng/astronomy/auroramax/hd-480.asp. We figured with three nights of viewing, we could get one night guaranteed. It turned out to be our first night.
We returned to the steak house for dinner and I had their special pizza. The small pizza was an impressive amount of toppings. I immediately lost a cap on my front incisor with the first bite. Fortunately I didn’t swallow it. Call me snaggle tooth. I’ll get it re-installed when I return home. Wonder what security will think when they x-ray my carry-on and see a tooth in there?
We flew out at 8:30 am for Vancouver with a four hour layover to Denver. The next two nights will be just outside of Denver in Louisville where we hope to explore Rocky Mountain National Park, where by the way, they have a travel advisory for 5+ inches of snow, ground blizzards and 8F temperatures. Denver, by comparison, will be a balmy 53F. The difference a little elevation makes!
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It took longer to get through American customs than it did Canadian customs. The good news is that with the chip in your passport, you can “declare” pretty easily at a self check in machine and then with the Global Entry, make it through faster. Global Entry is the way to go.
We landed safely in Denver (my second visit to the airport but none to the city) and got our rental car for tomorrow. We head out around 9 am to Estes Park Mountain Sports to rent snowshoes and then to Bear Lake for a ranger led snowshoeing trek. We’re dressing for extremely cold temperatures.
One irritant was we made a specific request, confirmed for a four wheel drive Jeep Grand Cherokee so I would feel at home driving it. We got to Thrifty and the guarantee was not there. We are in a four wheel drive Ford Expedition and, dangerously, the controls, gauges, etc. are opposite the jeep.
Our reservations in Louisville are at a Residence Inn. This is my first time staying in one and I am impressed. I related the yapping dog story to the clerk and he checked to make sure there were no dogs in the room next to mine!
