Travels with Fred – Page 91 – Just another blog.

Bahia Honda – Day 4

2 June 2017

On the way to Key West yesterday, just outside of town, I saw a sign for the Key West Botanical Garden. I’ve been coming to Key West since 1983 and either I have not paid attention to it or I did and it slipped my memory. In any case, on my way back to Bahia Honda, I decided to stop in. I was taken by surprise by the facility and grounds.

It could be a little better maintained and marked, but you must realize this is not a manicured botanical garden – it’s what the keys used to look like. It is a surprisingly large garden with primarily native plants, particularly those endemic to Key West and the Caribbean. The volunteer behind the desk was very chatty and helpful and was very proud of what Key West accomplished.

The garden is an outgrowth of efforts by the Key West Garden Club of 1934. At the time, Key West was suffering from recent hurricanes and the Great Depression. In desperation, the city turned itself over to the state and the state director of the Federal Emergency Relief Administration visited the city and determined it had great potential as a tourist destination.
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The garden club took this idea and applied for federal funding and was awarded enough money to purchase 55 acres. Over the years, this was whittled down for state and national priorities. However, it still occupies a significant piece of real estate. It is currently known as the Key West Tropical Forest and Botanical Garden. It also has several butterfly gardens. If you are in town, this is a must see. It is classified as the only frost-free tropical forest within the continental United States.

As you might guess, my last night I had to ask someone to turn their music down. It was a family of campers and they had backed their pickup truck into the campsite, opened all four doors and was blasting music from the truck. I think they thought they were the only ones to hear the music, but I was five campsites down and it was too loud where I was. I met a woman and child from New Orleans who asked me if it was legal for them to play music that loud. I replied quiet hours start at 11 pm (unusual – most parks say 10 pm) and left it at that. Finally, around 9:30 pm I decided I didn’t pay camping fees to listen to someone else’s music. I walked down, asked them to lower the volume and he agreed. However, someone else must have said something after I left because they eventually turned it off. It wasn’t the park rangers. They drove right by his site and never stopped.

I always check the weather whenever I camp, usually every few hours of so. The weather report for the area would say rain, no rain, rain, no rain. They couldn’t make up their mind. In any case, I prepared for rainfall. It was a good thing I did. About 6:30 am the bottom fell out of the clouds with blowing rain – enough that the tent was vibrating. This is the second torrential downpour I’ve been in with the new tent and everything was perfectly dry. Unfortunately, rain was to continue throughout the day, so I packed a wet tent. I’ll need to pitch the tent tomorrow in the yard (more rain predicted) and either wait for a rainstorm or hose it down to get the salt off the outside. Once that it done, hopefully the rain will let up and let me air dry the tent. Otherwise, it’s into the dryer for an air cycle.

Bahia Honda – Key West – Day 3

1 June 2017

Last night was dinner at Herbie’s in Marathon Key. Herbie’s, in one form or another has been in business since 1940 and has always been a go to restaurant for me in the Keys. They even will prepare your own catch. Since I was fishless, I let them fix me a deep fried whole snapper. Delish!

Before I made it to Herbie’s, I did a little touring of Big Pine Key and No Name Key, just south of Marathon. My first stop was Frederick C. Man I’ll, Jr. nature trail, a very short walk through some pine lands. Next was Blue Hole nature trail, another short walk to a freshwater pond on the key.

Then it was a trip down memory lane to No Name Key, past No Nam Pub (a great bar and restaurant) to visit the area a good friend had an off-the-grid weekend home. I stayed there a couple of times. I didn’t go to the house since they no longer have the place but I did get to see a Keys deer that apparently escaped the screw worm infestation.

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For a change, someone else’s car alarm woke everyone this morning. I showered and headed to Key West, 36 miles away. I have good luck finding a parking space on Fleming Street and so it was his time. I unmounted the bike from the rack and began my tour.

First stop was the Key West Cemetery, one of my favorite places. My favorite epitaph is found here: “I told you I was sick.” I then pedaled Duval, the Truman Annex, Southern Most Point and back to Simonton where I had lunch at Sarabeth’s.

I’ll probably park the bike this afternoon and do some walking. Hopefully, I last until dinner time here in Key West and head back to Bahia Honda afterwards. Tomorrow morning I pack up and head home.

Bahia Honda has been a blast. I’ll post some photos later on Facebook and my web site after I return.

Bahia Honda – Day 2

31 May, 2017

It was an interesting night. The bed was comfortable, the breeze was blowing, but I wasn’t used to the heat, even with the portable fan. As a kid, without air, I remember the term “prickly heat”. I now remember what it was like, particularly in the armpits and groin area. Then, I remembered what the solution was – talcum powder. When I think of my grandmother, I still think of that smell. I just so happened to have some baby powder in my kit. Problem solved!

One set of campers next to me came in early – around 8:30 pm – and went to bed around 10, but the ones on the other side came in around midnight. However, both sets tried to be as quiet as they could which I appreciated.

Later, the wind picked up and started flapping the tent fly that I had rolled back to allow ventilation. I thought I could sleep through it, but around 2 am I got up and tucked it in. I had dozed a little before that but after that, I slept pretty soundly.

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I started the morning with a bike ride to the Nature trail at the end of the park. It’s a very nice trail with everything well marked. I was busy taking plant photos the entire walk.

From there, I headed to the bridge at the other end of the park. You can walk to the top of the bridge where cars used to cross Bahia Honda channel. It is very narrow and you think how could two cars fit on this bridge? Before the terrible 1935 Labor Day hurricane that destroyed Flagler’s railroad to Key West, trains crossed on the bottom part of the trestle. Afterwards, the upper part of the trestle opened in 1938 for autos. The top is very scary to drive. Later, the bridge was superseded by a new bridge to the west of it.

After viewing the bridge, I toured the very small nature center and had lunch at the much larger concession stand. Tonight, I head in to “town” for some seafood.

Bahia Honda State Park – Day 1

30 May 2017

No signal strength so posts will be delayed until I can access wifi at the concession stand.

I spent yesterday gathering camping equipment and today packing it in the jeep. I managed to leave the house around 12:30 pm and had a leisurely drive down highway 1 to the Keys. No matter how many times I make the trip, it still amazes. It’s also fun to see what is new along the way and what has stayed the same. Ominously, Key Largo and several other keys have massive developments going in. At least they are building them for hurricanes and flooding. All were concrete block and elevated one story.

I pulled into Bahia Honda State Park a little after 3 pm and registered with the ranger. I’m facing the Atlantic in Sandspur campground (yes, there is some sandspur around) in site #50. I highly recommend the site. It is totally shaded with gumbo limbo and you get a sea breeze. Even the ranger commented he thought it was a good site.

I guess I’m a little rusty setting up the Kingdom 8 tent. I spent the first 15 minutes trying to set up the fly before I realized it was not the tent. Once I corrected that, it went up pretty quickly. Again, I have the port-a-potty at the ready in the tent and the queen size air mattress for my sleeping comfort – I hope. I’ve peeled the fly back from the sleeping area to increase the breeze. Hopefully there will be no rain or I’ll have to get up and pull it back over the tent tonight.
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I also brought my battery powered fan in case it is too warm tonight. All the comforts of home, minus air conditioning. Just wait until I get my airstream.

After downing 2 bottles of water and resting, I got on the bike and cycled the roads of the park, visiting the other two campgrounds (the park has 80 campsites and 6 cabins). The Atlantic side is the best, in my opinion. The Florida Bay side gets the afternoon sun and you can tell it was hotter on that side. However, most of the campsites are shaded. The distance around the park is 5 miles. If you come to Bahia Honda, be sure to bring a bike. Getting to the concession or the old bridge, or even the nature trail is quite a hike.

Dinner tonight is red beans and rice, thanks to Reed Bilbray and his recommend Cajun seasoning and brand of red beans. I made a large pot yesterday and simply warmed it up in the Coleman oven.

Tomorrow I want to hike to the top of the bridge, do the nature trail and eventually treat myself to some seafood at a local restaurant.

Manatee Springs Day 3

22 March 2016

For some reason, I woke at 5 am this morning and by 5:30, knew it was best to get up and put the coffee on. Breakfast was hot biscuits with strawberry jam and butter.

My goal for the day was to ride another segment of the Nature Coast Trail. This is a nine mile segment to Fanning Springs and, to be honest, I wasn’t sure I could do it.

The biggest problem was finding the old depot which is the trailhead. I Googled it and found no real address but did find a map that pinpointed it somewhere along SW 4th Avenue. The problem was it didn’t give any intersection. After about 30 minutes, I found the depot was now the chamber of commerce. I parked, sought out a restroom to keep from having to make pit stops where there were none. One review about the trailhead was the restrooms were iffy. That was a generous review. It was pretty filthy. The good news, upon my return, someone had cleaned it.

If you have read my blogs, you know one of my truisms about hiking – just when you think it can’t be any more up hill, there is. I propose a new truism for biking. In whatever direction you are going, there will be a head wind.

On the trip to Fanning Springs I was pedaling against a head wind. I was looking forward to a tailwind on the return. No such luck. The wind shifted 180.

The trip to Fanning Springs took 54 minutes with numerous stops for wildflower photography and one rest stop. I managed to average 10 mph on the outward bound segment. The return trip was faster because I had photographed everything I wanted on the outward bound portion. In all, the distance was 18.2 miles through mostly canopied trail. Best of all, it was overcast and about 72F for most of the round trip.

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It was just after 11:30 am when I made it back to the trailhead and I decided to check off another state park by visiting Rainbow Springs near Dunnellon. There are three sections to the park: a campground separate from the original tourist part and a tubing entrance.

The tubing entrance was closed so I headed to the main park area which was at one time a privately owned tourist “trap”. It was sold to Florida in 1990. To be honest, it didn’t do much for me with the tourist kitsch still obvious. Most of the grounds are tended by a local volunteer group and all the waterfalls were constructed for the tourists. It’s about an hour drive from Chiefland. At least I can check it off my list.

One thing that has made an impression on me is how many snow birds come down and stay in RV parks, state parks and campgrounds. One couple I met next to me was from Ontario and they had been in various campgrounds in Florida for the entire winter. They had an rv, were retired, and move from location to location. That’s why almost all these places have a duration limit for camping. Otherwise, they would stay in one location for the winter and no one else would get to use e camping sites.

Tomorrow, I pack up and return to Fort Lauderdale.

Manatee Springs Day 2

21 March 2017

It was a cool night, as in 47F. It’s a good thing I brought my down bag. I needed it last night. The new mattress works great and I got plenty of sleep last night, a rarity for a first night out.

It was bacon and eggs for breakfast with percolated coffee and then off to do some trails. On the beginning of the Scenic Trail, I ran into a doe and her fawn. She very politely held a pose for me and then they were off.

My first bit of trouble was the way the park marked their trails. The first trail marker did not indicate any of the named trails on the map, simply pointed the direction to the youth camp and ranger station. The ranger station looked farther on the map so I chose that trail. It was a lucky guess. It did lead to the trailhead for the Scenic Trail.

The second problem came with the next split: Scenic Trail and Loop Trail. The signs looked exactly opposite from the perceived direction. I opted for the Scenic Trail and later found myself on the Loop Trail. Muttering under my breath about a stop at the ranger station, the Loop Trail did feed me back into the Scenic Trail.

The next spit was the Clay Trail. It finally dawned on me these are not the usual trail markers but akin to street signs like you see at intersections. I have no idea why they did them that way but once I figured out their system, I was OK.

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The map showed a branch road leading off Clay. I assumed, incorrectly, it would lead to the river. It simply dead ended 0.4 miles down the trail. Note to self – no more branch trails without a description of the end of the trail.

The Clay led into the Fence Trail which led into the Shacklefoot Trail, which on the map seemed to show a view of Shacklefoot Lake. It turns out that Shacklefoot Lake is a temporary lake visible only during river flooding and the rainy season.

Shacklefoot led to the beginning of the Scenic Trail and thus a return to the springs. In all, it was a little over seven miles. Most of the trail was unpaved roadbed. Along the way, I ended up picking up trash others left, including a tin can which cut my right hand and a brand new tennis ball???? Luckily, as a former Boy Scout, I was prepared with my first aid kit in my daypack. As the day wore on, it got pretty warm, but it was easy hiking.

I was warm enough that 72F water of the springs looked enticing and so I changed and went swimming. A couple of families were obsessing over some snakes they saw. One pair were water snakes, but two of the others were cottonmouths. However, they were probably so stunned from the forty degree weather, they were just trying to warm up.

After the swim, I headed to the Walmart at Chiefland to buy batteries. From there I drove to Cedar Key and drove around the town.

In 1993, Cedar Key was voted best small community in the US. It is no longer small. It reminds me of Key West just before gentrification completely took over. It has several quaint hotels and motels, a bar every 30 feet, and water everywhere. It would definitely be worth spending a week on the island in one of the historic hotels and getting better acquainted with the place.

Tonight, I am warming in the oven some homemade Jambalaya I made. The temperature is scheduled for the low 50’s.

Manatee Springs Day 1

20 March 2017

Today I returned to Manatee Springs with the intent to hike some of their trails, complete another segment of the Nature Coast State Trail by bike, and to visit Cedar Key.

I left the house just before 10 am and arrived after 6 pm. The reason for the eight hour drive was I drove State abroad 27 until Winwood and then cut across the state by heading west. The speed limit for most of the trip was 65 mph so that was good (turnpike is 70). The problem was all the small towns where you slowed to 35. However, the drive was infinitely more entertaining than the turnpike.

In particular, the town of Inverness and Dunnellon were really nice. Some day I would like to come back and explore them a little more. They had the classical Main Street with old brick buildings with definite character.

On the way through Lake Placid, I kept an eye out for the infamous caracara. When I first heard this mentioned years ago, I thought someone had invented the name and was playing a trick as in snipe hunting. Later I found out it is a real bird and an exceptional predator. It is a very large bird and very distinctive. You may be wondering why I don’t include a photo.

It’s like this. If I have a camera at the ready in the car, I never see one. If I don’t have a camera ready, they are usually on every other fence post. I had the camera ready this trip, hence the lack of the photo.

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I have become adept at putting up the tent and garage attachment but I did have trouble with my new queen size air mattress. I finally got the thing figured out and I look forward to an excellent night of sleep – if I can get the damn deer to quick roaming the woods behind my tent.

Like all trips, I forgot something. This time it was the batteries for the lanterns. I’ll stop in Chiefland tomorrow and pick up 8 A batteries and 2 AAA. Otherwise, things have gone fairly smoothly.

Tonight, I used a Coleman oven on my Coleman stove to make a hobo dinner using an aluminum foil packet for hamburger meat, potatoes, carrots, and onions, all seasoned with chipotle pepper and rosemary. It turned out perfect and soon disappeared.

Daffodils – Day 3 – Tulullah Falls

7 March 2017

The daffodil excursion is found in the previous blog, so scroll down for it. Thanks to James Holloway, a colleague from Broward College, for suggesting I take a drive to Tulullah Falls, about a two hour drive from the gardens.

Talk about nostalgia! The gps took me through back country roads similar to what I knew as a kid and some of the houses along the way even looked familiar even though I was new to this area.

I pulled into the park around two and got a map for the north and south rim trails, a three mile loop that takes you down to the bottom of the gorge and then across and up the other side. The gorge can drop over nine hundred feet in places from the rim.

The trail on the north rim begins at the interpretive center and your first overlook is of L’eau d’Or Falls and Hawthorne Pool.

From there you walk down 531 steps to the swinging bridge over the gorge.

You are now on the south rim trail and you descend more stairs for a view of Tempesta Falls.

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You return to the swinging bridge and climb more stairs to the top of south rim.

If you head east, you can get a view of Hurricane Falls and a glimpse of Oceana Falls.

You then retrace your steps and cross back over to the north rim across the dam over the river and back to the interpretive center.

In all, you manage 1,099 steps of which 568 were up from the bottom of the gorge to the top of the north rim. Interestingly, the park ranger rated this as “difficult” while the ranger at Amicolola Falls rated their 600 plus as “strenuous”.

This was a wonderful hike. I returned about 3:30 pm and headed back to Jasper. I had dinner at an Asian restaurant and guess what my fortune cookie said?

Daffodils – Day 3 – Gibbs Gardens

7 March 2017

Wow! What a day. It first started with daffodils and ended with water falls.

Gibbs Gardens are located near Ball Ground, Georgia and were established in the 1980’s by Jim Gibbs, a nurseryman from Atlanta. It is a 300 acre estate/garden with 50 acres of daffodils with over 20 million bulbs and over 100 varieties.

The gates had not opened and therefore I was first in line. I had a ticket for the tram at 10 am and an hour to kill, so I started walking and followed the signs to daffodils. Once you got to “Daffodil Hill”, they were everywhere!

Daffodils belong to the genus Narcissus and they are also called jonquils. As a kid, I knew them as daffodils, jonquils, and by a couple of variety names as yellow jonquil, butter and eggs, and paper whites.

Some think they were named from the Greek legend of Narcissus but no one knows for sure since Narcissus has many connotations.

This was a trip down memory lane for me. What was in bloom in the gardens was exactly what I remember blooming in both my grandmother’s yards: daffodils, yellow bells, bridal wreath, and flowering quince. Today yellow bells are more commonly know as Forsythia and bridal wreath is known as Spirea.

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What originally attracted me to daffodils as a kid were their aroma. Some had no smell at all but others could overpower you with their scent. The ones I smelled on the trails were not terribly strong but it could be age has affected my olfactory perception. However, as I walked through parts of the garden it became quite heady.

In addition to daffodils, they have a Manor House which I assume Jim Gibbs lives in part of the year.

They also have a Japanese garden but it was not in bloom this early.

However, in a previous blog I wrote about Pachysandra, or Allegheny Spurge. I had never seen it before. This time I got to see it in bloom! We botanists take our joy where we can get it.

I’ve posted a video of the garden on Facebook so you can get a better concept of the gardens.

After leaving the gardens, I headed for Tulullah Falls. See the next blog.

Daffodils – Day 2 – Amicolola Falls

6 March 2017

OK, my sciatica is bothering me but less than usual on these long drives. I discovered a new use for heated seats. It seemed to take some of the pain away or at least mitigated it.

In any case, I was getting into Jasper, Ga too early for my Microtel reservation. When I started panning this trip, I looked for something other than Gibbs Gardens to do. Bless TripAdvisor. They suggested Amicolola Falls State Park and the trail to the falls, the tallest waterfall in Georgia at 729 feet.

Instead of heading to Jasper, I detoured off the interstate to Dawsonville. I loved traveling the back roads even though the speed limit was mostly 45 mph because of the mountainous terrain and “S” curves.

Welcome Center at Amicolola Falls State Park.

I pulled into the park about 2 pm and paid my $5 admission. I asked the ranger about the trail. It depends on which web site you go to, but there is some confusion about the distance and even when you check maps, most are not to scale and you cannot determine the distance. She said it was a 2 mile rounnd trip hike and warned me it was strenuous.

The trail up to the falls is approximately one mile and is along a mostly paved trail, well marked with blazes and signs which then turns into a series of stairs to the top.

Your first stop is the reflecting pool at the base of the falls.

Reflecting Pool from the base of the falls.

The stairs and trail were made from labor of Georgia convicts with the approval of the state park service and the Department of Corrections. All I can say is thank you to those who built this amazing set of stairs. The longest section is 435 stairs but all total, they exceed 600 steps. Conveniently, every so often, there is a landing with overlooks of the falls and benches to rest.

Everyone I met on the trail told me how strenuous the climb was, and I began to have misgivings. However, I managed just fine. I’ve learned to control my pace and breathing on climbs. I still feel the Appalachian mountains are tougher than the Sierra Nevadas, the Rockies, and anything I climbed out west.

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The falls were pretty spectacular and I immensely enjoyed the hike to the top. Once at the top, I climbed a little farther to the lodge. This looks like a perfect place to stay. It’s very new and modern but fits in with the scenery.

The view from the back deck was spectacular.

The lodge is the starting point for a connecting trail to Springer Mountain, 8.5 miles away. Springer Mountain is the beginning of the Appalachian Trail and I’ve always wanted to hike on Springer. Another bucket list item!

What happened next was typical Fred. I thought the return trail, according to their map, ran behind the lodge. It showed a connection with an exercise trail. I followed what looked like a disused trail behind the lodge to head back to the jeep. I rationalized that most people probably did not do the loop and simply returned the way they came.

As I got further down the “disused trail” I finally realized it wasn’t the return trail at all. The only bad thing was it dropped rapidly in elevation from the lodge, so I now had to hike back up and find the return trail.

I returned to the overlook at the top of the falls and finally saw a sign you would only see coming back down from the lodge for the East Ridge Trail. On their map, it shows the falls trail is marked in blue blazes and the East Ridge Trail marked in brown. There were no blazes anywhere along the length of the trail, but it was certainly worn with use.

I met several people on their way up to the falls on the return trail. I would not recommend it. Take the stairs up and the East Ridge Trail down. The East Ridge Trail is steep and rocky and only the bottom 1/3 has switchbacks. That said, one young lady jogged up past me, reached the top and then jogged past me on the way down.

At 4:30 I made it back to the jeep, tired but thoroughly satisfied.