CONTEST: A couple of hikes this weekend 2-13-2010

HUNGRYLAND SLOUGH NATURAL AREA

Well, I did it again! I went hiking this weekend, but I did mostly easy hikes. I started my first hike at Hungryland Slough Natural Area. It’s a 2,896 acres piece of land that was bought by ERM to protect a wildlife corridor and to ensure preservation of the portions of the Hungryland slough with its associated wet prairies, depression marshes, and cypress strands and domes. There is a ton of water out there right now. It was a beautiful day for a hike, so I did a small portion of the area. I just wanted to be outside soaking up the fresh air. I ended up running into a kid who told me he wanted to see the "city with roads, but no houses". He also told me he found it on Google Earth and wanted to see the area. We started to talk a little more and asked me if there are bears in the area. I said NO! He saw a huge animal in the water and thought it was a bear. I told him it was most likely a hog looking for food. He said, OH! This whole Google Earth thing is going to get people in trouble. This guy wasn’t prepared at all. He had no water with him and it looked like the first time he ever been out in the woods. I kept thinking to myself “I can’t believe people don’t think before they go out and do something like this”. He could have gotten lost on a day like this (temps upper 40’s, and no GPS or Compass, no water) and been out there at night.

Crazy!

I ended up seeing a couple wood storks, and a bunch of boar skulls that the ERM killed to bring down the population. It’s a very interesting and cool area to see.

DUPUIS WILDLIFE MANAGEMENT AREA

My second small hike was out at Dupuis Wildlife Management Area. I wanted to do this new cache out there. The cache took me to three different spots. Two of them I have been there before, but was still cool to see again. The first spot was at the old governor's hunting lodge. They tore the lodge down a couple of years ago, but left the picnic pavilion. There is a section of the Florida Trail that goes through this area. I ended up finding some very ripe citrus tree along the trail that I didn’t know where there. Very neat! I got a bag out and only took a couple with me. They were very strange, because I never seen these kinds before. They were smaller then tangerines and bigger then cumquats. They tasted like a bitter tangerine, but gave me a nice energy boast. This is what I strive for on the trails. I love seeing natural fruit in plenty while hiking. Usually I run into those old native bitter oranges that the Indians planted around their camps. Those things have a bite to them. WOW! Is what I say when I taste those things. It was a cool find indeed!

Then I was off to my second little hike or leisurely walk or what ever you want to call it.

I ended up finding a very motionless gator on the banks here. I took a couple of pictures even though I have millions of pictures of gators I took in Florida (Florida Native).

This was a nice picnic area with a couple of water ponds around you. Another great place to chill at!

Off to the third spot now. This was a new area I haven’t been to before. It was a new boardwalk to a covered overlook of a cypress dome. I love places like this! I stayed for a little while and took some pictures and soaked up the fresh air. This place sure put me in a good mood. I think I could have stayed there all day. As I was making my way back to the truck I ran into a group of boy scouts who overnight camped in the area. They all had packs on and they looked tired. I said “HI” and I was on my way. Another great weekend of enjoying the trails and Florida.