[at-l] Trip Report

[lparker@cacaphony.net (L. Parker)]

Saturday 21 July, 2001
Torreya State Park, Bristol, Florida

My hiking partner David got a new pair of NB hiking shoes this week and was
just dying to try them out. The solution: a fifteen mile hike on the Torreya
Trail and the Rock Creek Trail in Torreya State Park near Bristol, Florida.
Of course it is then end of July in Florida and his proposal was tantamount
to suicide so of course I agreed to go along. The plan was simple, we would
get there at dawn, do three miles an hour and be done before noon and miss
the heat.

He picked me up at my house at 3:30 am for the two hour drive to Torreya. We
arrived at the Park with the Sun only to find the gate locked tight. Darn,
time for Plan B. The trails form a double loop system with a connecting
crossbar sort of like a pair of eye glasses. We had intended to park at the
picnic area near the crossbar and hike it figure eight from there. Since the
southern end of the west loop crossed right at the gate we decided to just
park outside and do it anyway.

Rain had been threatening all morning and provided a welcome overcast to
drop the scorching ninety degree heat of the previous day to a more
tolerable eighty degree range. Nevertheless within minutes both of us were
soaked with perspiration. We had planned for such an early start with the
intent of being done before noon and the hottest part of the day. To do that
we had to maintain a 3 mile an hour pace through terrain that greatly
resembles the Appalachian Trail. So David led off at a grueling pace.

Only a few steps along the Torreya Trail and David runs into one of the most
prominent inhabitants of the area - the Golden Orb Weaver, known locally as
a Banana Spider. This spider ranges in size from golf ball to softball with
a web that can stop small birds. With a few sputtered imprecations David
clears the web from his face and starts "blessing the trail".

With the blistering pace that David is setting and the constant threat of
spiders I suppose it was inevitable, David steps right over a rattlesnake
without even noticing and climbs on up the hill, since David goes uphill
somewhat more slowly than I do, I had closed the gap between us to only a
step or two and saw the snake with only a few inches to go before stepping
on it. Instant reverse...

David decides that he obviously needs a break from lead since he doesn't
even see snakes in the path, he had already totally missed two turtles in
the middle of the path also. (The spiders are REALLY scary.) So I take over
at the front, which is fine because I was cruising up the hill faster
anyway. A mile or so later David is treated to the sight of me jumping
straight up in the air backwards and landing flat on my pack in the middle
of the trail. A spider the size of a baseball had slipped past my wild
waving of hiking poles and landed right across my nose. Of course the water
bag in the panel pocket took the full force of the impact and blew the end
completely off the hose, spraying both me and the spider with a good portion
of my water. The spider escapes with its life and I escape with only a
shower... David's turn back at the lead!

At 9:00 am we arrive at the end of the Rock Creek Trail back at its juncture
with the Torreya Trail. Three hours and we have covered nine miles, only six
more to go. A short break on the old stone bridge over Rock Creek to dry our
clothing (we are both dripping) and eat a quick snack and we are back on the
trail. The Torreya Trail is older than the Rock Creek Trail and somewhat
more developed, it even has footbridges across most of the streams!
Nevertheless, this section abounds in ups and downs with two or three
challenging climbs waiting for us. We decide to take the lower trail along
the Apalachicola River as neither of us had hiked that way before. We
usually take the side trail up to the Gregory House and eat lunch on the
lawn and then hike down the other side back to the main trail. Not today, we
aren't planning on being here at lunch time!

A few minutes later we begin the climb up out of the Rim Swamp up to the
ridge above, a little farther on we dip down into the Rim Swamp again and
climb out to an even higher ridge. Finally, a third time back down to the
River and then up the ridge and through the crevasse in the limestone to the
top to stay. We both know we are almost there, less than an hour from this
point back to our vehicle and mostly open rolling Pine Savannah recently
control burned, which means no more spiders! So we cruise through the trees
at a good clip arriving back where we began at 11:00 am.

Not a bad way to spend a Saturday morning!

Lee I Joe



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