[at-l] Florida "Backyard" Hike Report

[Bluetrail at aol.com (Bluetrail@aol.com)]

Felix said we oughta post even backyard hike reports, so here goes. I'm blessed with about 10 trailheads no more than 30 minutes of my house: some are FT trailheads, others are Seminole County Natural Lands, and a few are St. John's Water Management District lands.  Winter's short days sometimes make for short (hour long) hikes.

Most recently I hiked from the Barr Street trailhead at the Little Big Econ State Forest, out onto the FT heading toward Oviedo--this trailhead is 7 minutes from my house by car.  Unfortunately, this trailhead is the most used of those close to me; it's a local "party in the woods" hangout.  It's amazing that full six packs aren't too heavy to carry into the woods, but the empties are too heavy to carry out.

Enough ranting.  If you take the trail to the right, you go through a a few big oaks and come out into a bit of an open space.  The Carolina jessamine vine twining in the trees is just beginning to open now.  Lots of the trail will be littered with its little, baby-powder scented, golden trumpets when the blossoms fall.  

The trail turns left and onto an old jeep road for just a little while.  This part can get muddy, but it was dry enough this day.  In about 200 yards, the trail turns left again and crosses a short bridge over an old drainage ditch.  Just past the ditch there's a large clump of wild coffee; its glossy green leaves make a perfect foil for the thick clusters of scarlet berries.

The trail rises a little and here the oak branches are thick with bromeliads, looking a bit dry around the edges this time of year.  Now I'm in real woods--Florida woods:  palmettos, oaks, hickories, and a very large cypress tree off to the left in an old sink hole.  

You can hear the raucous call of pileated woodpeckers from time to time.  After a few gentle ups and downs, the trail comes out on the banks of the Little Big Econ River.  Fish jump and plop back into the black water faster than I can see them, but we sure hear them.  At a point where the river splits into two directions, there's a huge new nest in a dead pine on the opposite shore.  This is the area where I've twice seen bald eagles in the last 6 months; I'm not good at identifying nests so I can't tell if the nest belongs to bald eagles or ospreys.  I keep hoping to catch one of the birds on the nest, but no luck today.  The trail continues along the river bank, palmettos and pines to the right, oaks, hickories and willows on the left.  An ocassional sweetgum is now, in January, colored gold, red and orange.  

This area is where I sometimes see or hear Trim Trimmer, a Vietnam Vet who claims to have lived in these woods for 14 years.  He has a little boat with a motor, and says he's recently added a generator to his frequently moved stealth campsite (I've heard it) which powers his new acquisition--a TV with VCR built-in.  He calls the forest service folks the "green coats."  The Green Coats say they move him off the property from time to time because when he's drinking he's been known to scare people; however, they hate to run him off because he's a great land steward.  He picks up lots of trash and leaves little cardboard signs tacked to the trees:  "Clean up after yourself!  Don't mess up the woods!!!!"
>From personal experience, I know he's great a yoggieing me out of any cashews I have in my fanny pack; he likes cashews a lot.

We turn around after about 30 minutes out from the trailhead, but not before enjoying the clearing where an old road allows access to the river edge.  I sat there on a leaning tree, just watching and listening.  

The yo-yo return yields only one new event--first a loud rustle in the palmettos, then the sight of an armadillo scurrying away.

We bag empty cans and bottles on the return and haul them home to the recycle bin. Even an hour in the woods is enough to destress the day.

Joan
bluetrail@aol.com