goodbye spring, hello summer -- 05/06/07

Sunday had originally been forecast as cooler, but it wasn't. It was really too hot to hike in Florida in the afternoon. But, we were already there at the 3.75 mile Garden of Eden trail on the eastern bluff overlooking the Apalachicola River, so we hiked. Tho we'd done this before, we missed the trail head, thus adding another mile to our overall hike. (www.dep.state.fl.us/gwt/guide/regions/panhandleeast/trails/Nature_Conservancy.htm)


This is a great place to get an aerobic workout, with it's ups and downs! 3,400 feet of trail is greater than an 8% slope, and the maximum grade is 63%! We climbed over tree roots, high steps, dodged low limbs, and angled cross slopes and drop offs. We sweat like stevedores lifting cotton bales on the Mississippi in the dead of summer. Luckily we'd brought plenty to eat and drink. You can see by my face in the photo of me at the river (roughly the halfway point), how hot I was.


We appreciated the ravines with their cool streams and lush slope forests, after clambering up and down the steepheads. The Nature Conservancy is reclaiming a damned lake (another botched Corps experiment) and we hiked over to see the now-dry bottom with it's narrow, clear creek.








Spied a new flower: Indian Pink, which surprised us by showing up in one tiny upland area and nowhere else. Prickly pear cactus was blooming. Good news: We saw no snakes this day! We did see a broad-winged hawk. But, now that the days boast 93 degree temps, we'll probably leave our hiking days for the cooler temps of autumn....