My third semester of graduate school wrapped up, I decided to treat myself to a quick solo hike. With a major hurricane bearing down on the Atlantic side of the state, I expected to have some rain and some wind in the next few days; additionally, my little family is packing up for a week long break back to my native Idaho, so this would likely be my last chance for a while. It has been a particularly wet rainy season, so I figured my chances of running across a gator was pretty small. Unfortunately, the hike was shorter than anticipated as well. The area is a very old cypress logging area nature preserve swamp. There is a 13 mile loop, for the most part on old elevated trails leftover from the railroad that was used to transport the lumber. The first half mile is gravel, followed by a 0.4 mile boardwalk, and the trail is currently closed beyond that for wildlife restoration. At any rate, I did take a handful of pictures and enjoyed being outside without my nose in a book, so I thought I'd share. Saw some Osceola hens on the drive in. Always fun to see. Sorry for the picture through the windshield, it was drizzling just a bit. The welcome sign. There are cougars, bears, gators and cottonmouths. Saw some evidence of local predators- racoons for lack of a more likely suspect. Thick. Wet. Not an ESEE. Since I am such a fun guy I thought I should take a few pictures of the local fungi. Last patch of blue sky for a couple days. The walk out.
Awesome trip! My favorite time to backpack is in the fall rain, it tends to keep the animals more active around here
Always good to be outside, that looks like a great area when it's open. Those coastal wetland boardwalks are usually cool places to explore
