I took the sensory tour home from Kissimmee Prairie.

Christmas Eve was cool and clear but as the sun set the clouds moved in. 

The crescent moon moved across a starry sky despite the clouds trying to obscure them. Christmas morning as I was preparing to head off on the bicycle I looked at my front truck tire and thought damn, that tire is low. I decided there was nothing I could do about it and went biking. Christmas day not much would be open in Okeechobee which is almost 30 miles away, and sketchy phone service out on the prairie to call AAA.  Even though cell towers are visible, especially at night by their aviation warning lights, you can't depend on service. Not as many wildflowers blooming as I have seen on past trips. I followed an animal trail off to the south until I ran into a water filled depression. 

There I found some Drosera and Utricularia with yellow flowers I hadn’t seen before. I went further up the road and north up the Peavine trail. It turns out the Peavine trail was named after a railroad line that they built out there, thinking the prairie would be great for farming, it wasn’t, as the homesteaders found out, and the rail line was abandoned. The wading birds fled but there were some small birds in the prairie grasses. 

Later I walked the Hammock trail but only had the phone with for a camera and had a deer walk almost right up to me before she turned off the trail to eat.

 This trail like similar trails in Highland Hammocks show a hammock in what appears to be decline. The huge old trees fallen, more logs both palm and tree on the ground than standing and no trees in line to replace them. People came in over a hundred years ago with cattle and maybe this is what changed the ecology. Generally when a tree falls it creates light in the forest and seeds sprout and saplings grow and there is a succession in the various tree and palm species. Eventually the tree that happened to grow in the best location wins and takes over the area by its size and canopy replacing the shade that was lost. This trail does have some extremely large and tall Sabal palms. I was glad that I had not walked the trail last year as a lot of the damage appeared to be from this year’s storms. The trail is very well maintained and marked with orange-red paint on short posts. This is a short loop trail, but it also connects to other trails.   

 That evening when the assistant Campground host came around I asked her about a compressor and she said there was a portable compressor at the Park Ranger’s office that I could use. She was letting everyone know she had re-stocked the firewood as the wind had picked up and the temperature was dropping pretty quickly. I keep my campfire small so a bag of firewood lasts me two nights, I don’t let the fire burn all night and always check it before I go in for the night. I don’t set up any lights, especially if I am watching the sky or listening to owls, or other birds calling at night. If I need a light I carry a small flashlight. A couple came by and remarked about me sitting in the dark, and we had a long conversation about camping types. They are really sold on this little trailer they have, that is made in Ocala. Rosella and Dan were from Sarasota and really did not like Oscar Scherer State Park, too noisy. She had worked in Shenandoah National Park, I didn’t ask what she did. Nearly all the campers were in trailers or motor homes this time and they keep their outside lights on. Not so bad, it is mostly a quiet campground unlike some others. People in the motor homes don’t even seem to come out, such a strange lifestyle. I keep hearing about how they wait on line eleven months ahead to reserve sites for two weeks. Crazy. I also heard that the Parks block out sites for volunteers, I didn’t know that.

The assistant Campground host was in the same site last Christmas, I recognized her rig, a little Runaway trailer and her car. She also sets up a Dish network antenna on a tripod. Her Runaway trailer is smaller than Rosella and Dan’s. They are small, you outfit as you like, it only comes with a shelf and an air conditioner. It doesn’t require insurance or a license plate as they are classified as a utility trailer. Her little one is light enough to be moved around by hand. Probably with a wheeled hitch jack. They look like little boxes but look quite roomy inside. I’m perfectly happy with being a tent camper, I've camped more in remote sites than campgrounds. A couple of ladies came in on Christmas day, and one had gone out on the helicopter with Chuck Wilson (it took me a while to figure out who she went with, but when I asked if it was Chuck she said yes.) to work on the Big Cypress trail.  They were supposed to be doing a 300 mile bike trip going in a loop route. She had had hand surgery so she couldn’t do it, but they had the reservations so they came out and camped and rode their bikes some, but not 60 miles a day.

            

                                Nothing to stop the wind here. (phone photo)

It got pretty cool that night, and the wind howled well into the night. Early in the morning there was a barred owl calling close by which was soon followed by a coyote’s howl, others joined in for a few minutes of howling. I got up early and ate breakfast and started putting all my stuff together. There was a heavy dew so I had to wait for the tent to dry up before packing it up. After a while I figured I would take the truck over to Rosella and Dan’s site so he could add some air to the tires (he had a charger/inflator) and the truck wouldn't start, it was dead. Not even a click of the starter. Cold puts a strain on batteries and every time I open the truck door the cargo light stays on for a while. I guess this added up to knock out the battery. So I walked over and told Dan, and he says no problem this thing will charge up the battery too! I’m thinking he has great faith in this gadget. I’ve seen them fail, and it’s right when you need them of course. So he comes over and we crank up the truck and fill the tire. What a relief. I left it idling until I finished packing and headed out. Not knowing if the battery was charging or not, no warning lights either way. I drove without the lights or air conditioning running.

  Hence the sensory tour. We all tend to drive with our windows up and air on. I put on my F.T.A. baseball cap to contain my hair and headed down the road. After about ten miles I found someone had hit a skunk, whew, hadn’t smelled that in a while. I checked the rear view mirror to see if I could see where it had been but no luck, several spots on the road. With the window open the smell cleared out pretty quick. Then there was some wood smoke, nice on a cool morning. I spotted a bunch of birds in a creek along the highway and decided to turn around and see if I could get some photos. 

At first they flew up but then didn’t want to leave so they didn’t go far. Wood storks, Snowy egrets, Greater egrets and it seemed like dozens of Roseate spoonbills. It was certainly worth turning around. As I did a U turn to leave I saw two Sand hill cranes in the field on the other side of the creek that I hadn’t noticed. Semi-truck trailer rigs out number cars and pickups on this highway, so pulling over or pulling out is a carefully timed maneuver.  

On highway 98 I passed a lot of pasture lands and cows, and now a big building was coming into view and O.M.G. Holy chit. My brain is screaming what is that smell, like getting hit in the face with sewage. Rolling up the window as quickly as I could I realized it either a feed lot or a barn where the cows were all contained? I could not imagine anyone living near there but there was a house down wind. It took a while to get rid of that smell. Later passing through the town of Okeechobee I got to smell all the big trucks, burning rubber, diesel exhaust, some different exhaust, maybe propane powered, and of course wonder with each smell whether it was my truck. As I turned off over towards the Lake and Canal Point it was less smelly. I decided if I don’t drive really fast I could probably make it home without stopping and I did.

       South of the Lake, plowed black Everglades peat on the left and newly planted sugar cane on the right.

 I didn’t take as many photos as I usually do but this has become my favorite park. It’s a nice quiet campground with plenty of places to explore and the night sky is fantastic. (And the truck got a new battery.)

Cayo Costa camping

A couple of nights at Cayo Costa State Park

Cayo Costa is a coastal island, hence the name, in the Gulf of Mexico that must be accessed by boat. If you don’t have a boat, there is a concessionaire that takes people back and forth daily from a marina in Bokeelia. Bokeelia is on the north end of Pine Island. There’s another town along the way to Pine Island called Matlacha, (I want to say Mat – latch- a) which when I heard how it was pronounced I realized I had been mispronouncing it. They pronounce it Mat la shay. I could not find any other reference to this name or its origin. We boat passengers were warned on the way back to be wary as it can be a speed trap, pedestrian crossing trap and all tickets seem to cost $300. The thing I did notice about the town, was the plethora of no parking signs. This on a single road lined with businesses of all sorts.

Besides reserving your site on the island, either camping or for one of the 12 cabins, if you are taking the boat you need to also reserve your spot coming and going on the boat. Plus the daily parking charge for parking at the marina. The current boat looks and at times sounds like the African Queen, quite amusing but no problems. A new boat is coming on line early next year. They are very specific about what you can bring on the boat in your reservation confirmation email. You are limited to 3 items (50 lbs. max. per person), one large and no longer than three ft. and two small, maybe a small backpack, and beach chair. I was very careful to stay within the limit. I used my Cascade Designs Seal Line XL dry bag which comes within the 3 ft. length limit, a soft cooler, and a beach chair.  Rain and thunderstorms were in the forecast.

When people started arriving, it got crazy, not only did they bring inordinate amounts of storage bins, bikes, coolers, roof packs, bags of charcoal, and God knows what else, it seemed like the rules went out the window. The crew didn’t question any of it, and all the gear went in the boat first, with the bikes up on the roof of the boat. With all the gear loaded the bow was riding high. Then we all got on board and the first mate called out names and numbers in groups, checking people off. As I was towards the back and the engine noise, I couldn’t hear what the mate was saying for the most part. I had been talking to a very nice couple Lilian and Warnell who go out to Cayo Costa as often as they can and rent a cabin. The rest were large family groups who evidently go out each Thanksgiving and have been doing it for years. Lilian later told me it was ten families who do this.

                                      Friday's crew on the Tropic Star.

      More madness as we arrive at the island dock, unloading everyone’s stuff and hauling it off the dock and piling it. Lilian nearly lost a trash bag with stuff in this process, I suggested she could put a piece of duct tape on the bag with their name on it. No one else had a bag like my waterproof duffel and the men eyed it warily and seemed scared to move it so it only got to the dock. It weighed a little over twenty pounds and I have through hiked Big Cypress with much heavier packs. It has shoulder straps so I picked it up, put it on and walked over to load it on the tram with the rest of my stuff.

The State Park runs a tram provided by the county to take everyone across the island to the campsites and cabins. In the meantime one (1) ranger has to sign in a whole boatload of people, something I had never seen at any other park, and the ranger later confirmed this. The tram consists of a full size pickup driven by the same ranger pulling two aluminum trailers with seats and a third smaller trailer for gear. The people staying in cabins get to put their stuff in the bed of the pickup and all the other people and gear get piled wherever it will fit on the trailers. The next stop, a few hundred feet away if that, is the store with ice and firewood. The same ranger had to do this also, taking only cash on this day as the store closes at three p.m. I didn’t check the time, I just got my firewood and stuffed it on the trailer. I don’t usually carry much cash but I brought it for this trip for the captain’s tips, tolls, parking fees, and buying anything in case they didn’t take credit cards. The store does take credit cards but is only open until three p.m. each day. All day employees and volunteers catch the State Parks boat at 7:30 a.m. to come out to the island and their boat leaves at 3:30 p.m. to take them back to the mainland. Other rangers live on the island. Volunteers usually run the tram and it arrives each hour at the top of the hour at the campground to take anyone over to the store/docks/ranger station area.

    Live oak with Encyclia tampensis orchids over the road to the campground.

The campground is nice with some trees and timber fencing between sites. I had been wondering about shade as it is an island, I was expecting a lower tree canopy but there were native Ficus aurea, the Golden or Strangler fig, Coccoloba uvifera, Seagrape and of course Conocarpus erectus, Green buttonwood around the campsites. Each site has a picnic table, a grill and a pole with cross bars to dry stuff on. Each site is also fenced off from other sites with a timber fence. These help dissuade campers from hanging things on trees or other vegetation to dry. With my dry bag being a pack I could pretty much carry everything at once (soft cooler with shoulder strap, beach chair) from the tram drop off site to the camp site, but was loaded down with the additional heavy bag of firewood. Some campers brought carts or hand trucks to haul stuff.  Luckily the campsite was close. I will say this park does offer four hammock permitted primitive camp sites which is nice, but none were available on the dates I chose.  Park information here:  https://www.floridastateparks.org/park/Cayo-Costa

                                       Dunes between the campground and the beach.

There is no power in the campground. There actually is for the water system but not for the campers otherwise, utilities are well hidden underground. For the tent campers there are separate bathrooms with a regular toilet stall and a handicapped toilet stall. The one shower is outside that is more of a post swim shower than a get naked take a bath shower as there is absolutely no privacy it being located next to the stairs.  Cold water only here, but potable. So even if you aren’t swimming because of the weather or otherwise, you should bring some apparel to wear to shower in, or go in the dead of the night and shower by moonlight.

Speaking of being naked in the moonlight, there are bugs. They warn of raccoons and securing your coolers and food supplies from them. I put my soft cooler into an Action Packer bin which I could have secured with a cable from latch to latch. I neither saw nor heard them, but then there was an awful lot of people and teenagers up at all hours roaming around with lights and noise as it was a holiday weekend. There was probably five campers at most campsites. Most were staying until Saturday or Sunday. There were very few mosquitoes, but there were no-seeums. I wasn’t being really bug aware when I was throwing my gear through the tent door and they got into my tent. Evidently in large numbers going by what I saw the next morning in the corner of my tent. Take a look at the photo, those black dots are little blood sucking tormenting insects. I would highly recommend bringing a Thermocell unit and putting it somewhere near the tent entrance.

                             

                                           No-seeums in tent! Ugh.

 In case my tent screening isn’t no-seeum proof, (always check this when you buy a tent), when I returned home and dried out my tent and then set it up in the yard, I treated the screening with Permethrin spray which should help in the future. Always, always dry or air out your tent, tarps, sleeping bags, etc. after camping, even if you have to drape it in the shower. Mildew grows very quickly, within hours, and destroys your waterproofing. Even if it wasn’t raining we have such high humidity the tents, sleeping bags, etc. will get damp, especially if they have been stored in an air conditioned area. I bring a trash bag with to stuff wet or damp stuff into and they get taken care of first when I arrive home. There is nothing worse than a tent or even a tarp that has that awful vomit smell of mildew.  

It rained as promised, but a lot more. As I said the forecast was for rain, the percentage went up and down as the trip dates approached. I knew my tent was good, the cats and I had camped it in when I had the house tented for termites and we sat out a thunderstorm in it. The rains started Wednesday night and continued steadily throughout the night and then in the morning the winds really picked up. I was very glad I had trees and shrubs to shelter from the winds. By eight in the morning they slacked off some. The campground is sand, though it is hard packed it drains relatively fast. I had all my clothes, sleeping bag, etc. in waterproof bags by this point as the driving rain was pushing a mist through the tent. I was sitting on my folded up ZRest® pad. I was noticing the tent floor was starting to float so I went out in the rain that had slacked off some and snatched my ground cloth (cut open 55 gal. trash bag) out from under the tent as it was not letting the water drain. An hour or so later the rain completely tapered off but we had showers on and off all day. It was a very dark, overcast Thanksgiving Day.   

Other campers did not fare so well, their picnic canopies failed or broke in the wind. Their tents leaked, I heard of one tent that had four inches of water in it. What I saw was that people setting up their tents put down blue tarps that were larger than their tent’s footprint under the tent as a ground cloth. In my neighbors case the tarp was out one foot on all sides of the tent. This caught all the water coming off the tent and routed it under the tent. Even though they were on air mattresses all of their sleeping bags, blankets, etc. were soaked. Plus they had to deal with a broken dining canopy. I talked to them about the ground cloth and what happened to mine which was totally under the tent, and I saw later they guyed the tarp over the tent. These were Boy Scouts, I will say no more.

                                          Nothing like a nice campfire.

My firewood had been out in the rain, so I didn’t have much hope for a fire. I put the remaining logs up on the grill to help them dry out. Once the weather improved some I pulled the fly off the tent to help things dry out, and then later when I put it back, still damp I added the silnylon tarp I recently made and guyed it crosswise across the tent. I made this tarp for my hammock whose roof fly is shy, I can lay in the hammock and see stars, nice, wake up with frost on my face, not nice. The silnylon is super light and waterproof, this one is 5 ft. wide by 9 foot long with reinforced loops on corners and middles to give the most options for tying it. Evening came and the weather held though it was still overcast. I got the fire going and ended up using the rest of my firewood.

Last Christmas for whatever reason I had a hard time getting my fire going. Partially because of un-split and maybe not so seasoned logs. I normally use lighter pine that I can get at my job, but it just wasn’t doing the job. Whatever the reason, I made some fire starters and they work wonders and don’t take up much space. I used the paper egg cartons, added pine wood shavings (animal bedding) and melted candles in a can on the stove to pour into the individual cups on the egg carton. They tell you can use dryer lint too, but who knows what is in dryer lint now. It could be flame retardant or other carcinogens when burned or just in general. You could use real cotton balls, not the polyester ones, but I think you can probably get the wood shavings at a pet store and the pine helps starting the fire. I would not recommend using scented candles for this, you can also buy paraffin at the grocery store, usually Gulf Wax brand is available and used to seal jelly jars when you make jelly or jam. Once these are cooled I tore them into individual starters and threw them into a zipper plastic bag with my camping supplies. With no smaller wood I started with one of these and when it slowed down I tucked another under the wood in the fire and even with soaked ground and wet wood had a good fire. Oh, I have to add, I wrapped up my frozen burritos (dinner) in newspapers over the foil to insulate them and then used that newspaper in the fire. This may turn into another blog page, watch for it.

The Gulf remained stormy with the wall of steel gray clouds just off shore. The water was rough with white caps, but what impressed me was the sound of the crashing waves. It was constant all through Thursday and Friday, not a regular roar but varying with the long and short waves. When I arrived I could not hear the surf from my campsite, but with the storms off shore I could hear it wherever I was on the island. I love the sounds of nature, even a thunderstorm while in a tent, and those waves crashing while sounding somewhat like the roar of traffic were much better because it was a natural noise to experience.

                                Wednesday evening with calm waters.

I really enjoy photographing wherever I am but with the constant rains, drizzle, sprinkles it was no weather to bring an unprotected camera. I have, it seems several dry bags. My newest I got to put in my backpack. It is a 35 L. Sea to Summit bag, we used to use a garbage bag in case our packs got wet if we fell. I had my clothes in this and it works really well as a pillow. Plus I didn’t have to worry about my clothes getting wet with all the dampness from the rain. Then I have the extra-large dry bag for canoe camping, it was probably purchased back in the 1980s, and a very similar one is now made by Seal Line. It has patched holes from a raccoon attack on the Peace River many years ago. My most used dry bag is by Voyageur’s also from the 1980’s and that is what I carry my camera and wallet, keys in while canoeing, it’s small, the usable space is about a square foot. It has a thin foam-like liner. While canoeing my Mohawk on Crooked Creek in Yellville, Arkansas, for the first time I flipped the canoe, the bag with my SLR camera with a zoom lens popped up like a cork. It was tied into the canoe by a short cord which also acts as a shoulder strap. If you canoe you learn to tie things in. Better than having to rescue yourself, right your canoe and try to gather floaters from escaping all at once. I can slip the camera in and out of this bag pretty quick and it’s safe.

Back to the beach, never having been here, I just wasn’t able to explore the whole place or even a good portion of it. I actually only found out about the trails when I was leaving, as a volunteer was telling visitors arriving by boat about the island. They do rent bikes, also kayaks and I don’t know what else. By Friday the weather had cleared and it was a beautiful day. It really is a wild looking landscape and seeing the shoreline showing all the dead Seagrape shrubs that were killed in Irma from the onslaught of waves and wind was impressive. I saw areas where the waves had pushed in a layer of the shell hash which the beach consists of, a couple of hundred feet inland burying the cactus and other plants at least a foot deep. One could easily walk these beaches for days exploring the landscape and history of this island. I will definitely be back to explore this island further.

Looking north up the island. The tip Boca Grande is visible.

Upland beach vegetation.

Shells on this beach of shells.

 

This is actually a photo of how far the beach shell hash was driven inland by Irma, recently buried plants.

I am sure this sign is “up” on a post, but with Irma it is at pet level, telling them to stay off the beach. Several families brought their dogs with them. One Labrador who was on the boat with us was noticeably much happier once arriving on the island. They must be kept on a 6 ft. leash at all times but can be in the campground and all the trails (!) in this park.  

    

  

View from the dock on Friday, looking across Pelican bay at Punta Blanca Island.

Kissimmee Prairie revisited

Christmas Eve, I returned to KPPSP to camp. I came in Saturday afternoon and left on Monday morning. the following are a fraction of what I saw and photographed. I found out that during the winter months they have swamp buggy tours of the Preserve. These tours take two and half hours and seem to run all over the place. An illusion to be sure as the park has 100 miles of trails.

Coming into the park the cute burros I saw last time were nowhere to be seen. Nearby there was an old home now blocked by Sabal palms.  Once these old hand made buildings disappear there won't be anymore. This being the prairie and no pines in sight, I suspect the house may have been built with cypress. The area has been ranched and then bombed as part of the Avon Park bombing range so who knows when anyone last lived here. The local housing now appears to be modular or mobile homes in the area. Even the larger homes appear to be manufactured.  Near the house was this long horned cow, keeping an eye out while her calf nurses. It's hard to tell what breeds these cattle are, they have to be tough to handle the heat and the bugs. She was tucked up near the old house with her calf.  Her calf is fawn colored so she was probably bred to a Charolais or Simmental bull for a heavier calf. Near this house stands a tall three-legged tower with a platform, I presume that at one time it held a water tank for the house.

 Further up the road, I spotted this Loggerhead shrike on a post.
The Audubon's Crested Caracara was in a nearby
 tree both waiting for a meal to appear.

 Further into the park is this head of Sabal palms, a pair of Red-shouldered hawks live here, often seen hunting along the dirt Peavine Trail that leads into the park. On top of the outermost three tall palms on the left, you can see a hawk. The mate is in another Sabal in the middle front out of sight.

The Peavine Trail turns west and heads for the campgrounds and Park office. The campground is in the trees on the horizon. One day I rode the bike out here, the distances between places are deceiving. Luckily I had the wind at my back heading back to camp.

Simpson'sZephyr lily

 The prairie south and east of the campground had been burned about a week before and the Zephyr lilies were in bloom. The Rudbeckia or Blackeyed Susan below is on the north side of the road which was probably burned some months ago.

Sundown in the upper photo looking to the east from camp. This land is flatter than water. It's amazing. I think most changes in elevation were made by man to move water, or collect water for cattle. It is a wet prairie in the rainy season and the roads can become impassable mud pits in areas.

Deer grazing in the early morning.

If you look at it on Google Earth or Google maps you will see how the ranchers have divided it up with drainage ditches.

Seven-mile slough