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.)
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