Olena day 3

Our main goal today was to find where the Santa Fe river returned to the surface. The location is protected by "River Rise State Park". It's just down the road from Olena but our trip to the site required a drive on a dirt road and then a bike ride on a trail primarily used for horseback riding. My apologies to Pat but horses really screw up trails. They don't leave foot prints they leave small craters. Anyway we saw the river rise pool. It was not real dramatic but we have now seen where it sinks and where it rises. After that goal was satisfied we drove not too far to Ichetucknee Springs SP. We did some hiking and some exploring and we determined that there are quite a few things to do here that we are not going to be able to do. We leave tomorrow. We've got one more stop before Habersham. 

Olena day 2

We found someone that could provide us with a shuttle so we did a paddle on the Santa Fe river. We only did 6 miles. The river had a good flow but we were going into a strong headwind so it took awhile. After we got back we did a hike to the spot where the river goes underground. There is a circular pool that the water is circulating over in a slow counterclockwise  rotation. That pool is 140 feet deep. Insane cave divers have explored the drain hole and the cave system that runs 3 miles underground. The river is robust and fast flowing and then it just stops. Tomorrow we are going to try and find the spot where it returns to the service.

Olena State Park Florida

This is a CCC park built in the 30's. The nearest town is High Springs. The park protects an unusual stretch of the Santa Fe river. This is a big river. It goes underground for 3 miles and when it resurfaces it's bigger than it was when it went underground. We can hike to where it disappears. We will try to do that while we are here. The place where it resurfaces is called River Rise preserve. We will paddle a stretch of the river tomorrow. Hopefully we won't get sucked under.

Alafia (rainy) day 5

Most of our day was spent in the MP watching the rain. There was a short break and I was able to get out for a brief ride. Here's one thing I didn't mention yesterday. Along one of the trails I have ridden a couple of times are a couple of trees that had yellow fruit about the size and color of tennis balls. I was intrigued so I stopped and brought 3 of them back. We did some research based on their shape, size and color and determined that they were some weird fruit from a plant that is a native of Africa. I was curious about the taste. They were supposedly edible. Turns out the damn things were grapefruit. The skin was real thick and there were tons of seeds but the taste was unmistakable. They are maybe a native variety. Certainly something you would never see for sale at Whole Foods. We start our drive back north tomorrow. 

Alafia day 4

Jenny got out on a few trails today. The trails are rated kind of like a ski area. A green circle is easy, a blue square is intermediate, a black diamond is difficult and a double black diamond is for mountain goats. I determined right away that black diamonds are not what I came here to do. I have ridden all the trails that aren't black at least twice. We still have one full day here but thunderstorms are in tomorrow's forecast so we might not get on the water. More tomorrow  

Alafia day 3

Jenny and I split up today. I hit the trails again and she headed into town because we needed a few groceries. We haven't seen too much wildlife. I saw a tortoise today. Yesterday we saw an armadillo and this evening we saw some "whoops" deer. Our afternoon was spent buying a new 24" bike for Austin. His birthday is next month and he has outgrown his 20" bike. Jenny took it for a spin.

Alafia day 2

The weather has been off and on wet since we got set up yesterday. We looked at the radar this morning and it looked like it might hold off for awhile so I went out on my bike. It's been quite some time since I have ridden any technical trails. There is a certain amount of focus that is required that I had forgotten to turn on. The results were ugly. The best lessons are learned the hard way. It rained on me during the ride so I was a ratty mess when I returned to the MP. We are looking for a way to get our boats wet. The one company that does shuttles isn't, due to Covid. We might have to do an out an d back. We found a bridge with a launch ramp that looked like a place we could do that on our own. Of course I'd be on my paddleboard. It has temporarily stopped raining so we are trying to get my clothes dry. More tomorrow. 

Alafia River State Park

This is as far south as we are going to go this trip. We are near Lithia Florida which is kinda, maybe,  a suburb of Tampa. This park was built on the property of an old phosphate quarry. It is considered one of the few "Epic" destinations for mountain bikers in the southeast. That's why we're here. However,  there are other things to see and do. The Alafia river flows through the area and it can be paddled. From what we have read, there is a robust population of alligators in the river. I'm thinking paddle boarding might not be a good idea. There is an outfitter than rents canoes (see pic) We might do that. Another attraction here is Lithia Springs (see pic). I think I read somewhere than 35 million gallons enter the pool every day. There are Lithiam salts in the spring water. Hence the name Lithia. This campground is really nice. There are two small loops and all the sites have a lot of privacy.

 

Jennings Florida KOA

I'm afraid we did nothing blog worthy today. We generally stop at a commercial campground, every once in a while, in order to do laundry. That's why we are here and that's what we did. We are just barely into Florida.  Tomorrow we head to a state park that has variety of recreational opportunities. We will be there several days, in fact, our next stop is kind of the reason we are doing this trip. More on that tomorrow. 

Cultural highlights

We pretty much had the day off today. Quite a bit of rain last night which is a 'sleep late' motivator. After lunch we headed into Omaha to a highly advertised brewery. Not a lot going on. The building was huge as was the parking lot. I asked about the seeming disconnect between small town Omaha and really large brewery and the answer was Fort Benning. It's down the road about 30 minutes away. I sampled some beer but was unimpressed so we returned to the MP empty handed. Well, Jenny bought a 6 pack of some fruit flavored alcohol water. We move tomorrow. 

Another hike in Providence Canyon

There were several places we didn't get to yesterday so we decided to go back today. The main part of the canyon has worn  down to a very erosion resistant clay-like layer which is the ancient sea bed. The canyon is not getting any deeper and all 16 side canyons drain into this impenetrable canyon bottom. Consequently there is a thin trickle of water flowing on the canyon floor. It's not really deep enough to get your feet wet but in a rain it could get ugly quickly. Good segue! When we got to the trailhead there was an enormous black cloud sitting on the horizon. After some discussion we went anyway. Quickly. We hit a couple of highlights and then we heard our first thunder. It started raining right before we got back to the car. Almost perfect timing. The flower pic is a rare  Plumleaf Azalea. There's another version of the Magnolia down there called the "Umbrella Magnolia". That thing has gargantuan leaves. We saw several leaves over 3 feet long. You'll have to Google that if you're interested. Yeah, that'll happen. We are here all day tomorrow so we might hit some of the cultural highlights of rural Georgia. 

Providence Canyon SP

Providence Canyon SP is located just 8 miles from Florence Marina SP. Providence Canyon is not really a natural formation. Back in the early 1800s, farmers and their underpaid staff, cut down all the trees and cleared the land for cotton. They planted the cotton on the hillsides. Since the roots of the trees and all the other native plants were no longer holding the soil in place, when it rained the soil eroded. After just a few years a significant gully had begun to form. 200 years later the gully is 250 deep in places and covers over 1000 acres. Thank goodness for ignorant farmers, otherwise we wouldn't have been able to enjoy the hike we took today. One reason the erosion was so rapid is because the underlying soil is sand. Many different types and colors of sand. We will return there tomorrow because there are several side canyons we did not explore. More tomorrow. 

Florence Marina SP

This park is near Omaha Georga. I'm pretty sure we drove through Omaha right before we got here but I can't be certain. We are on the shore of 45,000 acre, lake Walter F. George. There is, unsurprisingly, a marina on the lake. During the drive Jenny and I were trying to figure out why wanted to visit this park. There are no hiking or biking trails and the lake isn't very appealing. Well, it turns out, we are only 8 miles from Providence Canyon SP. It is reputed to be Georgia's little Grand Canyon. We heard about Providence Canyon from a guy working the entrance station at a park in Florida that we visited last spring. We made this reservation so long ago that our feeble minds have become hazy. That park has some

hiking so we'll probably head over there tomorrow. We are here for 3 or 4 nights so we might get on the lake. One more thing. There are gobs of trees in this campground but I was able, using skill and cunning, to find a hole in the over story that allowed just enough satellite signal to reach our dish. A small satisfying victory. More tomorrow. 

Cypress tree maze

This park has more miles of paddling trails than hiking trails. We did a couple of the paddling trails today. The trails are marked by 3

inch squares of painted metal that are nailed to trees along the route. Navigating was a challenge. The trees were dense, the (trail?) was narrow and you couldn't see squat. It was probably like paddling through a corn maze. We were able to maintain the route for the most part. I was pretty glad that we found our way back to the MP because at one point I was wondering if that was going to happen. We move tomorrow. 

George L. Smith State Park Ga.

We have just begun a short fall getaway. We will be out 3 weeks staying entirely in Georgia and Florida. This park is only a couple of hours from home. The centerpiece of the park is a 450 acre mill pond that is almost choked with Cypress trees. Our campsite is mere feet from the water. I pumped up my inflatable paddleboard after we got set up and followed one of the 3 paddling trails that have been marked through the trees. It was pretty cool. We have a kayak on the roof of the forester so tomorrow Jenny and I will do some exploring. We are only here for 2 nights.