MUD SPRINGS

In between storms on Wednesday, we decided to go to a State Park nearby that Bill and I hadn't been to but Matthew had  been several years ago.  The paths were well packed and pretty easy to traverse as long as you were careful of roots!

There was so much to photograph but the boys set the pace and it was much faster than my usual meander!  Isn't this unusual?  There are three native moth caterpillars that make a 'restaurant' at the tip of a fern frond to avoid being eaten themselves!

We saw several clumps of this plant which was new to me.  They were not very tall-about 6-7" is all and it the plant was not in bloom, I wouldn't notice it at all. After a quick Google search, I found it is the  “Orange milkwort”, Polygala lutea, and the root of this little flower smells like wintergreen!  Very cool!

After a mile and a half to reach the Springs itself.  It is really this beautiful turquoise color!

The bottom is farther away than it looks (about 7-8') and the Spring pumps out about a 1.4 milliion gallons daily into the St Johns River.  The water is 72F all the time-no matter the season!

We didn't swim this time but we will the next time we go!

This was fun to look at and note the many birds we see on a weekly basis,

The water cycle of Florida.

We saw this guy on the walk back to the truck.

These vines has grown together in a very tight braid!  

This soft-shell turtle was also spotted!  She is large and came up from the water level to lay her eggs.

She has a very flat shell that is not made of the hard sections of her cousins.  She measured about 20" across--very large!

The forest has seen some fire damage--

most likely from a lightening strike several years ago, going from the undergrowth recovery.

What an amazing excursion!

 

A Hike!

I am slogging through the 280 stitches a round....but I am almost to my first decrease round and I can't wait!  It has a beautiful feel and drape! 

My  new medicine regime is making a wonderful change in my pain level!

I have such high hopes!

I even went on a hike with David, Bill,  Abigail and Marsel!

There is a greenway at the end of their housing development that David discovered;

he shared it with his family and now it is their regularly scheduled picnic spot! 

He couldn't wait to share it with us!

The gentle creek gains some rocks and boulders then gets fast and melodious! 

Wouldn't you like to explore with us?!

It was a feast to my eyes!  So much color and texture! 

I wish I could share the bubbling brook sounds with you, too! 

The rocks are beautiful and a nice place to rest in between 'sticks down the crick' races!  

We saw signs of wildlife that enjoy this brook also-see the deer print? 

And a raccoon that slid in the mud here!  

Most of the trees around us were deciduous but this was the tallest tree-

a mountain pine!  It towered above all the others! 

It is steep up both sides of the watered valley.  

It reminded us of the Adirondacks where we often hiked as a family! 

A Selfie of the happy hikers! 

Out the gate and back to civilization....

Saturday's Hike

We went to Buford Dam State Park for a family day on Saturday! We brought a picnic lunch and fed the geese-who ,we discovered, are related to their FL counterparts.........seagulls and their ability to rudely scrounge!


This is the outlet side of the dam; where the river continues on its way without a view of the interruption just to the other side of the earthen barrier! We made plans to come here for another family trip with canoes/rafts for a river ride day in the future!







After exploring the river side we drove over to the Lake Lanier side and explored a small portion of this beautiful man made lake; we hiked, saw the mounted police, played on the various playgrounds, admired the water activities and then let the kids cool off in the water before heading to dinner out and home! A perfect day.

(On a side note-David brought home an unwanted gift-poison ivy! We couldn't keep him on the trails 'cuz there were interesting things like sticks (which became bows for imaginary arrows and pinecones which he launched into the water like bombs...!)