Hiking to the Big Cypress and Buck Island Pond

Monday, January 29, 2024

Hi Blog!

We're still in Cedar Key. We have a couple more days before we move north. Another cold front moved through on Sunday bringing wind and rain. We had a day of baking bread, making gumbo and watching footballs games. The bread and gumbo turned out great, but the football teams we rooted for both lost!

With the threat of rain past, we decided to get out and explore a couple more trails in the Goethe State Forest. First on the list was Big Cypress Boardwalk.

The first part of the trail passed through a pine flatwood. Several trees were highlighted with wooden explanatory signs.

The Southern Magnolia is one of the most beautiful evergreen trees, having a straight trunk, conical crown, and very fragrant, very large, white flowers. Unfortunately, it is a little early in the season to see those amazing flowers.

The pine trees here are so tall its hard to tell if any one of them is a slash pine, loblolly or long leaf pine.

The boardwalk starts at the end of the nature trail as we transitioned from the pine flatwoods to the floodplain swamp.

At the end of the boardwalk stands a 900 year old cypress tree known as the Goethe Giant Bald Cypress. This tree is over 105 feet tall and 29 feet around. Kathy had to lean way back to see the top.

During the 1800’s and early 1900’s, many of these giant cypress trees were cut down during the logging booms because this type of wood is so valuable for its durability. The Florida wilderness was once covered with these old trees, many dating back thousands of years. The trees in this area only survived the woodman's ax because they were hollow inside.

As we looked out into the floodplain swamp, we could see at least two other giant bald cypress. We also saw several old stumps from once mighty trees. If this forest is managed correctly, in another 900 years there will be hundreds of giant bald cypress.  We'll be back then to check.

Before long, we were back in the Jeep and heading over to our next trailhead. The Buck Island Pond Hiking Trail is a two mile trail just down the road from the Goethe State Forest Headquarters. The trail loops around a cypress-lined pond in the middle of a pine flatwood. We started our hike by following the boardwalk out to an observation deck on the pond.

The boardwalk was added to the hike to make it easy for birders to simply sit along the pond’s edge and scan avian activity. At this time of year, we did not spot very many birds.

As we left the boardwalk and began to make our way around the loop trail, we heard an owl hooting in the trees close to the lake. We tried to spot him, but as we got closer, the owl stopped hooting. He was no fool.  

 

We did spot this really cute flower on a lily pad.

The trail was wide enough for us to walk side by side. The sandy soil was covered with pine needles, which usually makes for a pleasant hiking surface. However, we kept tripping and turning our ankles on cypress knees. After several hundred yards of tip-toeing through the cypress knees, we came upon this warning sign. They seriously need to move this sign closer to the trailhead!

We picked up a trail guide at the trailhead. There were supposed to be lettered stops around the pond. We found a few of the posts, like the one for the slash pine plantation, but we never saw the wood duck box or Gopher Tortoises.

With spring still weeks away, its always fun to spot those early flowers.

Saw Palmetto and Longleaf Pine dominated the second half of the hike.

We spotted a couple of hanging gardens:

Stop H promised pitcher plants and a transition zone. We found an old boardwalk through a very dry pine flatwood. At one point, this might have been wet enough for pitcher plants, but no longer.

It's not often you see tree fungus growing right in the middle of the trail. It's all that is left of the tree that fell nearby.

The trail guide indicated that we would be able to see Red Cockaded Woodpeckers. In this case, the guide was correct:

Here's a closer look.

We finished our hike with lunch in the picnic area at the trailhead. We thought about stopping at another trailhead and sampling another trail in the Goethe State Forest, but decided to head back to camp and bust out the smoker. Kathy had picked up some local fish and decided to brine and smoke some mullet. 

Stay tuned and we'll let you know how it turns out!

1st Annual Cedar Key Oyster Roast!

John Sculley said, "Timing in life is everything." Years before that, Fred Tobias and Clint Ballard Jr. wrote, and Jimmy Jones sang:

 Oh, you need timin'
A tick, a tick, a tick, good timin'
A tock, a tock, a tock, a tock
A timin' is the thing
It's true, good timin' brought me to you.

And we had good timing, it's true, because timing brought us to Cedar Key when they held their 1st Annual Cedar Key Oyster Roast today!

An oyster roast is, most importantly, all about the shucking:

But we get ahead of ourselves.

Before the Oyster Roast, we headed over to the northern end of Cedar Key to visit the Cemetery Point Boardwalk and Park:

The cemetery is truly the local, historic cemetery, but the land around it has been developed into an attractive municipal park, with paths for walking, a disc golf course, and places to sit and picnic or enjoy nature.  In fact, Kathy found a bird feeder along the boardwalk:

The boardwalk offers beautiful views of estuarine ponds and waterways:

Here we looked out toward the Gulf shoreline, and we could understand how, despite the fact that Hurricane Idalia hit Cedar Key with the full force of a storm surge, the boardwalk and other natural features survived -- they were protected by mangrove islands and shallow water:

Walking along the boardwalk, we felt we had found the true Florida we have sometimes uncovered -- usually in small parks along one coast or the other, or down in the Keys:

Returning to our trailhead along the boardwalk, we noticed this old, disused boat, left to decorate the mangrove swamp:

We finished our boardwalk stroll and drove down to the waterfront to park.  We happened to find a spot directly across from Atsena Otie Key, where we had paddled the other day.  There it sat, beckoning to us, but acknowledging that we had already paddled over and explored its mysteries:

From the same spot, we could see the main developed waterfront of Cedar Key, past which our Oyster Extravaganza lay:

Kathy had researched the Oyster Roast enough to know that we would be able to order a plate of raw oysters.  When we arrived at the beachside park after the event started, we found people milling all about.  There was a line to buy tickets for food, and lines for each food option.  Fueling it all were these large bags of freshly harvested oysters, dumped into bins and hauled by hand over to a shucking table where generous members of the Cedar Key Oystermen's Association opened and shucked each fresh oyster before it was served to members of the public.

Our choices were raw oysters or smoked oysters.  We chose the smoked oysters.  As it turned out, the smoked oysters were simply raw oysters that spent perhaps 15 minutes over an open smoking fire -- warmed and enhanced with the smoky flavor of birchwood:

We bought our tickets for smoked oysters and got in another line to wait perhaps 30 minutes for our oysters to smoke.  In the meantime, Kathy noticed that someone was cooking and serving something else on the side.  She went over to investigate and discovered that some ladies were battering and frying fillets of mullet.  She ordered a serving for us to taste as we waited in line for our smoked oysters.

Eventually, we reached the big smoker where our own personal oysters awaited our pleasure.  We ordered 2 dozen, but there were only a dozen plus 9 oysters left on the grill.  We accepted 9 oysters for the second serving and repaired to some steps at the bandstand where we could hear some local musicians playing universal favorites such as "Wagon Wheel," "Ring of Fire," and "Margaritaville."  You can see the bandstand in the background behind the oyster smokers in the photo below:

Here, Kathy shows off her smoked oysters before they were demolished:

We feasted and listened to music until we were done feasting, dumped our oyster shells in a basket for recycling, and walked out to explore the town of Cedar Key and do some gift shopping.

Up 2nd Street we found the Cedar Key Artists Cooperative:

Kathy walked in to examined the arts and crafts available from local artisans, while David looked around for more public art.  It wasn't long before he found this lucky fisherman:

We shopped for some gifts and for some local products, and then walked back across 1st Street toward our Jeep.  Structures on both sides of the street had been impacted by the storm surge of Hurricane Idalia, but most had seen only minor damage, and much of it has been repaired.  We even spotted some whimsical reminders that this is, after all, an island of escape and pleasure:

We had some smoked mullet dip in our bag, so we had to head home promptly so that it would not spoil.  We passed some local fisher people, who seemed to be content to wait patiently for that "big catch."

Never saw them get that big catch.

Jumped in the Jeep and headed back to our campground.

Lower Suwannee NWR - Nature Drive

Friday, January 26, 2024

Hi Blog!

Not far from where we are staying in Cedar Key is the Headquarters for the Lower Suwannee National Wildlife Refuge. We learned that the nine mile main road through the Refuge is considered a "Nature Drive." The road itself is hardpacked limerock with very little vehicle traffic. Rather than drive the nine miles, we decided to take our bikes for a spin.

The  Lower Suwannee National Wildlife Refuge, unlike other Refuges, was not established for the protection of one or a few species, but to protect the high water quality of the Suwannee Estuary. The Refuge has boat launches, fishing, hunting, hiking, birding, photography and bicycling. The white sign pictured below outlines the hunting seasons. Lucky for us feral hog hunting doesn't start until tomorrow! Sometime it is better to be lucky than smart.

We started our ride through an upland pine forest. The trees in this area were thinned out to allow understory plants to anchor the soil and provide food and shelter for a variety of wildlife. Gopher Tortoises are a keystone species in this area. Their burrows are used by over 360 other small species 

The Refuge holds periodic controlled fires to promote open pine forests. Pines are highly resistant to low-intensity prescribed fires.

There are dozens of side roads leading to various parts of the Refuge. Each road has its own numbered gate. We decided to go through Gate 14 which leads to Fletcher's Landing and Suwannee River access.

We came upon an unusual concrete structure. At first, we thought it might be a remnant of an old building. Turns out it was a bat cave. The Refuge uses various concrete and metal culverts to provide roosting habitat for big-eared bats. There are not enough large hollow trees left in the forest for the bats to roost. These structures provide a home for the bats while the forest regrows.

Fletcher's Landing on the Suwanne River is a popular destination for kayakers.

There are over 11 different species of bats that live in the Refuge. This type of roost is mainly used by free-tailed bats. Did you know that bats are not rodents? They are more closely related to primates than to mice.

On our way to Fletcher's Landing, we spotted a flock of wild turkeys. We tried to catch a photo, but they were too quick for us. Pictured below, Kathy is making her way back to the main road.

We stopped at Pond 6 to see if we could see any wading birds.

We weren't able to find any birds, but we did catch this gator napping on the far shore. Needless to say, we didn't stay long.

Most animals in the Refuge are not used to seeing bikes. We scared a river otter and several turtles. We were able to catch a photo of this turtle, but never saw the river otter again.

The Nature Drive passes right over Barnett Creek.

We took a short side road to the boat ramp for Barnett Creek.  The creek is about three and half miles long and joins McCormick Creek before entering the Suwannee River. At the boat launch we saw a transition from upland forest to brackish marsh. The marsh is dominated by black needlerush with an occasional fringe of smooth cordgrass. It seemed to stretch on forever.

Just past the turn-off to the boat ramp is a boardwalk leading to the headwaters pond.

This headwaters pond attracts several species of waterfowl in the winter. From the observation deck, we scanned the area.

We spotted this tricolored heron on the far shore.

He didn't like the sound of our camera clicking and immediately took flight.

While the heron was in flight mode, this little fiddler crab decided to stand his ground and put up a fight.

As the day warmed, we soon noticed several armadillos by the side of the road. While used to seeing cars drive by, they didn't know what to make of our bicycles. One armadillo tried to run right into Kathy's front wheel. Their "run into danger" strategy reminded us of armored squirrels.

By the time we finished our ride, we had clocked more than 19 miles. There is still more to explore in the Lower Suwannee Wildlife Refuge, but now that hunting season has opened, it will have to wait until next time.