Florida's Bald Head State Park

Bald Point State Park is located on Alligator Point where Ochlockonee Bay meets Apalachee Bay.  Comprising 12,000 acres, it has some of the most picturesque areas along North Florida's Gulf Coast.  We decided to visit it for an afternoon's walk today after having lunch in nearby Panacea, Florida.

Kathy found Trident restaurant, which specializes in neo-Southern cuisine.  Overlooking the bay in Panacea, Trident is perched on the pristine edge of Florida's forgotten coast. Low tide reveals oyster beds and the tops of submerged crab traps as they dot the landscape. Pelicans, cormorants, and the occasional bald eagle soar overhead.  A dock (damaged by 2023's Hurricane Idalia) and a small marina and restaurant, adjoin the property.  Below Trident's deck, a whimsical sculpture of a great white shark and a sea captain greet those who will venture out on the new dock under construction:

The view out to the bay from the restaurant is spectacular:

With our bellies full, we headed a short way out to Bald Point State Park.  It embraces two stretches of primitive, pristine beach, sandwiched between stretches of vacation homes that, for some reason, have been allowed to build right up to the high tide line.  Below that line, we could walk the beach, so our walk stretched from one of the primitive areas into a residential section.

As we stepped out onto the beach, these two dead trees, standing right at the edge of the Gulf of Mexico, with their roots covered by high tide, caught our eye:

Here is a closer look at the further of the two trees as we approached it:

The trees were immense and stretched their arms into the great, blue sky.  We wondered why they were still standing.

Further down the beach, groves of live trees graced the forward faces of the grassy dunes:

Once we left the immediate area of the beach parking, we reached stretches where it appeared few people had walked.  Debris from numerous storms lay in regular lines along the beach, which, like tree rings, might have told us the story of a series of storms surging onto this coast.  The debris included many shells and pieces of shell, coral, sponge and miscellaneous driftwood.  Remarkably, there was very little trash.

One of the more curious and beautiful items we found was this blue-and-rose crab claw:

Horseshoe crab shells also graced the sand, and these two looked like they had been washed ashore together:

Kathy found the nearly-complete remains of a crab trap float that had come loose from its trap and washed into land.  We could see other, similar floats not too far offshore:

The shells here are unusual, and different from the shells we have found on the Atlantic coast.  This one was particularly beautiful in color, shade and texture:

Pieces of sponge, having dried and somewhat solidified and turned brown for reasons we do not know, sat on the beach.  Some almost stood upright as if stumps of long-dead trees.  In this way, they initially fooled us, because, near the two large dead trees, we found the stumps of other trees sticking up from the sand to trip unwary beach hikers.

We eventually reached a spot in a residential area where one owner built a house and deck so far into the tidal lands as to block our way, even though it was only mid-tide.  Full of questions about the validity of such building, we nevertheless decided this made a good place to turn around and return along the beach they way we had come.

Retracing our steps, we spotted this concrete pole anchor that we had somehow missed on our first pass.  Looking closely near it, we spotted what looked like concrete steps coming down the beach toward it.  We imagined that it had marked the end of a series of steps that are now covered by sand:

As we walked, a small group of sandpipers eating at the water's edge moved quickly ahead of us, feeding as they went.  They seemed to be making sure that we did not get too close, but were too busy eating to be driven away from their feeding ground:

Maybe this crab trap, that we saw as we neared our beginning, belonged to that errant float Kathy found:

The day was as nice as we could want:  sunny and about 64F, with only a light breeze.  We felt the nature gods had rewarded us for being patient and planning this walk for today.

Tomorrow, Sunday, will not be so pleasant.  We expect lots of rain and have plans to focus on indoor activities.  We'll probably see you again on Monday.