Friday, January 6, 2023

Back to December–Wekiwa Springs

December 2 – 8, 2022                                               Most Recent Posts:
Wekiwa Springs State Park                                        North for the Holiday
Apopka, Florida                                                            Other Damage in Flagler



20221204_102019On December 2nd I moved from Gamble Rogers to Wekiwa Springs State Park.  Having the pull through site at Gamble made it  really nice to be able to hook the car up with the RV in the site. 

At Wekiwa, I don’t have a pull through but I was lucky enough to reserve site 47, a full hook up site in my favorite of the two loops.   With my usual lack of finesse and inability to use side mirrors, I still managed to get the RV into the site and get set up.  Sandy site under Live Oak tree cover.


IMG_4326I developed a routine here that was similar to that at Gamble Rogers.  There is a lovely trail that goes from the campground to the spring.   Maybe 1/2 mile, I don’t really know.  My first morning I walked it over to the spring and took a look around especially at the kayak launch where I hoped to be able to drop of my kayak and leave it for my entire 2 weeks stay.

The boardwalk was known as the “wet to dry” trail.  It led from the spring up to the path through the scrub near the campground.

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The launch site is occupied by a concessionaire who rents kayaks and canoes by the hour.  Why they have hundreds of them I don’t know.  Could they really rent that many at one time even in the summer?

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Above the spring is the Wekiwa Grille where you can get sandwiches and drinks including alcoholic ones.

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I meant to go over and have a bratwurst sandwich and a chocolate milk shake but it didn’t end up happening.

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You cannot kayak into the spring area as it is only for swimming which no one was doing on this first morning walk.

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20221204_093153I alternated my mornings.  One morning I would hike one of the trails accessible from the campground and the next I would hike to the boat launch and paddle the spring run.

My first hike was to what is known as Lake Prevatt.

One thing I love about state parks is that I do not have to drive anywhere to go hiking.  I just open my door, step outside and follow the trail map.

There are so many marvels on the trails here.  The pine cones from the tall pines are large.

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But the flowers near by are tiny.

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Notice the web weaver in her web.

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From the dry pine woods the trail moves into a moister area as I near the lake.

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I find a variety of fungi  making use of the downed trees.  If the second are known as turkey tail then the first must be turkey feet right?












Along the path I had a staring contest for quite some time with this deer.

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She turned this way and that but always came back to watching me and my camera until she tired of me and wandered away.


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There was a selfie stand in front of Lake Prevatt so I took my picture with the indicated background.


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The walkable edge of the lake didn’t extend too far and was quite swampy the further I went.

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On my return I spied another spider web.

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It almost looks like spun metal.

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This is an in/ out trail so I walked back the same way I’d come in and took a picture of one of the three selfie stands along the way.  This one was in the scrub.

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Here’s the picture I took from it.

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I’ve left the woods, am in the scrub on sandy not dirt paths now.

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And then the pavement of the campground.


The next day I took my first kayak trip from the Wekiwa River run up the Rock Spring run.    I was out before anyone else was up other than the deer I encountered on my walk from the campground to the put in.  I love his little antlers



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It was a foggy very quiet morning.

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The little pied billed grebe was all alone in the fog.  He turned out to be there alone nearly every morning.

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The color and markings on the Greene Heron echo that in the water this morning.


I was quite taken with the stillness of the water and the perfect reflections and took several pictures of it along my way.

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I was surprised to pass this Limpkin.  He’s not a usual site on this part of the river.




Another bird I saw only this once was the female anhinga.

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From a distance she looks like the top of the tree branch.




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There is almost always an alligator sunning on my return trip.

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I was amazed to get such a good shot of this red bellied woodpecker.  They seldom are still enough.  But when I heard his tapping I stopped the kayak and continued to look until I spotted him.


A beautiful day on the water.


Most of my wildlife pictures are selected from a ridiculous number of the same bird or animal taken as I sit and watch them.   This is my very favorite little blue heron shot.  He’s clearly got a goodie but what a bad hair day.



I not only went kayaking on the spring run in the mornings but some afternoons I went swimming in the spring itself.  Unfortunately there was no way to take a selfie of me actually in the spring swimming. 


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Nice spot this fellow had picked to hang his kayak from two trees on the spring edge.

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I was just beyond him on the shore with this as my view.  I had my chair, my book and my towel and it was all walking distance from Winnona.  Doesn’t get much better.

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Very sweet days at Wekiwa Springs State Park.  If they would just let me stay for a month.

18 comments:

  1. Glad that you are doing better and back to posting. It's such an honor for you to take us with you, particularly when we can't currently be hiking ourselves.
    You are such a great storyteller, that along with your timely photos, it's easy to be there with you!
    I definitely love the river there, but have never seen someone use a hammock at that perfect spot near the swimming area, but it is sure is perfect!

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    1. I'm really hoping you two will soon be able to hike wherever you like and come with me in the future. Thank you so much for your kind words. Good to see you in the comments.

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  2. This post actually made me really homesick for the Florida Spring run kayaks. So love that part of Florida. The trails look familiar with the palmettos. I can remember walking Mattie on those trails (not Wekiwa, but similar trails at Ichnetuckee Springs. It has been almost 4 years now since our last trip to Florida. I may never get to kayak those rivers again. Makes my heart sad.

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    1. I can completely understand how your heart is sad. That is just the way I will feel when my days at the springs are over.

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  3. So glad you are in your happy place ❤️ Never have seen Selfie stands, how clever in this day and age. Beautiful shots of the spiderweb. I'm not a spider fan, but their website are such a work of art!

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    1. I believe the selfie stands are new and very nice. Spiders are amazing weavers. So much work must go into something so fragile.

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  4. Love the picture of the Red Belly Woodpecker and the spider webs in the sun. Except the one with the one with the large spider, could have done without that one!

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  5. Bratwurst sandwich and a chocolate shake. mm mm good!😋. You’re my kind o’ gal!
    Pine cones that large i lather with peanut butter and roll in bird seed to make a bird feeder.
    As usual a wonderful photo journey. Carry on toots! ❤️

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    1. Remember I didn't actually get that sandwich and shake I just thought about it. As they say, next time.

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  6. The reason that deer stood so long was she was in awe of the once-in-a-lifetime sighting of the World Famous Hiker and Tree Hugger Sherry Boyd! :cD

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  7. Oh, that is such a wonderful area of Florida! And that's one of my very favorite campgrounds. Your selfies are so cute. :-) And your wildlife photos are wonderful...I would love to be on that river right now!

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  8. I'd live to be on that river right now too. 😁

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  9. What a lovely place!! With our big-eared mule deer here, yours look so cute with those tiny ears :-) Wonderful orb-weavers, you captured some great webs!! Spring swimming and paddling in December is hard to beat, especially within walking distance of home. Happy to see my favorite Green Heron - thanks!!

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    1. Thanks for your comment Jodee. Walking distance is one of the things I love about this park.

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  10. LOVE being able to walk right from camp. The spider web shots are amazing! The selfie stands are funny, but convenient. Best is when you paddle and see so many wonderful birds plus the marvelous reflections. Wish you could stay there a month too.

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    1. I was really pleased to get the web shots. I'd not seen the selfie stands before anywhere. It's definitely a wonderful park but not as remote as where you stay. Few things like that in Florida.

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