Alafia River After the Holidays

December 28. 2024-January 1, 2025                       Most Recent Posts:
Alafia River State Park                             Back at Alafia and On to the Holidays
Site 5                                                                             An Unfortunate Surprise
Lithia Florida

As I mentioned in my previous post, after returning from the hospital to Blue Springs State Park where Winnona was patiently waiting, I had only two days to get things packed up and move on to Alafia River State Park.  Looking back, I’m amazed. 

Then I had three days to get ready to fly to Maryland to spend the holidays with Carrie and her family.   I spent the those days doing the balance and eye exercises they gave me and the day after I arrived I tackled the easier of the two trails in the park that are hiking only.  I was pretty pleased to be doing some light weight hiking 4 days after discharge.

Some trails are shared by hikers, bikers and horse back riders.  In that case the right of way rule is – horses have it and bikers do not.  Bikers must give way to both hikers and horses.  But for now, I didn’t think I wanted to try shared trails.

I hiked the Lonesome Lake Trail several times in addition to the loops of the campground in the few days before my trip.   The trailhead goes off from one side of the campground loop I was in so it was very close.  Although it does have some elevation, it is mostly wide and an easy hike if you watch the roots.  In years past, I had never used a hiking pole here but I did for 2 of the days.  By day 3 I was able to do it without.  It was excellent exercise for my balance.

On the day before I left for the airport, I walked right by this guy just off the trail which is perhaps 5 or 6 feet from the lake.  I only saw him out of the corner of my eye as I walked by.  I’m more concerned about alligators on land than I am in the water.  For short bursts they can really run.

So I kept walking and he stayed there.   I came back just to a spot where I could get this picture of him but I was out of his eye sight.  I hoped.  When I came back around the trail a second time to see if I could get a better picture safely,he was gone.

I had 4 days after returning from Maryland before my next move.  So my time at Alafia was spent in small chunks.

Alafia is very well known and popular as a mountain biking park with  17 miles of  trails ranging from beginning to advanced.  The advanced ones are in an area of the park that was once a phosphorus strip mine.  This means the trails are narrow and go sharply up and down and around this disturbed are.  The trails were originally created and maintained by the SouthWest Association of Mountain Bike Pedalers (SWAMP) club, but are now maintained by the Friends of Alafia club.  They are rated Epic by the International Mountain Biking Association.  You bikers know what that means, I don’t.   The state took over the 7,717 acres that became the park in 1998.

There is one trail in the old mining area for hikers only and I hiked that one after I returned from Maryland.  This particular mine site was abandoned by the Agrico Company  before 1975, leaving a rugged, pockmarked landscape which reforested on its own.   Thus this trail name.

This trail has been aptly described as being  “along plummeting bluffs and water-filled pits”  a  “knife-edge walk atop narrow ridges, (it) scrambles over rocks and roots.”  It does all this in about a mile but that makes a 2 mile hike out and back plus the hike along shared trails to get to this trailhead.   In addition there are dead end side trails to be added if you wish.

There are many old mining pits that have filled with water.  Not sure if Lonesome Lake is one of them but these clearly are.

This last shot is from one of the shared trails on the way to and from Agrico.

I’ll be ringing in the New Year by moving further South to Oscar Scherer State Park in Estero Florida near Venice on the gulf coast.  The goal is warmer and it turned out to be a very good plan as I’m sure you are all aware by now.   More on that in my next post.