The next hike on "the list" (#87) was one in
Jonathan Dickinson State Park, and last Saturday we decided that would be our fun activity. And it was fun!
It didn't necessarily start out enjoyably. We plugged "Jonathan Dickinson State Park" into the GPS and followed the directions. The destination wasn't quite what we expected it to be:
Technically, it was the state park, but it definitely wasn't the main entrance. So, we looked at the map ourselves and figured out our own directions! This is better:
First stop was the visitor's center, so we could verify that our hiking maps were correct, and get an idea for how long it would take to "do" the visitor's center on a later visit.
Then we were off!
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| This particular trail was part of the Florida Trail system. |
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| We thought taking a picture of the "love vine" was an appropriate Valentine's Day activity. |
The beginning of the hike was pretty much a straight stretch of sand, surrounded by various plant life.
Then we crossed into an area that had been burned previously. (I guess we'll find out how long ago when we read the exhibits in the visitor's center.) I was impressed with how beautiful it was in spite of its starkness.
We started on the "green" trail, then hiked some "white" trail, and after a while connected to a portion of the "Ocean to Lake" trail.
The terrain changed again and we saw a little bit of wetlands.
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| This section reminded me of Congaree National Park. |
About six miles in we came to back-country camping site, close to a marshy swamp area.
The terrain changed again! If you want to practice for our stake youth trek, this would be a great place. Even if it's flat, sand is not the easiest surface to hike, and we were grateful we weren't pulling handcarts.
I started this post several weeks ago, and since we're planning on our second visit tomorrow, figured it was time to post this. After our hike we stayed at the park for a picnic. I took more pictures, but this is long enough for now. Besides we're going back to the same picnic area, so I'm sure there will be even more pictures to choose from in a future post!
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