Tag Archives: nature hike

Cross Country Vacation Sept./Oct. 2025-Post 16

Posted on December 5, 2025 | 2 comments

Bald Point State Park, Florida

Bald Point State Park is located on Alligator Point where the Ochlockonee Bay meets Apalachee Bay. The Hubster and I have never been to Florida, much less the gulf coast, and we were looking for a place to stretch our legs. What a treat this place turned out to be!

The coastal marshes, pine flat woods, and oak thickets support a diverse biological community that makes this park perfect for birding and viewing wildlife. View migrations of birds and butterflies in the fall into winter. This park offers sunbathing, fishing and hiking and facilities include a fishing dock and picnic pavilions.

Bald Point State Park, Alligator Point, Florida

*Clicking on a photo will give you a closer look!

Pavement and boardwalks make for easy access, including wheelchairs, to white sand beaches and a marsh overlook. Public restrooms are available.

As you can see, on this gorgeous late September day, the Hubster and I nearly had the place to ourselves.

We didn’t see sea turtles, but we were refreshed and rewarded with a peaceful panorama. The sea oats fluttering in the ocean breeze were lovely.

It was fun watching this fisherman casting his net.

We had never seen this sea creature before (unfortunately it had met its demise), and the fisherman explained that it was a horseshoe crab. Did you know that these creatures are related to scorpions and spiders rather than crabs?! They have 10 legs and 9 eyes! They don’t reach adulthood until they are about 10 years old, and they can live to be about 20 years old.

We learned that with the outbreak of World War II, soldiers from Camp Gordon Johnston near Carrabelle practiced beach training here. In 1942, amphibious warfare training centers were hurried into construction. The Amphibious Training Center (ATC) camp covered over 100,000 acres of remote training area and varied beachfronts and sand bluffs. The US Army 4th Infantry Division that trained at Camp Gordon Johnston led the landing at Normandy.

In addition to the training function, German and Italian POWs were moved to this site in March 1944. Camp Gordon Johnston later became the second largest POW base camp in the state with branch camps at Telogia, Dale Mabry Field and Eglin Field. Prisoners housed at this site principally performed work in the military camp.

Did you know that a Gulf Fritillary butterfly has a chemical defense mechanism in which it releases odorous chemicals in response to predator sightings? Common predators learn to avoid this species. I wonder if this is anything like the skunks in my backyard!

I really wanted, but not wanted, to see an alligator on this trip.

Never happened.

We strolled on the boardwalk over the tidal marshes and creeks.

The ground ‘moving’ caught my eye and, upon closer inspection, the receding tide exposed hundreds of fiddler crabs! I think these are Leptuca pugilators, if I can believe Google, and are another creature that I don’t see back home.

Another critter I met was the American green tree frog. I have lots of his frog cousins back home and it was a pleasure to meet this little guy. If you want to know what he sounds like, then click here.

See the world around you!

Cross Country Vacation Sept./Oct. 2025-Post 9

Posted on November 10, 2025 | 6 comments

Dismal Swamp State Park, North Carolina

When I visit my daughter and fam, one of my favorite places to visit is Dismal Swamp State Park. It is very close to where the fam lives and a great place to get back to nature. I briefly shared about my first visit to this park here.

“Located in Camden County abutting the state’s northeast border with Virginia, Dismal Swamp State Park provides access to the Great Dismal Swamp, the largest remaining swamp in the eastern United States. This area features unique and abundant plant life and wildlife, as well as a rich cultural history that intertwines with George Washington, the Underground Railroad, and Prohibition.”

*Clicking on a photo will give you a closer look!

The one-of-a-kind swing bridge is the only access to the park and is staffed during park hours. Boating traffic has the right-of-way. The canal is an alternate route of the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway and is managed by the Army Corps of Engineers. Boat traffic from all over the world use this canal.

In the late 1600’s, the swamp was a wetland, covering over a million acres, stretching from the James River in Virginia to the Albemarle Sound in North Carolina. Native Americans hunted and fished here.

During the 1800’s, the swamp was a refuge for escaping slaves. The slaves who chose to live here lived in permanent settlements called maroon colonies. The Great Dismal Swamp is a designated site of the National Underground Railroad Network to Freedom.

Over time, attempts at draining to convert for agriculture, and harvesting the timber, took their toll.

There is a very nice visitor’s center where you can learn all about the canal and the swamp.

In 1974, over 14,000 acres was purchased from timber companies by the State of North Carolina creating the Dismal Swamp State Park.

On my first visit, the ranger enlightened me as to what these mysterious stumps are. This Bald Cypress does not grow where I live.

Turkey Tail fungi are a fun find and, through the wonders of the internet, I learned that, among other benefits, they are good for gut health. Don’t eat them raw, these fungi are apparently tough to chew!

Dismal Swamp State Park Turkey Tail Fungi

Also edible, but not raw, is the American Beautyberry. This pretty plant does not grow in my part of the world. I wish it did, because I learned that the leaves are a mosquitoes, ticks, and fire ant repellent!

Dismal Swamp State Park American Beautyberry

The delicate Tiger Swallowtail butterfly is missing part of a wing, but she knows how to make do. I admire her spirit!

Dismal Swamp State Park Tiger Swallowtail

To help pay the debt from the Revolutionary War, a whiskey tax was enforced, and later the Prohibition movement, became factors in the making of moonshine in secluded places such as the Dismal Swamp.

Dismal Swamp State Park Marbled Orb Weaver

This beautiful family hosted my hike!

Love them!

See the world around you!

Log Flume Heritage Site

Posted on June 26, 2023 | 7 comments

No man has the right to dictate what other men should perceive, create or produce, but all should be encouraged to reveal themselves, their perceptions and emotions, and to build confidence in the creative spirit. -Ansel Adams

What would life be if we had no courage to attempt anything? -Vincent Van Gogh

Great things are done by a series of small things brought together. -Vincent Van Gogh

In wisdom gathered over time I have found that every experience is a form of exploration. -Ansel Adams

If you hear a voice within you say ‘you cannot paint,’ then by all means paint, and that voice will be silenced. -Vincent Van Gogh

There is nothing worse than a sharp image of a fuzzy concept. -Ansel Adams

It is better to be high-spirited even though one makes more mistakes, than to be narrow-minded and all too prudent. -Vincent Van Gogh

The fishermen know that the sea is dangerous and the storm terrible, but they have never found these dangers sufficient reason for remaining ashore. -Vincent Van Gogh

In spite of everything I shall rise again: I will take up my pencil, which I have forsaken in my great discouragement, and I will go on with my drawing. -Vincent Van Gogh