What better way to start the year than a New Years Day Hike on a warm Florida morning?
This delightful 3 mile meander starts at the Oklawaha River public lands information center near the Delks Bluff Bridge on SR 40, just east of Ocala and wanders down to the river though huge Live Oaks, towering Royal Palms and the ever present Cabbage palm and Saw Palmetto.
Click on the images below for a larger picture.
Betsy took the lead on this Live Oak leaf carpeted trail. But not for long! Almost immediately she walked into a BIG spider web across the trail with a BIG spider in it. It was quite a beauty actually. From that point on I was on "Spider Patrol" as I took over the lead.
As we walked along I spotted a piece of a Live Oak branch with Resurrection Fern growing on it. This is a common site in much of Florida. The fern grows on both dead and live wood and occasionally dead branches come down and you can then get a close look at this cool fern.
This weird looking palm "frond" caught my eye.
Here Betsy stands next to a nice specimen of Royal Palm.
The first time I came across this palm was about 5 years ago in Punta Gorda. They had been used as street trees. The trunks were so smooth and symetrical I though they were artificial! Plus, the color of the trunk looks just like cement.
Beautiful!
Ugly!
There have been many photos taken of Palm leaves - so why should I miss out?
If you want more photos and info about this trail and the Silver River you can check out my January 2006 trip report.
FINIS