More Payne’s Prairie, Lochloosa Wildlife Management Area, Micanopy Range
(posted from Alachua County Library, Micanopy, FL)
(this post covers 11-13 February)
--------------------------------------------------------
Wednesday, 13 February-
It rained HARD last night. I was a bit concerned about how much water was coming down and checked for leaks in the van several times but all was dry. This morning I woke to a mostly-cloudy sky and a sticky seventy degrees. I noticed a car had come in to the area sometime this morning and eventually I saw a guy walking about, looking down. After breakfast I unhitched the boat and cranked up the tongue jack to drain the accumulated rainwater from the bilge. The guy wandered over and we talked a few minutes about his hobby—looking for Indian artifacts. He had found a broken arrowhead in his walk today and said it was about 6000 years old. I believe he may have been a VietNam vet— he was about the right age and he wore a Nam-era Army jacket.
Since it was supposed to rain later today, I took a walk while I could. I thought I’d see how my new Teva sandals do. I walked the sand road further back into the WMA, watching for wildlife. I saw (and heard) several red-shouldered hawks and a great-blue heron and there are hundreds of ducks out on the lake. I saw raccoon and wild-pig tracks made since last night’s rain but didn’t see the animals themselves on my walk of about three miles.
I need to solve another problem with the kayak and since today’s going to be rainy, that will be my project for the day. I have a popular but poorly-designed set of wheels for the kayak (to move it from the van to the water and back). Two wheels are joined by an axle and centered on the axle is a vee-shaped bracket for the kayak hull. The hull fits in the vee okay but nothing prevents the vee bracket from tilting forward or backward. A strap is provided but does a poor job and I’m soon cussing it. So today I went to the local Lowe’s to remedy that. But first I had to get the wheels out of the kayak which, of course, is atop the van. I could take the time to set up my new kayak slide but I realized I could more easily just unhitch the boat and park the van beside the boat so I could stand on the boat to reach the kayak storage hatch. Once I got a good look at the wheels-assembly, I went in and picked out some stainless-steel eyebolts and a short length of perforated angle to hopefully remedy the problem but I have some fabrication work and few tools. We’ll see.
I also noticed a Barnes-and-Noble nearby so spent an hour picking out two guide books, one for bike trails and one for water trails.
Afterwards I drove to the library for the wi-fi connection and skyped for a half-hour with Labashi before heading back to the campground.
-------------------------------------------------------
Tuesday, 12 February-
The overnight was a good bit warmer (58 degrees) but today is cloudy and it’s supposed to rain later on. I thought I’d head to Gainesville for a little shopping but on the way stop at the Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings State Park. Ms. Rawlings was the author of ‘The Yearling’ in the Forties and lived in nearby Cross Creek. I hoped to take a quick house tour but it turned out the house was closed today so I could only self-tour the grounds. But that was fine. I spent an hour with three books of newspaper clippings about her life and learned she was a very complicated person. On the one hand she had an artist’s sensitive temperament but also was known to be a hard (and a problem) drinker, a good hunter, and wasn’t averse to dynamiting for catfish on the odd occasion—at least that’s how the story goes. I’d like to have met her.
Afterwards I followed the GPS to a local sporting goods shop to buy a better pair of sandals. I’ve realized that the Nikes I bought a few days ago have rubber straps along the heel and are likely to chafe—something I don’t want to chance.
I hit several book stores looking for some guidebooks I had seen on Amazon before leaving home. I found them too late to have them shipped and figured I’d pick them up down here but so far, no luck. I then searched for a Publix supermarket on the GPS but oddly enough only came up with one way out northwest of the city. But as a drove to one of the bookstores, there was one on the way. The GPS is great to have but the database isn’t real up-to-date. I mentioned it to the bookstore guy and he said there are probably a dozen Publix stores around Gainesville. What’s THAT about?
Heading out of the city I parked at the Bolen’s Bluff Trailhead and decided I’d take a chance on the rain. I walked two miles of the three-mile loop when the rain started. But fortunately, I was close to the one bench with a little roof. I spent a pleasant half-hour there listening to the rain on the tin roof before it let up enough for me to get back to the van in relatively dry condition.
With the rain starting up again, I then tried out the nearby Micanopy Range, a nice little shooting range attached to a gun shop. I liked this place. The facility has seen better days but there were no hassles and the staff was friendly and competent.
After that I stopped at the library and chatted with Labashi for the better part of an hour over Skype before updating the blog and then heading for the campground at Lochloosa Wildlife Management Area. I did a few crosswords and ended the evening with a few chapters of ‘Fifty Years a Hunter and Trapper’. Ol’ Woodcock is getting a bit repetitive, though. First E.F. tells you about hunting deer and trapping bears, coons, otters, and foxes and shooting the occasional wildcat in Cameron County. Then he tells you about hunting deer and trapping bears, coons, otters, and foxes, and shooting the occasional wildcat in Potter County. Then another County. Actually, it’s pretty interesting reading. E.F. started hunting and trapping in 1868 and ‘now’ in the book is 1908 to 1910 or so (the part I’ve read so far, anyway). His main camp is a few miles from current-day Cherry Springs State Park and the area is described as all wilderness. Hunting and trapping trips would run from October to at least January. E.F. and his ‘pards’, i.e., partners he hunted with, would hire a driver and team of horses to take their gear back into the wilderness, often cutting the road on the way in. Once back in far enough, they’d build a cabin for a few days before starting to set out traps and rig deadfalls. Once the traplines were set up, they’d hunt deer for a few days, then tend the traplines every three or four days, hunting along the way. They of course skinned the animals and stretched the hides but also sold carcasses or what they called ‘saddles’ to New York (after having the driver and team come in to take them to the rail crossing).
---------------------------------------------------------
Monday, 11 February-
It’s FREEZING down here. This morning the thermometer read 42 degrees when I awoke at Payne’s Prairie campground. After a quick breakfast I headed out for a hike on this sunny, cool day. Though my hands were a bit cold at first, within a half-hour I had my jacket off and enjoyed short sleeves in the rapidly-warming sunlight. Before long it was in the Seventies. From the Chacala equestrian parking lot, I had taken the Jackson Gap Trail for short distance, then the Chacala White and Chacala Blue trails. In an hour I was at the remote group camp and then took a long circle back near Chacala Pond. I walked seven and a half miles in two-and-a-half hours and that seemed like plenty for today. I didn’t see much in the way of wildlife though I did again have the opportunity to hear sandhill cranes at a distance and approaching. Their call is amazing. It reportedly can be heard for two miles. I know I hear it long before I saw the cranes WAY up there. I read they have a windpipe nearing five feet in length and it has been compared to a French horn. In any case, it’s a thrilling sound. The migratory sandhills come down from Michigan and Wisconsin according to the local brochure (but I bet some also come down from Manitoba after seeing sandhills up as far as Churchill last summer).
Back at the van I had a quick lunch and called the St. John’s River Water Management District to see if I could camp at the nearby Lochloosa Wildlife Management Area for a night or two. I loved staying at Payne’s Prairie but at $16.32 a night it’s too expensive to stay for long if there are any free or low-cost alternatives. As part of my web research for the trip I had printed off the regulations and maps brochures for many of the Florida WMAs and saw this one (Lochloosa) allows primitive camping but only if you first obtain a permit from the District office. I had tried calling Saturday but didn’t get an answer. Today I spoke with ‘Karen’ who said I could camp but she would have to send me a permit via email. I don’t have a printer for my laptop but thought of the Micanopy Library. After a shower and taking care of chores at the dump station, I went to the library and was indeed able to get my email and print from one of their internet computers. The computers were all busy at first so I had to take a reservation slip and wait for one. But I didn’t mind—I spent the time reading the local papers. And there I saw an odd one. A few days ago here in Gainesville a local 20-something young man took his dad’s BMW M5 up to 120 miles an hour on a private runway and literally flew it 200 feet off the end of the runway into trees, a ditch, and a fence, killing himself and four buddies. The runway is a private one in an exclusive ‘aviation community’, i.e., a development for pilots who want to build their homes along their shared runway (John Travolta has a home there). The kid apparently saw the end of the runway at the last second and swerved but that just sent the car airborne at an angle. What an incredible blunder.
After the library it was still a little early for supper but I wanted to try the pizza at Blue Highways (as recommended by one of the Payne’s Prairie rangers). Good pizza! Then I drove the ten miles to the WMA and parked for the night. The camping spot is on Lake Lochloosa, back a few miles of (good) dirt road.
I spent the evening blogging, doing a crossword puzzle or two, and planning the next day.
==== end of post =====
(posted from Alachua County Library, Micanopy, FL)
(this post covers 11-13 February)
--------------------------------------------------------
Wednesday, 13 February-
It rained HARD last night. I was a bit concerned about how much water was coming down and checked for leaks in the van several times but all was dry. This morning I woke to a mostly-cloudy sky and a sticky seventy degrees. I noticed a car had come in to the area sometime this morning and eventually I saw a guy walking about, looking down. After breakfast I unhitched the boat and cranked up the tongue jack to drain the accumulated rainwater from the bilge. The guy wandered over and we talked a few minutes about his hobby—looking for Indian artifacts. He had found a broken arrowhead in his walk today and said it was about 6000 years old. I believe he may have been a VietNam vet— he was about the right age and he wore a Nam-era Army jacket.
Since it was supposed to rain later today, I took a walk while I could. I thought I’d see how my new Teva sandals do. I walked the sand road further back into the WMA, watching for wildlife. I saw (and heard) several red-shouldered hawks and a great-blue heron and there are hundreds of ducks out on the lake. I saw raccoon and wild-pig tracks made since last night’s rain but didn’t see the animals themselves on my walk of about three miles.
I need to solve another problem with the kayak and since today’s going to be rainy, that will be my project for the day. I have a popular but poorly-designed set of wheels for the kayak (to move it from the van to the water and back). Two wheels are joined by an axle and centered on the axle is a vee-shaped bracket for the kayak hull. The hull fits in the vee okay but nothing prevents the vee bracket from tilting forward or backward. A strap is provided but does a poor job and I’m soon cussing it. So today I went to the local Lowe’s to remedy that. But first I had to get the wheels out of the kayak which, of course, is atop the van. I could take the time to set up my new kayak slide but I realized I could more easily just unhitch the boat and park the van beside the boat so I could stand on the boat to reach the kayak storage hatch. Once I got a good look at the wheels-assembly, I went in and picked out some stainless-steel eyebolts and a short length of perforated angle to hopefully remedy the problem but I have some fabrication work and few tools. We’ll see.
I also noticed a Barnes-and-Noble nearby so spent an hour picking out two guide books, one for bike trails and one for water trails.
Afterwards I drove to the library for the wi-fi connection and skyped for a half-hour with Labashi before heading back to the campground.
-------------------------------------------------------
Tuesday, 12 February-
The overnight was a good bit warmer (58 degrees) but today is cloudy and it’s supposed to rain later on. I thought I’d head to Gainesville for a little shopping but on the way stop at the Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings State Park. Ms. Rawlings was the author of ‘The Yearling’ in the Forties and lived in nearby Cross Creek. I hoped to take a quick house tour but it turned out the house was closed today so I could only self-tour the grounds. But that was fine. I spent an hour with three books of newspaper clippings about her life and learned she was a very complicated person. On the one hand she had an artist’s sensitive temperament but also was known to be a hard (and a problem) drinker, a good hunter, and wasn’t averse to dynamiting for catfish on the odd occasion—at least that’s how the story goes. I’d like to have met her.
Afterwards I followed the GPS to a local sporting goods shop to buy a better pair of sandals. I’ve realized that the Nikes I bought a few days ago have rubber straps along the heel and are likely to chafe—something I don’t want to chance.
I hit several book stores looking for some guidebooks I had seen on Amazon before leaving home. I found them too late to have them shipped and figured I’d pick them up down here but so far, no luck. I then searched for a Publix supermarket on the GPS but oddly enough only came up with one way out northwest of the city. But as a drove to one of the bookstores, there was one on the way. The GPS is great to have but the database isn’t real up-to-date. I mentioned it to the bookstore guy and he said there are probably a dozen Publix stores around Gainesville. What’s THAT about?
Heading out of the city I parked at the Bolen’s Bluff Trailhead and decided I’d take a chance on the rain. I walked two miles of the three-mile loop when the rain started. But fortunately, I was close to the one bench with a little roof. I spent a pleasant half-hour there listening to the rain on the tin roof before it let up enough for me to get back to the van in relatively dry condition.
With the rain starting up again, I then tried out the nearby Micanopy Range, a nice little shooting range attached to a gun shop. I liked this place. The facility has seen better days but there were no hassles and the staff was friendly and competent.
After that I stopped at the library and chatted with Labashi for the better part of an hour over Skype before updating the blog and then heading for the campground at Lochloosa Wildlife Management Area. I did a few crosswords and ended the evening with a few chapters of ‘Fifty Years a Hunter and Trapper’. Ol’ Woodcock is getting a bit repetitive, though. First E.F. tells you about hunting deer and trapping bears, coons, otters, and foxes and shooting the occasional wildcat in Cameron County. Then he tells you about hunting deer and trapping bears, coons, otters, and foxes, and shooting the occasional wildcat in Potter County. Then another County. Actually, it’s pretty interesting reading. E.F. started hunting and trapping in 1868 and ‘now’ in the book is 1908 to 1910 or so (the part I’ve read so far, anyway). His main camp is a few miles from current-day Cherry Springs State Park and the area is described as all wilderness. Hunting and trapping trips would run from October to at least January. E.F. and his ‘pards’, i.e., partners he hunted with, would hire a driver and team of horses to take their gear back into the wilderness, often cutting the road on the way in. Once back in far enough, they’d build a cabin for a few days before starting to set out traps and rig deadfalls. Once the traplines were set up, they’d hunt deer for a few days, then tend the traplines every three or four days, hunting along the way. They of course skinned the animals and stretched the hides but also sold carcasses or what they called ‘saddles’ to New York (after having the driver and team come in to take them to the rail crossing).
---------------------------------------------------------
Monday, 11 February-
It’s FREEZING down here. This morning the thermometer read 42 degrees when I awoke at Payne’s Prairie campground. After a quick breakfast I headed out for a hike on this sunny, cool day. Though my hands were a bit cold at first, within a half-hour I had my jacket off and enjoyed short sleeves in the rapidly-warming sunlight. Before long it was in the Seventies. From the Chacala equestrian parking lot, I had taken the Jackson Gap Trail for short distance, then the Chacala White and Chacala Blue trails. In an hour I was at the remote group camp and then took a long circle back near Chacala Pond. I walked seven and a half miles in two-and-a-half hours and that seemed like plenty for today. I didn’t see much in the way of wildlife though I did again have the opportunity to hear sandhill cranes at a distance and approaching. Their call is amazing. It reportedly can be heard for two miles. I know I hear it long before I saw the cranes WAY up there. I read they have a windpipe nearing five feet in length and it has been compared to a French horn. In any case, it’s a thrilling sound. The migratory sandhills come down from Michigan and Wisconsin according to the local brochure (but I bet some also come down from Manitoba after seeing sandhills up as far as Churchill last summer).
Back at the van I had a quick lunch and called the St. John’s River Water Management District to see if I could camp at the nearby Lochloosa Wildlife Management Area for a night or two. I loved staying at Payne’s Prairie but at $16.32 a night it’s too expensive to stay for long if there are any free or low-cost alternatives. As part of my web research for the trip I had printed off the regulations and maps brochures for many of the Florida WMAs and saw this one (Lochloosa) allows primitive camping but only if you first obtain a permit from the District office. I had tried calling Saturday but didn’t get an answer. Today I spoke with ‘Karen’ who said I could camp but she would have to send me a permit via email. I don’t have a printer for my laptop but thought of the Micanopy Library. After a shower and taking care of chores at the dump station, I went to the library and was indeed able to get my email and print from one of their internet computers. The computers were all busy at first so I had to take a reservation slip and wait for one. But I didn’t mind—I spent the time reading the local papers. And there I saw an odd one. A few days ago here in Gainesville a local 20-something young man took his dad’s BMW M5 up to 120 miles an hour on a private runway and literally flew it 200 feet off the end of the runway into trees, a ditch, and a fence, killing himself and four buddies. The runway is a private one in an exclusive ‘aviation community’, i.e., a development for pilots who want to build their homes along their shared runway (John Travolta has a home there). The kid apparently saw the end of the runway at the last second and swerved but that just sent the car airborne at an angle. What an incredible blunder.
After the library it was still a little early for supper but I wanted to try the pizza at Blue Highways (as recommended by one of the Payne’s Prairie rangers). Good pizza! Then I drove the ten miles to the WMA and parked for the night. The camping spot is on Lake Lochloosa, back a few miles of (good) dirt road.
I spent the evening blogging, doing a crossword puzzle or two, and planning the next day.
==== end of post =====
posted by Bezabor&Labashi | 19:19
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home