Biking the spring to spring

Thursday March 7, 2013
Site 20, Blue Spring State Park
Orange City, Florida

 

 

As usual, I’m out early to visit the manatee before breakfast. 

My breakfast that is.  They seem to graze all day long.  Eat, rest, play….repeat.

The high yesterday was 69 and the low last night was 39 so there are quite a few manatee in the spring run.   They are doing their manatee things.  Among them I see Ann and her new baby.  Not a great picture but it’s fun seeing them.  Ann can’t leave the spring run until the baby can.  So it must either warm up considerably or the baby must be strong enough to swim fast enough to get to the grasses and back before getting cold stressed which can kill manatee.   I’m guessing she must be pretty hungry by now.  She swims with the baby up and down the spring run.  Up and down, up and down so it will gain strength.

 

 

   

 

 

There are actually lots of things to do at Blue Springs other than manatee.

 

After breakfast and a few chores, we get the bikes and ride out just beyond the park gate to do a section of the Spring to Spring Trail.

When complete, the Spring-to-Spring Trail will stretch 26 miles from Gemini Springs Park to DeLeon Springs State Park. It is being designed to accommodate walkers, joggers, inline skaters, bicyclists and people with disabilities. To date, Volusia County has completed several segments of the trail totaling nearly 15 miles.

 

This is the section we are biking today. It’s the middle section, segment 3 on the map above.  It runs along the train tracks.  Speaking of which, those are a factor at Blue Spring.   They sound like they are running right through the campground and for whatever reason, they blowwww their whistle three times long and loud every time they come through.  We haven’t been able to figure out their schedule.   Sometimes we’ll hear them 3 times in an hour between 4 and 5:00.  Sometimes 2 or 3 times over night.  Sometimes not at all over night.  I wear ear plugs to bed.  But sometimes they wake me up anyway.   Just thought you should know. 

 

As you can see in the map above the bike trail runs for about 3 miles from Blue Spring to Beresford Lake County Park.  So that is a 6 mile peddle.  We also did the  two mile trail around the park itself.  And some short “off trail” riding. Total 10 miles. 

Anyway,  the trail leaves from across the entrance to the park and runs along the train tracks which you can see some of the way but not all.  It is paved and very nice.

 

 

 

 

Very near the county park entry, there is a sandy trail leading off in the other direction, to the left, towards the lake.   We go exploring.  It’s beautiful back here.

 

 

 

 

Back out to the paved trail we ride on and find the entrance to Beresford Lake park goes under the railroad bridge.  Sure wish a train would come along while we are going either in or out. But no luck.  Where are those trains when you really want them?

 

     

 

The path around the park is also paved and we pass walkers and skateboarders on our way.  David gets a picture of me exiting the park for the ride back.

 

 

About 1/3 of the way back, we decide to try the slightly more rugged trail we had seen on our way to the park.   No pictures of the ride in as it is too rugged.  :-)   But we make it and it turns  out to be a beautiful spot.  We have to seek a path through the trees to the lake front but it’s worth it.

 

 

 

Boy do I wish we’d brought a picnic lunch in order to stay longer and enjoy this.  It’s really lovely here.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The only thing to mar the beauty is this trash left by earlier picnickers.  Inside the box are 7 empty beer bottles with their caps on.  Hmmmm I wonder about the thoughtfulness of not tossing the caps.

 

 

I tote it up to the paved trail on this very bumpy narrow winding path and leave it so hopefully someone who has recycling possibilities will dispose of it properly.   The second not so great thing about Blue Spring, aside from the trains, is they recycle nothing but aluminum cans.  Obviously everyone but us must drink soda/pop.  I don’t want to just put it in the trash.  I’m crossing my fingers someone from a nearby neighborhood will take it out to their recycling.  I would if I had a known recycling possibility. 

 

 

As we leave this spot I am really wishing we’d brought a picnic lunch especially since I just bought a backpack beach chair for exactly this sort of biking experience.  Oh well….maybe we can get back here before we leave.   Right now it’s nearly 3:00 and we’re hungry.  Time to head back.