Go confidently in the direction of your dreams. Live the life you have imagined.

Henry David Thoreau

Hiking the Swamp Trail at Silver Springs

Saturday December 17, 2016                                                        Most Recent Posts:
Silver Springs State Park                                            Headed to Silver Springs, the Dreaded Oil Light Comes On
Silver Springs, Florida                                                                 One out of Two Isn’t Bad

 

There are several trails at Silver Springs and I figure we’ll have time to walk at least two of them.  We walked the river trail taking the kayaks down to the dock so today we do our favorite, the Swamp trail.   Each of the trails is about 2 1/4 miles long round trip.

IMG_6255

 

The swamp trail begins in the forest and is lined with palmettos and Sable Palms, Florida’s state tree.

 

 

 

When Sable Palms are young they are difficult for me to tell apart from the palmettos.  I have to look at the fan.  The Sable has a spear center and the palmetto a semi circle.

 

IMG_6218

 

 

 

 

Such thick undergrowth of palmettos with their sharp fron blades made traversing and exploriung the interior of Florida very difficult.  Imagine walking through here with no path.

IMG_6219

 

You know when you’ve come to the swamp part  when you see the boardwalk that takes you over it and to the river front.

 

IMG_6222

 

Looking back down the river.  On my paddle yesterday this is about how far I got before I turned around.

IMG_6226

I caught this anhinga in mid swallow.  Take a look at that neck.

 

The fish is making its way down.   I never get over the size of the fish they swallow whole.

 

He is soon back at it, fishing right from the rock..

 

IMG_6235

 

Widening my view looking up the river, I can see a cormorant on a fallen tree trunk on the left.

IMG_6231

 

Both the cormorant and the anhinga dive underwater to search for fish and fly in the air landing in trees.  The both spread their wings to dry them.  They are often mistaken for each other.  The cormorant has the hooked bill and yellow facial markings.

IMG_6242

 

IMG_6237

On our way back across the boardwalk we run into a guided trail hike we didn’t know about.  The are almost finished but the guide points out some some wild lilies just over the edge of the boardwalk..   They are really small and we would never have noticed them had he not pointed them out.

 

IMG_6251

 

IMG_6247

 

Back at the ranch, David whips up some oatmeal pancakes for breakfast.

IMG_6258

 

It’s just a lovely morning so we are cooking and eating outside.  What a way to spend a December breakfast.  SO glad we’re not in the mid atlantic any more.

IMG_6264

 

Yes these are chocolate chip pancakes with mixed fruit as the syrup or genuine maple syrup we brought back this summer from South Londonderry Vermont.

IMG_6266

Mmmmm – good!

IMG_6265

 

Tomorrow is the paddle all the way up the Silver River to the Spring Head, hope to see some gators and the monkeys.

 

 

24 comments:

  1. Those pancakes look delicious!! Sooo nice to eat outside in winter! Florida is the place to be :) More great birds! Thanks to Florida for those too!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Well those pancakes were delicious and Florida is the place to be UNLESS I can be with you and Celia!!

      Delete
  2. You are hiking the where I first met Florida back in 2000. I thought I knew Florida, but had never been there. I learned that Florida isn't Miami, necessarily, it is Silver Springs. I so love that place.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Florida really surprised me too when I first came to spend more than a week here as an adult. Silver Springs was a place I came to as a child but really came to love when we came with the RV.

      Delete
  3. Those pancakes do look tasty! The terrain is so different from what I'm used to.

    Happy New Year!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I am sure it is really different from you home William. You should come down for a visit and see for yourself.

      Delete
  4. I'm glad you've taught me the difference between sable palms and palmettos. With this last bit of trivia I'm now ready to compete on Jeopardy as a contestant! :cD

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Paul, Let me know when you are on the show and I'll tune in. Would love to see you on TV.

      Delete
  5. Breakfast fit for a King & Queen! When I was looking at the photos today I wondered if you keep them organized in any way, such as by date, place, subject, etc. You must have hundreds of thousands!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I do have thousands of photographs. I hope not hundreds of thousands. I organize them by date and keep the last 6 months on my laptop hard drive and the past ones on back up drives. I have an old laptop so there isn't much room

      Delete
  6. Fortunate sighting of anhinga in mid swallow. I've never eaten oatmeal pancakes but those look really good with fresh fruit and real syrup.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You are right Gaelyn it was just luck but I'm surprised at how much luck I have if I hang around long enough.

      Delete
  7. New to your site, very interesting! Enjoyed the photos and commentary. This is a part of Florida I had not imagined, but hope to visit some day. I'm thinking I may have to find a kayak I can get out of - getting in isn't the problem - it's the getting out of it. Happy New Year!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Jerry, So glad to have you here. It's true that getting out is harder than getting in but you'll get the hang of it and it's oh so much fun. Thanks for your comment. Hope to hear from you often.

      Delete
  8. HAPPY NEW YEAR to you both!!! Just wanted to remind you how behind your blog is;o))) LOL

    You are enjoying one of my favorite parks and eating Pancakes, one of my favorite foods and will be paddling one of my favorite paddles again tomorrow....

    LIVE IS GOOD and Happy New Year AGAIN!!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. HA Nancy! Everyone but you may have given up on my being up to date. But Happy New Year to you too!

      Delete
  9. Your method for remembering the difference between Sabal palms and saw palmettos is great! Think of it this way...Sabal palms are trees, so they reach for the sky (the pointed center), while the saw palmetto is a bush (flat center).

    Another way to distinguish between an Anhinga and a Cormorant is the bill...Anhinga bills are pointed, like the tip of a Capital A, for Anhinga. Cormorant bills are curved like the letter C, for Cormorant.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Paula for even more help in remembering which is which and who is who. I still think you should work for the park service.

      Delete
  10. The Pancakes look especially yummy. No eating outside here. The temp overnight will be close to zero with a foot of snow on the groud.... Brrrrr I especially enjoyed the pics today...It makes up for being snowbound.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Those pancakes do look so delicious and healthy too! I loved the palms when we were in Florida. We had to discourage people from cutting them and collecting them. People can actually get a permit to collect them!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Oh, PS...thanks for putting a 'where we are' on your sidebar!

      Delete
  12. I love that Florida landscape of saw palmettos! Great tip for distinguishing between the palmettos and the young Sable palms. Now I just have to remember for next year. :-) Wow, your pancake breakfast looks amazing! And eating outdoors....lucky you!

    ReplyDelete
  13. Seeing the palmettos and palms next to oak trees has been a real surprise along the gulf - such a contrast. Love the delicate little Lillies - what a treat to find along the path. I need to find a recipe for oat pancakes, those look wonderful.

    ReplyDelete
  14. Thanks for the tips on identifying the correct bird or plant - I usually can't recall which is which. As you already know ... ;)

    ReplyDelete

Your comments are the best part of this blog for me.
I LOVE hearing from you!