The Savage Traveler: Winter Trip 2016-Hillsborough River 3

Fri. Feb. 26-: We got a lot of things done in the morning including French toast for breakfast made with the Cuban bread, a load of laundry, washing my hair, grilling sausages for lunch and some for Jambalaya along with a chicken breast some other night, frying pork sausage with Taco Seasoning and using half of that to make chili in the CrockPot for dinner. After all that we rode our bikes to the Trailhead for the 3.2 mile Florida Trail. There are 14 numbered trail markers along the way. The first third of the trail goes along the river on the bank across from the campground and picnic area. It was really nice and we saw a Great Blue Heron and an Ibis along the way, although most birds weren’t around at mid-afternoon. The sun shone brightly but the temperature never got much about 62° all day. As the trail turned north into the Hammock we saw some really large Live Oaks and a pair of pileated woodpeckers. When we got beyond marker #9 the trail became muddy and swampy, eventually deteriorating into practically a running stream. We had to bushwhack our way through the heavy underbrush, trying to find high ground. At one point I went nearly ankle deep into mud. We had gone too far to turn back and just as we feared we would be forced to wade, we came upon slightly higher ground at marker #11 and finished the hike without problems. The sun was setting by the time we rode back to the campsite and the temperature dropped into the fifties, so the chili tasted fantastic!

The trail followed the River for about a third of the way

Crossing the bridge to the other side of the river

Florida Trail

Palmetto in the sunlight

Ibis fishing right next to the trail

A very large Live Oak

The Florida Trail got swampy at first.....

...and then became a stream for a while.

Overnight it got down to 38°. We rode over to the Poolside Café Saturday morning (it opens earlier on the weekend) and finally shared their big breakfast burrito filled with potatoes, bacon, cheese, eggs and salsa, which as promised, was plenty. We read while we waited for the day to warm up a bit and then set out to ride the 6.7 mile (one way) King Fort Trail, part of which is the old trail that connected the line of supply forts (including Fort Foster) built for the Seminole Indian Wars. The trail begins as part of the Restoration Wetlands we rode earlier in the week. We took the fork and followed the markers for the King Fort Trail, leaving the State Park land and then riding on a wide hard-packed dirt road for a short way before turning to follow the trail into a Hammock. We quickly became bogged down in larger and larger puddles and mud until we had to give up and turn around. Instead we decided to continue on the road to see where it led. Soon it went into Dead River Wilderness Area and continued as an easy surface to bike, with few cars and no dust when they passed. Eventually the road lead to Dead River Park. There was a large parking area and trail signs that showed us that we were at the other end of the trail we had taken on Tuesday from the other direction. We rode on into the park where there was a lovely picnic area on the banks of the Hillsborough River and even a bathhouse with flush toilets and a shower for groups who hike in beyond the picnic area to camp. Marv had packed a picnic lunch which we shared at a picnic table next to the river. Then we biked the hard, dry trail along the river, back out of the Dead River area, and into the State Park. Feeling very good about the day, we took the park road around the long way and back to the campsite, making for a 9.5 mile bike ride. We had invited Bill to come for Taco Salads using the rest of the pork taco meat from yesterday. Then all three of us bundled up as the temperature again dipped low and we walked over to Cedar Landing for a Ranger presentation on “Wildfire”. It had been a really nice day.

The road

Dead River Park picnic area

The trail

The same overlook we had seen Tuesday, early in the morning,
now in the full afternoon sun

We bid farewell to Bill and Hoosier on Sunday morning. Bill’s wife, Lynn, was flying down to drive back with him to Indiana and wanted to leave as soon as she arrived. We drove over to Tampa to have lunch at Brenda and John Sternberg’s with Louise and her driver, Joanne. Louise had had a birthday on Saturday so we had a little celebration for her. John and Brenda had baked a chicken and a rack of ribs, which he finished on the grill. With it there was a fruit salad, cole slaw, and green beans, hearts of palm, and red onion with a light vinaigrette. It was all delicious! After we ate birthday cake, John, Brenda, Marv and I went for a long walk around their charming, old neighborhood with its brick streets and variety of home styles. Some were old small places that had been fixed up and some were totally new construction where the owner had razed the old house to build. Louise was sitting in their sunny courtyard when we got back. She and Joanne were ready to leave to drive the hour or so back to Sarasota and we left at the same time, since our drive was 40 minutes or so. Sadly, we didn’t get any pictures of our time together. With a stop to work on the internet at MacDonald’s we got back to our campsite as the sun set. After the big lunch we only needed a light supper and then we watched the Oscars and got lots of ideas for movies we’d like to see.

Monday was a beautiful day from the very beginning. We had breakfast and read a bit, then left to drive to Lakeland. The GPS had said it would take us 45 minutes or so but it was less than that when we parked at Joker Marchant stadium. Ross and Pat drove Janice and Lou from their common resort of Cypress Cove near Kississimmi and met us about 10 minutes later. We all bought tickets for the annual pre-pre-season game against the local College of South Florida. This was the fourth one we had attended and it is always such fun to be there and watch the college boys give it their all against pros. First we walked to a Family Restaurant across the street and a few blocks down from the stadium. We all agreed you know it’s a home cooking sort of place when they have liver and onions on the menu. Marv had a Western Omelette and I had a turkey and bacon club. We talked and caught up over lunch and we found out that Janice’s arm problems are actually 5 herniated discs and some sciatica in her spine! She will have 6 weeks of PT in hopes of alleviating the pain and strengthening her muscles. Everyone was full when we walked back to the stadium and the game got underway. We had bought bleacher seats sitting in the 78° sun but slowly each of us made our way to the seats under the roof where the slight breeze and shade felt great. The Tigers started their regular rotation, but as each of the top players batted one time they made way for lesser players and we didn’t see them again. The College team did a credible job and were tied most of the game but the Tigers ended up winning 7-2. What a thrill for those young men to meet and play with the Pros! It was even harder to say “Good-bye” to the Oiens at the end of the game since we have no idea when we’ll see them again. On our way back we stopped at a produce stand in Plant City that had been recommended to us. The Strawberry Festival starts Thursday and so the whole town was in full Festival mode. The prices at the stand were better than we expected and we left with a quart of mini-peppers, a quart of strawberries, 4 pounds of tangerines and two cucumbers, all Florida grown, for around $8. We made Jambalaya for dinner with the chicken and sausages we had grilled the other day and enjoyed it with salads. There will be plenty for dinner another night. The evening was the warmest we had had in a while and we took a walk around the silent camping loop before we went to bed.

Too bad our photographer (a stranger) cut off most of Lou!

Tuesday Marv made a wonderful omelette packed with veggies and feta cheese while I made a fruit salad. It was already warm enough to eat it outside and then we read most of the morning.

Who minds cooking with a view like this?

After lunch we ride our bikes around the circle to hike the final two trails, the 1.2 Baynard and 1.2 Rapids trail from the picnic area. We had done just part of the Rapids trail earlier but wanted to do the part that goes all along the river. There is a picturesque suspension walking bridge built by the CCC that crosses the river between the two paths but it’s closed now for preservation and restoration. It was very nice but we didn’t see any alligators and only one turtle, a Zebra butterfly and one egret feeding in the rapids. I washed my hair when we got back and Marv made cornbread which we enjoyed with the leftover chili and salads. Then we began packing the truck because our two weeks were up and we will leave Hillsborough River tomorrow. My bike had 83 miles on it when we put it away, meaning we had ridden over 37 miles in the park. It had been a wonderful stay in a lovely park that offers so much to do.