Blackwater River State Park

Blackwater River State Park is located about an hour east of Pensacola, in the Florida panhandle.  I’m looking forward to the next two weeks because there are many hiking trails in the area.  The campsites are nice and roomy and the park is well maintained.   I spent the first day studying the trail maps, I can’t wait to get started!  That evening I took Brutus for is walk.  There are no lights out here so it’s really dark.  He was sniffing around, when there was a sudden rustling in the bushes. Whatever it was - there were several of them, they sounded big, and they were headed right for him. Seconds after I snatched him up, a herd of armadillos came out right in front of me, two of them actually walked over my foot. Because he’s deaf, he never heard them.  I don’t know about his sense of smell, but I don’t think he had a clue they were even there. As for the Armadillo’s, I don’t think they see or smell very well, so they were equally oblivious. 

I decided to join Weight Watchers, once again.  I do a pretty good job of sticking to the program without necessarily dieting, which works better for me.  WW just helps track what I eat.  I think just by writing down what I put in my mouth, makes me a little more conscious of my choices.  I eat pretty healthy when I eat at home and its pretty cool to log my hikes and bike rides on the activity tracker.  In the first week I lost 8 lbs.  I just need to stay out of restaurants and make sure I get my exercise in every day.  I’m hoping that if I can get some of this weight off, my knees and feet won’t hurt as bad.  I’ve been hiking one day then biking the next.   This gives my feet time to recover and gives me some variety.  I also like playing Wii fit plus.  I love the obstacle course and can work up a sweat in no time.  Believe it or not, Wii is even in the Weight Watchers activity tracker.

Saturday I was hiking when I heard something moving thru the bushes. I stopped to see what it was - a deer, armadillo, maybe a possum. It could have even been a wild boar (which I’ve seen plenty of). Nope, it was none of them. Out popped a guy in BDU’s. The strange thing was, when he saw me staring at him, he crouched down behind a tree. Not wanting to see what the heck he was doing, I vacated the area as fast as my crippled feet would allow. Note to self, make sure my orthotics are in the hiking boots before heading out… I did keep an eye over my shoulder as I made my way back to my truck. 

Monday the weather called for 80% chance of rain in the afternoon.  The weather reports sounded like we were in for a massive storm, complete with tornados for some areas.   I decided to head out early for my hike.  The sun was out and it was hard to believe a storm was brewing.  I barely got in the woods when I ran face first into a huge spider web.  Normally, the web is really fine and it’s hard to see anything.  This one was huge, the size of twine or something.  As I was pulling it off my face and neck I could see a huge spider frantically clawing it way to the top, and to my face.  I don’t think so!!!!    I posted a picture on Facebook and learned it was a banana spider.  A quick check of Google mentioned its known for its durable web.  I’ll say so, I had a hard time peeling it off me.  I continued on with my hike without further incident and got home well before the storm, which turned out to be no more than a few sprinkles.  It did bring in a cold front though, so good bye warm weather and good by bike riding.  That night it got down in the 30’s and is supposed to be cool all week. 

I decided I needed a break from the woods and headed into the mall in Pensacola.  Oh what a day I had!  I got my hair cut, a makeover at the Estee Lauder counter, my fingers and toes done, my eyebrows plucked, and a foot and back massage.  I also stopped at GameStop and found a ton of Wii board games like Monopoly, Life, Jeopardy, and Family Feud to name a few.  I get spotty satellite reception out here, so I’ve had a fine time all week playing games at night. 

There are no trash cans in this park, you put your trash out by the curb and the camp hosts come around in the morning and pick it up.  If I empty the trash at night, I put the bag in my truck so the critters don’t get to it.  I’ve come out a few mornings to find raccoon prints all over the side of my truck, but so far they haven’t been able to get in the trash.  They climb up on the tires, but from there they are unable to climb into the bed.  It’s kind of funny to see all the paw prints.  They don’t like to give up.

Florida has a hiking trail that runs the length of the state, called simply, the Florida Trail.  I’ve been hiking different parts of it all week, but since I’m by myself, I have to go out and back.  With another hiker, we could get farther by leaving a vehicle at some point down the trail.  There are many places where it intersects with roads, so it’s pretty easy to hike the next section each day.   Yesterday I headed out to a point about 45 minutes from the park.  I noticed lots of trucks with dog cages in the back, but it’s a rural area so I didn’t think much of it.  I got to the trail head and started out.  It was about that time that I realized it was hunting season and the area was swarming with men with orange vests and dogs with radio collars.  I passed several hunting dogs out by themselves with their noses to the ground.  The woods were not overgrown and you could see pretty well, so I wasn’t too concerned about being shot.  Also, I had on a red shirt, so I was hoping I was a bit more visible.  I never saw the hunters in the woods, just on the roadsides gathered by their trucks, or driving down some trails.  Don’t you have to actually go out in the woods to get a deer?

I finally broke the 10 mile mark yesterday.  I’ve been steadily building up my miles, adding a little bit each day.  Before my knee surgery, I could easily hike 15 miles.  In fact, I joined several hiking clubs and on weekends, I would only look for the long hikes.  This is the first place I’ve been with plenty of long trails.  I already made reservations at several other parks for the month of January, but I’m free all of February, so I think I’ll come back to this area. 

Too bad today is my last day here.  No time for a long hike, I have chores to do.  I’m headed back to Kissimmee and there are no trails in the area.  There are a few parks with short paved trails, that will have to do for the next 2 weeks at least.  The first week in January I’m headed back to VA for a few days. I’m cleaning out my storage locker and moving everything down here.  I’m refinancing my house in TN and buying a vacation rental property in Orlando.  With property being so cheap here and people coming do Disney in both winter and summer, I should have no problem finding something and keeping it rented.