Saturday May 8th 2021

It was unusually cool overnight. I had to pull up the blanket early in the morning to stay warm, but it still turned into a beautiful eighty degree day. The humidity and warmer temperature is forecast to return tomorrow.

My destination today was the Deep Creek Conservation area run by the St. Johns River Water Management District. There is a 2.7 mile loop trail in the northern section of the conservation area that I wanted to explore. It turned out to be a nice exercise hike. I had hoped to have a nice wildlife exploration hike, but I didn’t find any significant wildlife. The most plentiful member of the animal community present were insects. In some areas the swarms of bugs were very thick.

The trail is mostly a wide grass lined path on high ground. It passes through swampy areas and pine forests as it meanders through the ground between the trail head on the highway and the St. Johns River. In a couple of areas I was glad it was a dry time of year. The trail was filled with mud that I needed to carefully negotiate. I thought I might find wading birds or other water fowl in the wet areas, but nothing was visible. Sounds from deeper in the swampy areas indicate there was life somewhere in the swamp. I enjoyed the walk, but I don’t think it warrants another visit.

The conservation area is only about twelve miles southwest of the RV park, but I took the long way home. I drove north along the east bank of the St. John’s River along a road lined with Live Oak trees draped with Spanish Moss. There were homes on the east side of the road and long docks out into the river on the west side of the road. It looked like a throwback in time. My return to the campground was about thirty miles.