Monday April 10th 2023

It was a very different kind of weather day. The temperature was back to average. There was low humidity and the wind was blowing strong out of the east. The sun dominated the sky most of the day, but a few times big black clouds passed nearby. No actual rain fell in this area.

I was back in my standard daily pattern of two walks separated by a period of time to do chores around my RV home. My first walk was along the river bank going down river. The early part of journey is along well defined trails. Once you walk beyond the day use area of the park the path gets more wild. It isn’t an official groomed trail, but it gets plenty of traffic. The trees and debris from the hurricane and other high water periods have not been professionally cleared. Other hikers have cleared a lot of the small stuff. A path is clearly defined, but it is necessary to climb over some trees and take wide detours around others. It is still worth it.

There some good views of the river along the path. It comes complete with alligators and birds. Once again I saw many limpkins. They continue to be all over the park. The one species of bird I wasn’t expecting was a turkey. On the far bank of the river one lone turkey strutted his (I think) stuff. Still the alligators were the stars. They were in the water and along the bank. This area seems to be home to a few bigger gators along with plenty of medium sized ones.

My second walk of the day was near sunset. I walked up to the bridge over the Myakka River. On the way there, I spotted a deer in an open area back from the road. This was the same area I saw several deer last week. At the bridge a wild hog with its collection of little ones was drawing all the attention once again. Tonight a young alligator actually came out of the water quickly toward the piglets. They collectively squeaked and ran to mom. The alligator quickly got about ten feet from the water, but the little ones were twenty or more feet away by then. The alligators need luck, surprise and I suspect darkness to have any real success. There is evidence that they do have success from time to time.

Sunday April 9th 2023

I woke to the sound of rain this morning. It was mostly light rain, but before it ended in the early afternoon there were a few heavy showers. The high temperature for the day was in the mid to upper seventies. Overall it was a much more comfortable day.

The park was very active for the Easter holiday. Groups had rented all of the pavilions in the day use area and other groups had setup awning to have Easter celebrations. At the bridge on the main park road over the Myakka River the parking areas were full of cars. A park volunteer was on the bridge providing information about the river and the animals visible. Today I only saw alligators, but at least a few of them were on the bank. The alligators in the water were watching several fishermen carefully. If anyone managed to hook a fish, I don’t think they would be able to land it and the alligators wouldn’t even say thank you.

This is a short blog today. I had a nice dinner with friends, so I didn’t get in any walks in the park. The birds were saved from getting their pictures taken until tomorrow.

Saturday April 8th 2023

Today’s temperature peaked in the mid eighties, but somehow it felt less comfortable than the higher temperature of the last couple of days. The humidity was a little higher, but most likely reason I felt warmer was my activity level. I got in more exercise walking today around the park in the direct sunlight.

My day began earlier than usual. I got up to make another reservation for next winter. There were no appropriate sights available at my first choices, but I was able to successfully book a reservation at one of my fall back Florida state park choices. These are bookings for next March, which is the height of Spring Break making competition high. In another two weeks I’ll try again at my one of my first choice parks.

Getting up early seemed to keep my energy level for the day low, but I still tried to get in a lot of exploring of the park. I started with a drive deeper into the park to Upper Myakka Lake. The low water level was very much apparent at the lake. The distance from the parking area to the water is about three times longer than normal and birds are walking in the water a long way from the shore. There is a good reason the nature excursion boat tours are suspended. I have stayed at this campground in December and in March/April. The water level in December is always much higher than the spring visit, but this is the lowest I’ve seen the water level. I found an article on the internet that reports the water flowing in the Myakka River is 33% of the normal flow. Mother nature must be leveling things out. The park was underwater for a long time after hurricane Ian at the end of September.

The damage from the hurricane is visible throughout the park. It is mostly in the form of downed trees, but there are other signs as well. All of the dead material that you usually see hanging on at the top of palm trees is on the ground. It looks like they floated around a lot in high water in some areas. In general there are many more open areas. As far as structural damage all five of the rental cabins are closed for major repairs after the storm.

I am still seeing most of the alligators in the water with their noses poking out, but I did find a few on shore today. The water birds also made an appearance near the lake. I saw a few Great Blue Herons, at least one Great Egret and many Limpkins. The Rosetta spoonbills that I’ve seen in December don’t see to be around at this time of year.

Thursday April 6th 2023

It was another hot day setting records for high temperatures in some nearby areas. Overall, not the best day for traveling to a new location. I got very damp from sweat preparing for travel this morning and again setting up this afternoon. The air conditioning in the cab of my motorhome kept it comfortable on the road.

I departed Colt Creek State Park at 12:30 after getting the toad vehicle connected and emptying the holding tanks at the dump station. Traffic going south to Interstate 4 wasn’t bad. I even managed to make it through a few of the traffic lights without stopping. Once on I-4 I found heavy traffic, but it only slowed into the forties a few times. Traffic never came to a stop. Everything changed once I reached Interstate 75 and turned south. Traffic slowed to a crawl at every exit. At a few it even came to a complete stop. Drivers just don’t plan ahead. They decide it is time to exit at the last minute and cut from the far left lane to the exiting lane very quickly. Everyone has to hit the brakes to accommodate the reckless driver.

As I got closer to my destination in the Bradenton Sarasota area traffic got worse. The overall speed came down and the number of stops increased. My last 2.5 miles on I-75 took a half an hour of stop and go driving to complete. The eight miles traveling west from the interstate to Myakka River State Park was a little more relaxing, but the state has completed a couple of construction projects in the last year. They have added two traffic circles to control traffic without adding traffic lights. Traffic circles are not my favorites. The “A” post at the side of my windshield is right in the line of sight for seeing ahead as you go around the darn circles. The result is I’m half blind to what is in front of me.

I arrived at Myakka River State Park after 104 miles and two hours and forty five minutes. This is my first visit since last April. Hurricane Ian has changed a lot of things since then. The first thing you notice is more visibility thru the trees. Either big trees have been removed or something else happened to remove the underlying brush. I noticed this characteristic on my way to the campground and in the campground.

After I got setup and had some lunch I set out to explore some of the park. My primary goal was to look for obvious hurricane damage, but I also wanted to check for alligators and other animals at the bridge over the river. As I walked along the road I saw plenty of big trees that had been uprooted. Some took other trees with them as they came down. The trees that impacted the road have been cut up and removed producing open space. The trees back in the woods away from the road are still there.

At the bridge over the Myakka River most of the alligators were in the water with only there eyes and snout visible. I saw one gator on the bank with its mouth open maybe to cool off. There were a few birds, but most were far enough away to make them hard to identify. However, I did see a new animal that I knew was around, but hadn’t seen before. A few hundred yards south of the bridge in the grassy area exposed by the low water level there were three big feral hogs along with a couple of young ones. I’m glad they were a long way away. I really don’t want to deal with a protective mother. To get a better picture I went down the trail along the river about half way to the hogs. I still took the picture at maximum zoom on my camera.

Wednesday April 5th 2023

The temperature set another record high today at several places in this area. It peaked in the low nineties here at Colt Creek State Park. The average high temperature for this date is around eighty degrees. On a positive note, there was more wind today and a few periods of cloud blocked sunshine. It resulted in a more comfortable day than yesterday.

This was mowing day in the state park. A staff member on a riding mower was cutting the grass around the campground this morning. This afternoon he returned with a trimmer to finish the job. When I walked down to the day use area I found evidence of more mowing. A big tractor with a mowing attachment had cut all the regular grass and added thirty to fifty feet of additional mowed area by removing the tall grass and weeds along the side of the ponds. The area they reclaimed was likely underwater during the higher water level durin the fall and winter. The area looked very different and unfortuneately they cut down many of the wildflower blossooms I’ve been taking pictures of.

This is my last full day at Colt Creek State Park. I have enjoyed all of my walks on the trails in the park, but I’m ready to move on. Tomorrow I’m moving back to the Sarasota area to Myakka River State Park. My December plans to stay there were camceled because of hurricane Ian, so this is my first visit since last April. It will be interesting to see what kind of damage from the hurricane remains.

I haven’t completed many of my pre travel tasks. Tomorrow morning will be very busy. The drive will be through areas of very heavy traffic and construction. I plan to leave here around noon and should be at my destination by 3PM. It is only about one hundred miles, but the traffic slows everything down.

Tuesday April 4th 2023

There wasn’t any fog this morning which allowed the sun to get an earlier start at warming the day. Combined with very little wind and increased humidity it turned into an uncomfortable day. The temperature peaked north of ninety degrees. According to the weather report on the evening news a record a new record high was set at some locations in the area. A similar day is expected tomorrow.

I found another set of trails to walk today. Not all of the trails are on the park trail map. There are some cross trails and bypass trails that are marked and maintained that don’t appear on the map. Today I followed a couple of those trails near the ponds in the main day use area. I didn’t discover anything new or exciting along those trails. All I can claim for my effort is some good exercise.

On my evening walk to the day use area I spotted one of the small alligators in the main pond. It was on a food stake out near the boat launch area. When the alligator has just its eyes and a little bit of its snout above water watching the shore, I call it a food stake out. We both knew the other was there. I wasn’t going to get too close and it never got concerned enough to dive and run. Tonight this little guy moved subtlety to keep me in its view as I approach the water. Someone walking a little dog or maybe young kids playing might have resulted in a different interaction. You always need to watch the water and the bank.

Monday April 3rd 2023

The fog was back this morning. Visibility was very poor. The sites around the camping loop were barely visible from my RV home. It was nearly 10AM before it lifted and gave way to bright sunshine. There was also very little wind today. This area is in the middle of an above normal heat period. The average high temperature is around eighty, but today it reached ninety. The lack of wind made for an uncomfortable day. Later in the week record warm temperatures are forecast. The good news is the overnight temperatures still get down into the sixties allowing for comfortable open window sleep sessions.

In addition to the heat it is very dry. Spring is the dry season in Florida. The daily afternoon thunderstorms of summer haven’t started yet. There is an elevated drought level across most of south Florida. A burning ban is in place for this county and many others in the area. In the week and a half I’ve been here only a few very brief light rain showers have fallen. Many of the swamp areas only had a little water when I arrived. Now they are mud at best and cracked dried earth in other areas. The selection of wildflowers to take pictures of has also decreased significantly. Much of the grass has gone from green to brown and crackles as you walk on it. I really wonder what this area looks like during the rainy season.

I got my two walks in today, but they were a little shorter than normal. It wasn’t the heat that shortened my routes, but more one of boredom. Without wildflowers or animals to take pictures of, I’m just walking the same trails I’ve already traveled. This evening I also had the added annoyance of bugs. The low wind level allows the bugs to be a real nuisance.

Saturday April 1st 2023

Today’s weather was a repeat of Friday. It was mostly sunny with lots of fluffy clouds, a wind out of the south and plenty of humidity. The temperature peaked in the upper eighties, but the wind kept things comfortable.

The cross country races were the big thing in the park today. I stayed at home all morning to keep out of the way of the runners. When I ventured out this afternoon shortly before 2PM, there was no sign of the race. All of the race paraphernalia that the race organizers had been setting up and distributing around the park since Thursday afternoon was gone. Even the big green arrows made from tape on the roads were removed. There was no sign that a race took place. The day use area was deserted. I call them a very well run race organizing team.

I took my usual two walks today, but they are getting a little repetitive. I am not seeing as many new things now. The wild flowers are the same species just in different locations and I am not seeing a lot of animals. Even the sunsets are starting to look similar. Tomorrow I’m going to hike back to and around the south end of the park. The group camping areas and the equestrian campground in that area should be quieter by then. For a park named Colt Creek, I still haven’t found anything that I would call a creek. Maybe it is hidden by the low water level.

In between walks I was focused on getting a few chores accomplished around my RV home. One of the chores was booking a campground for the end of the month. My winter set of reservations ends with my next stop. Then I’ll be in my summer mode. For the most part I play it by ear making reservations three weeks to a month ahead of time. It gives me a little more freedom of movement allowing me to wander little bit more freely. The down side is I have to remember to book holidays early and I don’t always get to go where I want when I want. At the end of this month into the beginning of May, I’ll be back in the Orlando area.