Monday, January 18, 2016

Fairy Curtains

The Appalachian Trail is famous for its 'green tunnel'.  Today I immersed in the Florida Trail equivalent--a tunnel of Spanish Moss.

"Key West or Bust" - Day 88

I don't know if it was just the light, or my imagination, but the part of the trail that I hiked today along the banks of the Suwannee River seemed like a wonderland of delicate drapery.


The Spanish moss covered every branch and twig with its soft gray tinsel. 


It caressed my face as it wafted in the breeze, dangling over the trail. 


The day was bright and sunny and cool.  And in the afternoon the wind calmed, turning the Suwannee into a perfect mirror.


It started out frosty, and I passed many a saw palmetto leaf with these distinctive 'fairy diamonds'.  This seems to be the ice crystal pattern that the cells of the leaves produce.  They were gone by late morning.


Ground mosses were showing off too.  Here's a neat little clump accompanied by partridge berries:


But for me, as always the trees were the stars.  As I hike the Suwannee I occasionally digress from the trail to hike stretches of beach, and along this one I found this photogenic cypress:


Looking into the sun glint this scene featured another nice individual:


Finally there were some notable construction projects along the trail today.  The brand new Swift Creek Bridge towered high over a truly swift creek - an unusually noisy torrent.


And there was an unusual climb - about fifty feet of vertical, aided by twenty-nine steps.


It was a day with an unusual amount of up-and-down.  In nearly sixteen miles I did nearly a thousand feet of climbing (and the same amount of descending).  There was seldom a boring moment.  I'm getting near the end of the Suwannee River section and I'm going to miss it.


Here's the map of today's route and a collection of additional photos:




Suwannee River, Florida Trail at EveryTrail
EveryTrail - Find trail maps for California and beyond


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