Devil's Head National Forest Lookout Fire Tower

View of Devil's Head looking west from Castle Rock, CO

Devil's Head is located in the Pike National Forest a few miles west (and above) Castle Rock, CO.  It has a National Forest lookout fire tower perched on top of the granite there at 9748 feet above sea level.

Originally used from 1912, then built in 1919, and updated in 1952 to the current lookout, the Tower has been in constant use for over 100 years.  For campers there is a campground nearby, LINK HERE.

The Fire Tower is on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places.  A tiny caretaker's cabin is located below the tower, the Ranger carrying food and supplies in by backpack weekly.  Still today, it is the last "manned" fire tower in Colorado, maybe in the United States, all the others being automated.  That makes it somewhat of a tourist attraction and a great place to take your kids.

The day we went, the parking lot off Rampart Range Road was packed.  The summer weather in the Rockies was awesome!  The trail was an easy hike, with lots of views and neat Pikes Peak granite formations along the way.  At the end our trip was rewarded with a card signed by the Ranger in the tower.

Pikes Peak Granite

The view from the top

I am a Squirrel : )

Those last 143 steps up the steel stairs were steep, but the 2.8 mile approach trail is rated easy.  The view is well worth the effort and you can see 100 miles in almost every direction.  It is like looking out onto a flat map before you, the hills and valleys seem all the same.

Counting steps

Getting there is easy, from Denver, go south on highway 86 to Sedalia.  Then go right at the light onto CO 67.  Turn left onto Rampart Range Road and follow the dirt road to the parking area on your left. Beware of weather closures.

Devil's Head Lookout Fire Tower

Castlewood Canyon State Park

From the Castlewood Canyon rim

Nestled along the front range in central Colorado is Castlewood Canyon State Park.  The ridgetop portion of the park includes picnic sites, mountain views and hiking trails, while the lower canyon section of the park features historic sites, hiking trails and more picnic areas.  While no overnight camping is allowed in the park, the day use area includes 100 miles of trails.

View of the Highway 83 bridge from the gazebo

Cherry Creek

Near the old lake that formed above the dam

In the historic sites area are the ruins of a stone walled pioneer home, and the Castlewood Canyon dam. This dam burst during abnormally heavy rains in 1933, sending a 15 foot high wall of water flooding through Denver.  Today there are trails to both sites.  Please stay off the dam and watch for snakes.
We used to live in Castle Rock and visited the park often.  It is Cherry Creek that runs through the park.  For a bit of history, Denver was originally built at the confluence of Cherry Creek and the Platte River. The REI store is located there now and you can hike to Denver (with some road walks) along various trails all the way from the Castlewood Canyon park.  I bicycled that route some time ago.
Reaching the park is easy from the Denver area.  Go south on I-25 and take exit 182 onto State Highway 86.  Go east on 86 to Franktown.  Turn south on State Highway 83.  The park entrance is on the right in about 5 miles.

The Haulover Canal

Haulover Canal Historical Marker

People have been dragging canoes and boats across a thin strip of land between the Mosquito Lagoon and the Indian River Lagoon for longer than these places have had names.  That thin strip of land is now called the Haulover Canal.

Drawbridge

The drawbridge you see today was built in 1963.  The Army Corps of Engineers took over the area in 1927, widening and deepening it to the size it is now.  The boat ramp, launch & parking lot were built.  Recently the ramp road has been paved with a Manatee Watching deck built on the north side of the canal.

The rules are simple, protect the manatees!

In 1887 the Florida Coast Line and Transportation Company started the canal at its present location.
In 1852, contractor GE Hawes dug a 3 foot deep, 14 foot wide canal using slave labor.  Heavily used by the riverboats and local traffic, it was completed just prior to the third Seminole War.
Going back in time, people pushed and pulled boats across mulberry tree bark which was laid on the ground.  They used logs later on to roll the larger boats and schooners across.

View to the southeast

This is a busy spot for launching small boats and kayaks into either lagoon to spend the day.  Part of the Intercoastal Waterway, large sailboats and motorboats pass through here daily.  I have fished there many times, catching nothing while watching paddlers unload their huge catches in front of me.  The place has a quiet appeal and the current makes paddling interesting as it changes direction with the tide.  I launched a canoe here a couple of times and spent a whole day around manatees while exploring the coastline.

How cool is it?

The new manatee watching area is nice with paved parking and a railed walkway above the water.  They have also added a thermometer to a sign so you can assure yourself the water is cool enough to attract manatees.  Educational signs have been added for children and there is school bus parking also.  The walkway has a plaque in memory of Wildlife Officer Joseph Oliveras, who served this area faithfully from 1971 to 2001.

Thank you and yours for many years of service

The Merrit Island National Wildlife Refuge surrounds this area with incredible bird watching opportunities all around.  Established in 1963 as an overlay of the Kennedy Space Center and containing 140,000 acres, it is a large place and since the shuttle program has ended, it is very quiet.  Pick up a pass at the visitor center every day from 9 am to 4 pm except Sundays and Federal Holidays, and tour Black Point Drive to see wildlife.  To fish here (for free) you need to pickup a free fishing permit.  If you want to watch large wildlife, look for turtles and alligators.  Yes, alligators seem to like the brackish salty marsh water so don't let them surprise you!
To get here, travel south on US 1 from New Smyrna, turning left onto SR 3 about two miles south of Oak Hill.  From I-95, take exit 220.  Drive east on SR406/Garden Street four miles and cross the Max Brewer Causeway Bridge.  The visitor center is 4 miles east of the bridge (stay right at the fork in the road).  To get to the Haulover Canal, take the fork in the road to the left.

St. Augustine Lighthouse

St. Augustine Lighthouse Keepers House Before Restoration

I have been visiting St. Augustine, Florida for many years, as a both a resident and an out-of-stater.  In the early 1980's I visited the lighthouse, which back then was a burned out shell, fenced off from all since arson destroyed the Keeper's house in the 1970's.  Birds nested in the ruins.  Trash blew past the fence.  No one was there but me.  The sign behind the fence promised a future restoration project, so I took a couple photos.
Since then, St. Augustine has risen to the challenge.  The Junior Service League restored the Keepers house and created a museum and store next door to the lighthouse which opened to the public in 1988. In 1993 it began allowing tours up to the deck of the freshly painted lighthouse.  In 2002 the US Coast Guard turned over the deed of the lighthouse to the St. Augustine Lighthouse and Museum, Inc.
In 2011, over 213,000 people visited the site which was run at the time by 272 volunteers.  Other lighthouses around the nation look to St. Augustine as an example of one of the most successful lighthouse restorations in our time.
The LAMP, or Lighthouse Archaeological Maritime Program runs varied programs including Lost Ships, Sonar Workshop and others.  They also run a 4 week field school working on marine archaeological discoveries of about 170 wrecks in the area.  This is an active series of programs and is worth checking out for your next visit.
I too have climbed the 219 steps of the lighthouse with my family and enjoyed the view in all compass directions from 165 feet above the ground.  I thought it may be fun to create a video of the lighthouse.  It was cool to take photos of my older 35mm prints and add some new video, shot on location last week just prior to the daily summer downpour.  Enjoy the short video here.

The Yearling Trail in the Ocala National Forest

The Yearling Trailhead sign, across SR 19 from Silver Glen Springs.

Last week I traveled to the Ocala National Forest to hike the Yearling Trail.  If you didn't know, the Yearling Trail is named for a fictional story written by Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings in the late 1930's about a family subsistence living in the Florida scrub, who's son adopts a wild fawn.  I read the story while mending my broken hip in 2012.  The story is written conversationally, in the way the people spoke then, and it covers the antics and adventures of adolescence and the hardscrapple life they lived.  Most amazing to me is also what was most amazing to Rawlings, that these people lived with absolutely nothing, yet were happy.
They made a film about The Yearling, shot on location at Pat's Island about 10 years after the book was published. You can read more about the story here.
Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings visited the Long family living on Pat's Island and wrote from the stories they told, fictionalizing the people's names while covering their everyday lives.  The story about the fawn happened at least 50 years before that time.  She was a great listener, capturing the details and phrases of a time long past.  Her book Cross Creek is also a very good read about old Florida.
The Ocala National Forest created the hiking trails in the Juniper Springs Wilderness area that illustrate the Pulitzer Prize winning story.  Markers along the trails are set where homesteads used to be and where cemeteries, dip tanks and sinkholes still are.  You can find a map here.
Pat's Island is a hill above the Florida scrub that is covered with pine trees and is cooler and wetter than the scrub around it.  Much like an Island surrounded by water, Pat's Island is surrounded by the poorer and dryer scrub lands around it.

Hot & dry Florida scrub with lots of wildlife

Trail kiosk

From the Trailhead on highway 19, you hike west through one half mile of hot Florida scrub.  The white sand is quite dry and the trail offers almost no shade.  The scrub has a few towering pine trees but is mostly low shrubbery, bushes and palmetto.  It still supports a lot of wildlife like the beautiful and endangered blue scrub jays and the bright red cardinals that I watch flit from branch to branch. Wear a hat, bring lots of water and use sunscreen.  Kiosks along the trail explain the story and the trail markers.  There is also what looks like a blank white sign.  This sign used to explain the land contains archaeological materials that are not to be dug up or removed, but the paint is worn and faded away.  Practice Leave No Trace and leave the archaeology for other hikers to discover.

Blank archaeology sign, the far trees in the background are Pat's Island

You will see Pat's Island ahead as a dark line of trees as you climb towards it.  Once you reach the trees, look back at the rolling scrub lands and you can see that you have, in fact, climbed a hill.  In the shade it was much cooler and the wind in the trees was peaceful.  At the first marker, I took the Jody's Trace trail to the right to follow counter-clockwise around Pat's Island.  This portion of the trail was not cleared yet and I walked off it repeatedly.  By carefully watching the yellow blazes on the trees I could follow it, but I had to pay close attention as the shrubbery and wiregrass had grown to cover the trail in many places.  There were some careful balancing moments with multiple fallen tree crossings, but with patience and a walking stick you will be fine.  The volunteers must clear these trails annually to prevent trail loss, and I expect they will get to this section before summer heats up.

Jody's Trace trail sign, turn right

Disappearing trail, must watch the yellow blazes closely

I did stop from time to time for a photo and to listen to the wind.  Once when stopped I heard the knock-knocking of a red headed woodpecker and was able to get a photo of that elusive bird.
The trail passed through shade and sun, going through several burn areas, some with tall widow makers all around you.  Once dead, these sentinels stand strong for a decade or so, then are silently toppled by wind.  Do watch and be careful.  I did feel the sense of stillness around me a few times, surrounded by stark sentinels on all sides, dead oak trees and dead pine trees where the fires once burned too hot.  But then I moved along into shade with birdsong and the wind sounds through pine needles keeping my thoughts company.

Widow-maker propped over trail by a very thin sapling

Look closely between the trees to see a red headed woodpecker knock-knocking

Coming down a slight incline the trail passes adjacent to a dip tank, where cattle were driven through a chemical (crude oil?) filled trough in the ground to kill ticks.  Though it is nearly 100 years old, do NOT drink the water!  Here is a video about how this works.  Further along a marker showed there used to be Calvin Long's field to the right, but the trees have reclaimed it all.

Dip Tank

Once a field

 The next marker was at a trail junction, where you could either travel south to a cemetery and the return trail, or hike north then west to the Florida Trail.  It is also the site of the sinkhole.  About 100 feet across and at least 60 feet deep, this sinkhole used to trickle drinking water to the 12 families who used to live here.  The southeast side has been shored up to prevent the sinkhole from filling in.  There are dogwoods and hickories here.  From the rim I couldn't see any water in the catchments or dripping from the now dry moss along the side.  I think the water table has changed.  With the recent rains, there should be some surface water lingering, but I didn't see any.

Trail sign, left to cemetery, turn right to Florida Trail

This sinkhole used to supply drinking water to about a dozen people who lived here, now it is dry

There used to be Patrick Smith's homestead here, right next to the sinkhole, but there was no sign of it on the ground besides the marker post.  Maybe on another trip with more time I can look closer for foundation or fireplace stones in the underbrush.

Trail sign at the Florida Trail, turn left

Florida Trail clean campsite

I took the trail to the north around the sinkhole, then west following the Major Churchill road.  This trail was immediately wider and better maintained than the trail I had been walking and I was able to pick up my pace.  I soon came to the intersection with the Florida Trail and turned left (south) at about 2.5 miles.  It was familiar to be following the orange blazes again.  A campsite came up on the left very quickly, the fire pit was cold but the land here was clean of the usual National Forest trash.  Good job campers and trail volunteers!
I pushed on another half hour along the Florida Trail going up and down the rolling terrain to the next trail marker and turned left (east).  This was a high point, with the land falling off Pat's Island down to the scrub below.  An old cistern was sunk in the ground here and it is surrounded by a low fence.  The map shows this was the site of Reuben and Sara Long's home.  If that is correct, what a view they had!

Return trail sign, turn left

Fence surrounds sunken cistern at the Long's home site

The view goes on forever and this photo just cannot show it the way I saw it

The view to the south held me in awe, a spiritual word meaning I was witnessing something like the grace of god in nature.  I was certainly feeling joy!  The land was rolling up and rolling down, sparse trees were poking through the scrub, small islands of trees dotted to the left and the right, and the hills were rolling into valleys just about as far as you can see at one time in Florida.  I could see the Florida Trail punch through the scrub here and there.  It was like while I was hiking on the trail, I hadn't seen the forest for the trees, but now I was seeing the forest and seeing the trees and so very much more.  I paused in the shade a while to take in and enjoy the beauty.
On the trail again, vultures circled far above on the air currents, looking for food.  About halfway back to the first trail junction, there is the Long Family cemetery to the right of the trail. There are several headstones, most of them are marked and the fenced plot was kept clean.  Reuben & Sara Long are buried here, along with many of their children.  Someone takes care of this site and that did my heart good.  The short trail to the north connects with the sinkhole.

Along the trail

A sign at the cemetery gate

Reuben Long, a Confederate soldier passed in 1915

Sara Long, Reuben's wife passed in 1909

Many family members are buried here and the cemetery was kept very clean, return to the trail and turn right to return to your car

Continuing along the main trail for a ways you pass a marker for where Calvin Long's homestead used to be. This was the homestead where the Yearling movie was filmed and is the place where Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings visited the family and learned of their stories.  Again, I could see no sign there ever was someone's home, farm, barn or that a family once lived here.  This trail is wide, and this used to be the Grahamville road, a wagon trail through the woods.
I passed another post marking the Cora Long home that used to be there.  Again, there was nothing to betray the fact to the casual hiker.
I came to a post with the numeral 11 on it, but only had 10 posts marked on my map.  At the trailhead kiosk, marker 11 shows an old cedar tree, which was not at the post with the 11 on it.  Maybe it was burned in a fire or I just missed it.  Cedar trees growing naturally in Florida usually mark where an outcropping of limestone is 30 feet or less below the ground.

More of Pat's Island forest

Cactus in the scrub along the trail back to the car

I finished the loop around Pat's Island when I returned to the first trail marker, a 4.5 mile hike.  The half mile approach trail makes this a full 5.5 mile hike.  I understand the Florida Trail trailhead walk is a shorter walk from the north side and I will try that on another trip.  I left the cooler temperatures and shade of Pat's Island and walked back along the entrance trail through the scrub to my car.
If you are driving, from Orlando, go east on I-4 to Deland and exit on state road 44 and follow that west to town.  Go right (north) on highway 17, and stay left on 17 when 92 splits off to the right to Daytona Beach. Follow 17 north through the country to Pearson, where you turn left (west) onto State Road 40.  Cross the St. John river at Astor and follow to highway 19.  Turn right at the light (north) and follow about 7 miles to the Yearling Trail sign on the left.  Park here at the trailhead for a fine walk.  Silver Glen Springs is directly across the road.
Camping is available at several National Forest campgrounds, with tent camping for backpackers along the Florida Trail.  For camp sites, check the Ocala National Forest website HERE.
Cellular service in the Ocala National Forest is sparse at best.  Do carry your 10 essentials, wear a hat and carry a couple quarts/liters of water and make sure you leave written instructions of where you are behind with a friend or a loved one.

Big South Fork National River & Recreation Area

I grew up on land drained by the Cumberland River in Kentucky and in a family who pioneered the area.  I found camping there to be like going home to land that was an old friend.

Bandy Creek Campground

Big South Fork NRRA is west of I-75, north of Knoxville, and just west of Oneida, TN.  The National Park covers 125,000 acres of mostly wild land and reaches north into southeastern Kentucky.  The area is full of sandstone ridges and bluffs and has a few high arches (surprise!) and deep gorges.  The wild South Fork of the Cumberland River flows through here and the area supports a wide diversity of biology.  The area has seen human occupation over the past 10,000 years by groups as diverse as paleo-indians to coal miners.
Civil War history gets personal here, where some of the bizarre stories and hardships will make your skin crawl.  Julia Marcum, wounded by confederate soldiers is the only woman in the US to receive a pension for active Civil War duty.  The community names of Troublesome, Difficulty and No Business tell how difficult life was here in the 1800's.

A stream along a hiking trail

The park supports RVcamping with 96 sites with water & electric at Bandy Creek. The Park also great for tent camping from your car (181 total sites), backpacking, hiking, mountain bicycling, and extensive white water kayaking.  The Blue Heron Camping area offers 45 tent sites and costs $17 nightly.
The Blue Heron mine, operated by the Stearns Coal & Lumber Company, brought heavy industry to the area.  When it closed in 1962, most of the buildings were removed.  The "Ghost Structures" you now see in this part of the park are a new interpretation tool to get a better understanding of the area and time.  Look in the Ghost Structures for the life-sized photo of the Blue Heron Quartet gospel singing group from nearby Stearns, KY, singing into the WSFC microphone.  That was my father's radio station in Somerset, Ky.  While there, do enjoy the Big South Fork Scenic Railway trip into the Blue Heron portion of Park.
For a Park map, CLICK HERE.
For camping, the park has 3 campgrounds, two with hot water showers (thanks Army Corps of Engineers) and one primitive campsite at Alum Ford.  We stayed at Bandy Creek.  Camping runs $19 a night for tents, $22 a night for RV's.  Do check the website for current pricing.
The Park also offers Charit Creek Lodge, a hike-in-only (or bicycle or horseback) lodge with food service, showers and overnight accommodations.  This would be similar to staying at the Mount LeConte Lodge in the Great Smokey Mountains National Park.

Twin Arches

Hiking at Big South Fork is extensive, and includes more trails than are mentioned in the state websites.  The Park Service link above includes 9 downloadable trail maps to sample the area.  I really liked hiking the trails to the Twin Arches and remember my wife's surprise and amazement when she first saw them.  7 other arches have hiking trails or road access to them.  It is much like a small version of Arches National Park with trees.  The John Muir National Recreation Trail has a section you can backpack that runs through the park along with other trails that could add up to a week-long backpacking trip.  There are also some remains of old farms you can tour along hiking trails.
Mountain Biking is supported by several trails, many built by the Big South Fork Mountain Bike Club in tandem with the Park Service.

Ride your bike to a scenic overlook

There is also horseback riding with some tack available at Bandy Creek.  There are no other stores inside the park, plan on carrying everything in except firewood. Bringing in outside firewood is prevented due to Park efforts in controlling beetle infestation.
There are also many things to do just outside the Park including a visit to historic Rugby, a drive across Yamacraw, Brewster and Peters Bridges, and trips to Devils Jump, Yahoo Falls, Split Bow Arch and the East Rim Overlooks.  Stores, hotels and restaurants are available in and around Oneida.
My suggestion is to plan several days here, bring your mountain bikes, kayaks and hiking gear and have a great time enjoying the sunsets from your camp site.  The Big South Fork offers more varied recreation opportunities than many other National Parks in the country.
To get there, from I-75 north of Knoxville, take exit 141 onto TN 63 and go west to US 27, then north toward Oneida.  At Oneida, turn left at the first traffic light onto highway 297 west.  Drive about 15 miles and cross the South Fork of the Cumberland River at Leatherwood Ford to reach the Bandy Creek Campground.  Caution, the roads near the Park are steep!

Enjoying Macon

When we went to Macon, GA, we had planned on seeing what the area had to offer and hike some trails.  Nearby hiking includes High Falls State Park, which is the site of an old town.  When the railroad didn't come to the town, it folded.  The short trails follow along the river below the falls to the old river-run power plant, to the foundations of the grist mill and through the trees and rocks to stones where other buildings once stood. The trails run along both sides of the river.  Another trail ambles through the woods in a loop.  The park has campsites, bathrooms and picnic areas and is close to I-75.

Fried Green Tomatoes is on the right in this photo of Juliette

We did drive to Juliette, the site of the movies "Fried Green Tomatoes" and "Hanging Angels".  Filmed in 1991, Fried Green Tomatoes started the old town's return to prosperity as a relaxing destination.  The restaurant where the movie took place is open from 11 am to 4 pm daily.  The town is situated next to the Ocmulgee River, and had the largest river-run grist mill in the southern states.  The mill closed in 1957.  East Juliette is across the bridge on the other side of the river and railroad, which is in a different county. The historic town is a photographers paradise with lots of cool, old rusty stuff and peeling paint on old buildings and interesting shops to capture with your iPhone (or your DSLR).
We saw signs to 2 plantations on the way to Juliette.  The Jarrell Plantation is open Thursdays through Saturdays.  This cotton plantation survived Sherman's March to the Sea and was in the same family over 140 years.  As a Georgia State Historic site, admission is $6.50.
Macon has the 11 mile Riverwalk, extending south from downtown along the Ocmulgee River, making for a nice stroll.  You can access the trail at either Rotary Park or Gateway Park, both on Riverside Drive.  There is also a walking tour of the historic downtown area with a guide you can print from the Internet.

The Hay House

The Hay House is another house to see, and is well worth the tour.  We took advantage of a free tour (available on some holidays) and freely roamed the unique mansion. Across the street is the old Mercer College building.
The Cannonball House was also a worthy tour, with period furnishings and Civil War memorabilia and interesting stories about the house owners.

The Allman Brothers Band Museum at the Big House

For you lovers of 1970's music, the Allman Brothers Band Museum at the Big House is a treasure trove of the bands gold records, press photos, stage passes and instruments, and it is right on highway 41.  Open Thursday through Sunday, this is the home where the band lived from 1970 to 1973 and where they created many of the hits we still enjoy today.  They also have a Macon area tour map which will lead you to the sites of Duane Allmond's motorcycle crash and burial site, if you are so inclined.  Get your photo taken in the backyard by the amps and shipping crates just like on the Live at Fillmore album.  Just visiting here was such a blast, I checked out Gregg Allman's book "My Cross To Bear" and thoroughly enjoyed that too!

The list goes on with sites to see like Fort Benjamin Hawkins, the Douglass Theater, Grand Opera House, Sidney Lanier College, Tubman African American Museum, Rose Hill Cemetery, and what I wrote about in last week's blog, the Oculgee National Monument.  There is much more to see, take the time and enjoy yourself!