Being a student (and one with few responsibilities at that) I was fortunate enough to get the day-off yesterday for Martin Luther King Jr.'s and Robert E. Lee's birthday. Since it was a beautiful day out, I decided to take a day trip up to the Wekiwa Springs state park to shoot some photos. I ended up taking 3 rolls, but I'll spare you all but the most interesting.
Those are the actual springs down at the bottom of the photo. They're crystal clear, and you can see the water bubbling up from a crack in the rocks at the bottom of the lagoon. They let you swim in them, but it was about 50 degrees (with wind chill, and about 10 degrees colder in the shade) so there weren't many people in them. It'd be nice to come back in the summer, though.
The park around the springs was kinda small, so I decided to rent a canoe. I spent about three hours going up and down the river, and I tried to head up the Rock Springs Run river, but it was flowing at about 5 miles an hour, plus wind. I got about half way before I said "Fuck it" and headed back.
The river was choked with fallen trees and branches from the hurricanes. It made navigating the rivers more difficult, but also more fun.
Look at those blue skies! The weather was perfect for canoeing, and it was about 60 degrees on the river, making it a all-together perfect day.
Saw one young alligator soaking in the sun while canoeing. I'm sure there were more, but they generally try to stay out of sight.
I'm a huge geek for birds and bird-watching, and the park was perfect - a veritable who's-who of Florida fowl. Blue-jays, cardinals, mocking-birds, red-bellied woodpeckers, pileated wood-peckers, scissor-tail fly-catchers, kingfishers, hawks, buzzards, great blue herons, LITTLE blue herons, egrets, anhingas, ducks, and robins. Perfect place for bird-sighting.
There were also about 500,000 turtles on the river. Some were pretty big, but this guy looks like he's about three days old.
Finally, as I headed back to the parking lot to leave for the day what do I see but the biggest, fattest Eastern Diamondback Rattlesnake you'd probably ever see. It's the first time I've seen one in the wild, but as you can rightly imagine I kept my distance, cause he was plenty pissed off.
As you can tell, I'm a pretty huge nature buff. In a state plagued by golf course and urban sprawl it's refreshing to know that some areas will remain protected.
Those are the actual springs down at the bottom of the photo. They're crystal clear, and you can see the water bubbling up from a crack in the rocks at the bottom of the lagoon. They let you swim in them, but it was about 50 degrees (with wind chill, and about 10 degrees colder in the shade) so there weren't many people in them. It'd be nice to come back in the summer, though.
The park around the springs was kinda small, so I decided to rent a canoe. I spent about three hours going up and down the river, and I tried to head up the Rock Springs Run river, but it was flowing at about 5 miles an hour, plus wind. I got about half way before I said "Fuck it" and headed back.
The river was choked with fallen trees and branches from the hurricanes. It made navigating the rivers more difficult, but also more fun.
Look at those blue skies! The weather was perfect for canoeing, and it was about 60 degrees on the river, making it a all-together perfect day.
Saw one young alligator soaking in the sun while canoeing. I'm sure there were more, but they generally try to stay out of sight.
I'm a huge geek for birds and bird-watching, and the park was perfect - a veritable who's-who of Florida fowl. Blue-jays, cardinals, mocking-birds, red-bellied woodpeckers, pileated wood-peckers, scissor-tail fly-catchers, kingfishers, hawks, buzzards, great blue herons, LITTLE blue herons, egrets, anhingas, ducks, and robins. Perfect place for bird-sighting.
There were also about 500,000 turtles on the river. Some were pretty big, but this guy looks like he's about three days old.
Finally, as I headed back to the parking lot to leave for the day what do I see but the biggest, fattest Eastern Diamondback Rattlesnake you'd probably ever see. It's the first time I've seen one in the wild, but as you can rightly imagine I kept my distance, cause he was plenty pissed off.
As you can tell, I'm a pretty huge nature buff. In a state plagued by golf course and urban sprawl it's refreshing to know that some areas will remain protected.
