Trail under the Oaks
Several years ago, when I purchased my kayak, I opted for the self bailing sit-on-top because it had holes that not only drained unwanted water out, but allowed water to come in and keep my lower extremities cool. My intent was only to paddle Florida’s crystal clear cool spring runs in the heat of the Summer, but my interests to other bodies of water have since broadened. Unfortunately, when the weather cools, being cold and wet is not a comforting thought. This past Saturday, I was headed out to paddle the Withlacoochee River from Inverness and the cool morning had me dreading the water. As a diversion, I spotted a sign for Half Moon WMA and quickly turned down the side road. Looking for a diversion until the air heated up, “I have never heard of this WMA, I must explore for a moment.” I tell myself convincingly. After several miles, I finally arrived at the entrance with a kiosk indicating that the lands were used for hunting, horseback riding, and hiking. They even had a trail marked on the kiosk map explicitly for hiking only. It was only 1.3 miles, that will be just enough to get me warmed up for my river paddle. So I grabbed my camera and my daypack then carefully squeezed myself through the hikers gate. Half Moon WMA still has cattle herds on the land, and the gates must be built such that even a small calf could not escape.
The trial took me across a small field where I encountered a hunter who warned me of a large Bull that had been eyeing him all morning and of several large rattlers he saw under a large rock. I kindly thanked him for his information and proceeded down the trail. It quickly turned into a mature Hardwood Hammock full of giant mighty Live Oaks. “This is pretty” I thought to myself and quite unexpected. Trees of this size meant that the land had not been cleared for logging which is an uncommon sight in the most of Florida’s Forests. The trees were over hundreds of years old and the branches were hosting living gardens lush with resurrection fern and an occasional greenfly orchid. On first spotting of an Orchid, I quickly took off my pack, and swapped out my mid-range camera lens for the 100-400 Zoom. I marked a Waypoint in my GPS and proceeded to take photos. After I was satisfied with my photos, I looked around. There is another one…and another ..and another! I must have seen seven or eight
Greenfly Orchid Clusters
hearty orchids amongst the trees in that pristine Hammock. From here I proceeded to follow the trail looking up in the trees for more orchids. And I did see a few more along the trail. This was not an easy task, I must add, because the cows have left landmines (dung piles) inadvertently throughout the trail. I had to constantly check the forest floor to keep from stepping in these hefty piles.
The trail was very well marked with red paint in the trees and plastic brown vertical markers pointing the way. However, there are many side trails crossing the path that only added to my confusion. Trail confusion, my preoccupation with the animal dung and orchids cause me to lose the trail several times. I was so in awe of the giant oaks it was hard to get frustrated. After getting lost for the fourth time, I smiled in amusement, finding these trail markers is like a scavenger hunt in the woods and I pressed on. The trail takes you back across a field back where I paused to take a few photos of the liatris just starting to bloom. The trail leads me into another hammock and offers a small glimpse of cypress trees in the Withlacoochee River floodplain before turning back north into the forest. I search for trail markers as I duck under giant oak branches and wind around the thick forest of trees. A pleated woodpecker squawks at my presence then flies by. Several songbirds can be heard chirping up in the thick canopy, but I was too preoccupied with the trail to stop and find them. There is a clearing that appears to be a newly harvested pine forest. Downed branches cover the forest floor and I lose the trail again as the markers are difficult to spot on this ever-changing land. I align myself with the opposing trail marker to try to spot where a hiker in the opposing direction might be coming from. This strategy proves to work. I climb over the pine branches and back into the woods. Soon I complete the loop and head back across the field where I met that nice hunter. I never did see that Bull or those rattlesnakes but hiking the Half Moon WMA hiking trail held plenty of adventure for me. The trail was truly an enjoyable hike! Exploration that was supposed to last only a moment turned into an hour but held enough adventure for several. Alas, now I am looking forward to lazily paddling that kayak along that “crooked river“.
View more photos of Half Moon WMA on flickr.
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