Another trip to Ocean Pond Campground

Date: 4/13/12 – 4/15/12
Location: Osceola National Forest (Near Lake City, Florida)
GPS Coordinates: 30.239501, -82.436620

This is out second trip to Ocean Pond Campground. Not going to write another review of this campsite, but to see the previous trip report click here.
 
Fresh bear print we found on a hike through the forest

A hike down an old dirt road

Our site right next to the lake

Nice relaxing spot for the day

 
 
 

Another huge site at Ocean Pond

A nice Cypress Tree on the edge of the lake

Another nice pic of the lake shore


Here is one of the kayak paddles that we took:
Ocean Pond Kayak at EveryTrail

Took a hike on the Osceola Nature trail. Is is here that we came across a very fresh bear track
Florida Trail - Osceola National Forest at EveryTrail
 

Cedar Key Paddle around Atsena Otie Key

Location: Cedar Key, Fl
GPS Coordinates: 29.137184, -83.029331
Date: 4/1/2012
I’m going back and collecting some of the trips I had been adding to Everytrail & Wikiloc and including them in this blog. 
Julie and I wanted to get out and do some kayaking so we decided to take the hour drive to Cedar Key and see what short outing we could do there. We put in at the Cedar Key public beach area and paddled the approximately 1 mile to the sandy beach just north of the old wooden pier. Docking our kayaks, we headed out on the trail across the Atsena Otie Key. There is an old cemetery on the south end of the island. Many old gravestones can be seen in this area. Back in out boats, we continued counter clockwise around the island (key). We decided to try and cut though the island instead of completely circling the island. The inland waterway was very calm, with lots of birds, including several bald eagles. We went at high tide, but still struggled at times over the many oyster beds in the area. You should check out the tides before you attempt to cut across the center of the island.
Atsena Otie Key was the original location of the Cedar Key settlement. There was a few businesses located on the island, with the most prominent being a pencil company who used the many cedar trees on the island for their product. In the late 1800’s a powerful hurricane hit the area and produced 10 foot waves which destroyed almost everything on the island except for a few homes. In the early 1900’s the island was purchased for a small sum of money  and turned into a wildlife refuge. Later the Atsena Otie Key was sold to the Suwannee River Management District which manages and protects the island at this time.
 
Here is one of the beaches on the East side of the island.


Here’s Julie hiking along the beach on the island


Looking back through the marsh towards the town of Cedar Key


We docked our kayaks on the North West section of the Island (key) to do a little hiking.


On the island there’s an old wooden dock that is still standing, but it’s it pretty rough shape. You can walk out on part of the dock, but there’s no using it for boating access.





There is a hiking trail that leads from the beach area to the south side of the island. This is the trail that leads to the old cemetery which still has many interesting tombstones.

These pictures are of the cemetery used by the old inhabitants for the island. It’s only about a quarter mile walk from the beach where we docked out kayaks.,









And finally, here is the GPS track of the kayak paddle and the short hike we took on the island.
Cedar Key Kayak at EveryTrail

Alexander Springs Camping

Date: 3/2/2012 – 3/4/2012
Location: Ocala National Foresr
GPS Coordinates:  29.076640, -81.583269

Many years ago (before kids!), Julie and I used to do a lot of camping around the state of Florida. We would frequently camp at the many campgrounds in the Ocala National Forest since it was relatively close to Gainesville. Probably the most visited campsite for us in this area was Hopkins Prairie, which was a location with no water or electricity at the sites. There used to be a “lake” that surrounded this area where we used to canoe, but the water level is down quit a bit and now the area is pretty much dry.
Since we now have a trailer (no more sleeping on the ground for us), we decided to give the Ocala National Forest another try. It has only been 25+ years since our last visit. We took off Friday after work, but being in the early spring, the days were still short and we didn’t get to the campground until after sunset. This would be our first time setting up in the dark. There are no hookups at the sites, so we had to take on water first and then locate our site. With a little difficulty backing into our site we finally got situated.
This campground is nice and has a beach and canoe/kayak launch on the Alexander Spring run. Unfortunately, we didn’t bring our kayaks, so couldn’t check out this river. There are a few short hiking trails, but nothing too strenuous. 
Since it had been many years since we had been to Ocala National Forest, we decided to take a ride around and check out some of the campsites and do a walk down memory lane for the places we had been before. By the end of the day we had decided that there were not many campgrounds that we would be interested in coming back to camp at. They really can’t compare to the Florida State parks.
We also did a long hike at Farles Prarie (see map below) where the Florida Trail crosses through the forest. This was a good hike along some wetlands and ponds. But be careful in what roads you take to get there.Most roads are sand and several require four wheel drive. We almost made the mistake of taking a road where we would have definitely gotten stuck. We did make that mistake many years ago in this area and it took us hours to dig our way out.
Our Review of the campground:
Campground: Alexander Springs
Campground Website: http://www.forestcamping.com/dow/southern/ocalcmp.htm#alexander%20springs
Site Number: 61
Price: $21 night
Date visited: 3/2/2012 - 3/4/2012
Rating (1 = low, 5 = high)
Campsite size: 4
Campsite space between sites: 4 (varies by site)
Campsite privacy between sites: 4 (varies by site)
Campsite level: 4
Campsite parking: paved pad
Campfire permitted: yes. Fire ring on each site
Campsite picnic table: metal
Campground Facilities: 3.5
Campground access to hiking: 4
Campground access to water (kayaking, fishing, swimming, etc): 5
Campground access to biking: 4
Overall Campground rating: 4
Notes: Campground is very nice. There is a road that runs parallel to the campground and some car noise can be heard at some of the sites. Especially site #61 (our site). There's not a lot of traffic, but car noise can be heard.
Alexander Springs Run






The hike we did on Farles Prairie
Florida Trail - Farles Prairie at EveryTrail

Camping with Mickey Mouse

Date: 2/3/12 – 2/5/12
Location: Fort Wilderness. Disney World. Orlando, Fl
GPS Coordinates: 28.409021, -81.556007
Normally camping at a place like Disney World wouldn’t be our go to location. Julie and I normally like to camp in quiet locations, with some of our most favorites being out boondocking by ourselves,. But for something different we decided to give Fort Wilderness a try. Disney is certainly a well run facility. We arrived well before the stated check in time, but we were welcomed by one happy “cast member” and allowed to head right to our site. The sites are pretty close together, but Disney does put a lot of effort into planting some vegetation between each site so you are not staring right at your neighbor. Plus it seems that many of the sites are offset enough that although close together, you do have some privacy. Also, each sites a full hookups, with electricity, water and sewer. And everything is extremely clean and well kept. What else would you expect from Disney?
One of Julie and my pastime's while camping is walking the camping loops within a campground an checking out everyone’s rig and camping equipment. At Fort Wilderness, there are a ton of loops, so we had plenty to look at. But with things being so spread out, we had to use our bikes to traverse the entire campground. That is one nice thing about Disney, there’s a lot of bike trails around the campground. So, there was ample biking opportunities. The main thing we discovered while making the rounds, is that there are a lot of Disney Fanatics. Some of them have their campsites just packed with Disney paraphernalia, lights, figures, etc. It was pretty “amazing”…
There’s also a lot of activities, with one night attending the Fort Wilderness campfire and movie. We kind of enjoyed that, but were put to work when the movie was done. On two separate occasions, we had to help an older lady get their scooter out of the gravel. Who would have thought that would happen twice, but we did our good deed for the day!
Another evening we traveled the different Disney transportation options (boat and monorail) and checked out the different “lounges” at the many hotels. We had a beer and some munchies at each and that was a good time. Something that you don’t do very often.
Here is our review of the campground:
Campground: Fort Wilderness
Campground Website: http://disneyworld.disney.go.com/resorts/campsites-at-fort-wilderness-resort/
Site Number: 1413
Date visited: 2/3/2012 - 2/5/2012
Rating (1 = low, 5 = high)
Campsite size: 2
Campsite space between sites: 2 (varies by site)
Campsite privacy between sites: 2 (varies by site)
Campsite level: 5
Campsite parking: concrete pad
Campfire permitted: no (only if you have an industrial strength fire ring!)
Campsite picnic table: metal & composite material
Campground Facilities: 5
Campground access to hiking: 2
Campground access to water (kayaking, fishing, swimming, etc): 2
Campground access to biking: 5
Overall Campground rating: 4.5

Nice beach, but there is no swimming

“Marina” where you can catch the boat over to the theme parks

Looking across the lake towards Disney World. This is a good place to watch the nightly fireworks from Magic Kingdom.

One of the campers at Fort Wilderness that are really, really into Disney!!

Sitting  area outside our camper.

Our site # 1413

An airplane ride at Cedar Key Airport

Location: Cedar Key, Fl
GPS Coordinates: 29.132625, -83.051476
Date: 1/28/2012
I wanted to have a father/daughter day with my younger daughter, so we decided to go flying with Marve Franks at the Cedar Key Airport. He sits in his lawn chair next to his plane waiting for customers to arrive. He charges $25 per person or $30 per single. The ride lasts about 20 - 25 minutes and is worth every penny. He gives you a good tour of the Cedar Key area and points out many of the locations of interest during the flight. I would highly recommend taking this ride.
Here is the information I found on-line for Marvin:
From the Cedar Key News Classifieds: Marvin Franks Subject: Airplane Rides Airplane Rides $25 per person. Sat. and Sun. Noon to 4 p.m., weather permitting @ Cedar Key Airport. Other days & times available. Gift certificates available. Call Marve Franks @ 352-477-0105.
My daughter in front of some of the planes as we wait for Marvin to return from taking another couple on a flight

Marvin’s plane as he comes in for a landing

Looks like we are having a good time. This is the first flight on a small plane for both my daughter and myself

Cedar Key and the surrounding islands as seen from the air

Snoopy was the co-pilot

Here is the track that we followed during the plane rdie
Cedar Key plane ride at EveryTrail

A day of Kayaking – Hunter Springs Park and Crystal River State Park

 

Date: 1/22/2012

Location: Crystal River, Florida

GPS Coordinates: 28.895049, –82.593218 and 28.918904, -82.631680

Hunter Springs Park

We put in at the City Park in Crystal River for a short paddle to see the manatees at Three Sisters Springs. This city park is on the Hunter Spring Run that flows into Kings Bay. We were hoping that there would be no crowds at Three Sisters springs since it was relatively early on a Sunday morning, but no such luck. The place was packed with dive boats, pontoon boats and other water craft. It was almost a circus atmosphere. We did get to see many manatees which was nice and the paddle into three sisters spring was nice and less crowded. Always fun to see the manatees, but could do without the crowds.

No pictures from this trip, but here is the GPS track:

Crystal River Manatee Paddle at EveryTrail

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Crystal River State Park

We put in at the "Mullet Hole" fishing area on the north side of the Crystal River Preserve State Park. They have a small kayak launch spot here that is easily accessible. We paddled about a mile down the series of canals that lead to the Crystal River. The paddling in the canal was nice as there was no development in this area, but is was much different when we hit the Crystal River. It was like we hit a boat highway. There were boats everywhere and did not make for an enjopyable paddle. So we turned around. So, would recommend the short paddle in the canals of the Crystal River State park, but not so much the Crystal River.

Again, no pictures, but here is where we paddled:

Crystal River State Park paddle at EveryTrail

Faver Dykes Campground

Date: 1/13/2012 – 1/15/2012
Location: St. Augustine, Fl
GPS Coordinates: 29.668748, -81.251261
Julie’s sister Karen wanted to do a camping trip before she moved out of state and wanted to be somewhat close to the east coast beaches of Florida. Searching the Florida Parks website, Julie found Faver-Dykes which is a small (26 campsite) campground which is about 2.5 miles from the Atlantic beaches. Unfortunately, the weather didn’t cooperate for walking on the beach as it was very cold for Florida. I think the temperature got down in the 20’s the first night. We didn’t mind as we have heat in the camper, but Karen was a little chilly in her tent. But she didn’t complain and made it through with no problems. It did warm up enough the next day that Julie and I could do some kayaking. We put in at the boat dock within the park and paddled up river on the Pelicer Creek. This is a river that winds it’s way through the salt marshes and makes for a very nice paddle. Pelicer Creek is affected by the tides somewhat.This is not a problem for kayaks or canoes, but could make boating with anything larger a challenge.
There’s a series of hiking trails and forest roads that lead off into the “wilderness” from the campground. We did several of these hikes, nothing very difficult, but enjoyable. Also, being winter and clear skies, we enjoyed star gazing one evening. There’s not much light pollution in this area, so the sky was very bright and the stars easy to see. The only improvement would have been for the temperature to not be so darn cold. We didn’t gaze at the stars for very long.
There’s also a lot of geocaches within this park. The first day we put a few coordinates in our GPS and were able to locate them. We hadn’t done any geocaching before, so this was something different to do.
Here’s our review of this campground:
Campground: Faver Dykes
Campground Website: http://www.floridastateparks.org/faverdykes/default.cfm
Site Number: 22
Date visited: 1/13/2012 - 1/15/2012
Rating (1 = low, 5 = high)
Campsite size: 4
Campsite space between sites: 3 (varies by site)
Campsite privacy between sites: 3 (varies by site)
Campsite level: 4 (a few sites are not very level, but most are ok
Campsite parking: dirt
Campfire permitted: yes in fire ring
Campsite picnic table: Wood
Campground Facilities: 3.5
Campground access to hiking: 4
Campground access to water (kayaking, fishing, swimming, etc): 5
Campground access to biking: 2 (dirt roads and many sandy spots)
Overall Campground rating: 3.5

Hiking Trail through the pine forest

Boat dock within the park

Fishing pier near the boat dock

Kayaking Pelicer Creek




Trip to Fort Mantazas

A campfire is definitely needed when you are camping and the temp is in the 20’s

One of the hiking trails leads to Pelicer Creek and the surrounding salt marshes.

Our campsite, a good size and somewhat private.

All packed up and ready to roll.


Here is the map of the paddle we did on Pelicer Creek
Faver Dykes - Kayaking Pelicer Creek at EveryTrail


And here are some of the hikes we did within the park
Faver Dykes - Hiking the forest roads at EveryTrail

Faver Dykes - Heming Point Hiking Trail at EveryTrail

Faver Dykes - Campground Hiking Trail at EveryTrail

Camping trip to Fort Desoto

Date: 12/17/11 – 12/19/11
Location: St. Petersburg, Fl
GPS Coordinates: 27.637149 -82.719949
For our first real camping trip we were able to snap up a spot at Fort Desoto campground in St. Pete. This is a very popular county park and for good reason. There’s a wide variety of camping sports, most very nice and spacious and many being right on the water. This park is also well known for its’ beach and has been chosen as the number one beach in the US on several occasions. The beach is a good distance away from the campground. You would need some bikes or drive to the beach. There are good bike paths throughout the park making biking anywhere very convenient.
Also, this park has many great fishing locations. You can find places to fish from the shore or put in a boat/kayak to get to other fishing spots.
Here is our Review of this campground:
Website: http://www.pinellascounty.org/park/05_ft_desoto.htm
Site Number: 211
Date visited: 12/17/11 - 12/19/11
Rating (1 = low, 5 = high)
Campsite size: 5
Campsite space between sites: 4
Campsite privacy between sites: 4.5
Campsite level: 4
Campsite parking: gravel/dirt
Campfire permitted: Need fire pit. No ground fires
Campsite picnic table: Wood (moveable)
Campground Facilities: 5
Campground access to hiking: 3
Campground access to water (kayaking, fishing, swimming, etc): 5
Campground access to biking: 5
Overall Campground rating: 5
 
Very “friendly” squirrels at Ft. Desoto

Beach right in front of our campsite
 
Our camping spot as seen from the water.

Another view of our campsite.

A nice sunset over the bay at Ft. Desoto

Mother and daughter enjoying the view.

The beach at Ft. Desoto

If she can catch a fish, then anyone should be able to!!