I led a Florida Trail activity this morning: A Crack O’ Dawn Hike on the Cross Florida Greenway, between Ocala and Belleview. It was nice to see a small crowd assemble at 7:30 AM to take a walk in the woods, especially the family who joined us. This section of the Florida Trail has a special place in my heart since I helped create it under the tutelage of Kenneth Smith, ‘Mr. Greenway,’ who retired last year from being a section leader. Hiking this early in the morning to beat the heat (78*F when we started), we encountered a lot of birdsong and saw quite a few birds flitting through the woods.
But it was on the way back when Erin and Stephanie got excited, because they noticed just how many spiderwebs – and spiders – were everywhere! I had spider-clearing duty at the front of the line, but on the way back we were facing the sun and could see the iridescent shimmer of the thousands of webs. “They look like CDs!” someone said. An hour and a half in the shade and enjoyable company for the trip – thanks for coming, y’all!
The Land Bridge Loop
The original Florida Trail route started south of where the Land Bridge trailhead is now. The reason the loop exists is that it uses the original Florida Trail segment that we built in 2000 as the southern part of the loop.