Kat Sack here! Sometimes Katastrophic Sackrilege to the running community, but most definitely The Mountain Lioness to those who follow and join my adventures. I currently call Tallahassee, FL home. The mountains are my favorite place to be and explore but given my location, I dive into other types of rad places too!

I created this blog as a personal project to document my adventures. Photos are great, but I love text describing more of the story and to recall what I have learned. I am no expert at outdoorsy activities, but I learn as I go! If you end up here, I hope you can get something out of it.

My original focus was on backpacking, hiking, camping, kayaking, and mountain biking. I have thus shifted the scope as I discovered my love for National and State Parks. I have the National Parks Passport and the Florida State Parks passport which have allowed me to discover places I originally would never have seen. Now I write about national monuments, history, run-cations, etc.

At some point I hope to dive into personal growth as well with topics including self-sufficiency and improvement, turning boredom into adventure, steps to heal my body and mind, and overcoming social adversities.

Life is an adventure. Go outside. Pay attention to all that is around you. Get lost in the moment. Everything has a story. Listen for it, even if you do not speak the same language.

FL State Parks Quest: Troy Springs State Park [6/174]

North Central Florida Springs Day

Stop 1: Troy Springs State Park [6/174]

July 22, 2017



North Central Florida Springs Day Part II - Wes Skiles Peacock Springs State Park

North Central Florida Springs Day Part III - Lafayette Blue Springs State Park

Summary:


After our Garden of Eden hike last weekend, we needed a new adventure. The plan was to hit up Troy Springs State Park and Wes Skiles Peacock Springs State Park. En route, we passed the turn to Lafayette Blue Springs State Park and tacked it onto the end of our itinerary.

Springs are defined as any natural situation where water flows from an aquifer to the Earth's surface. The springs we visited today were either on or nearby the middle stretch of the Suwannee River, also referred to as "spring country". This is the stretch from Suwannee River State Park to Branford, which is home to Troy Springs State Park (Stop 1).

Florida State Parks has created the Suwannee River Wilderness State Trail, which is a partnership of camps, hubs, and parks along the river for trail users. The link provides resources to maps, boat ramp locations, float plans, a paddling guide, and outfitters. While Wes Skiles Peacock Springs State Park is not actually part of the Suwannee River springs, it's close by and a very popular attraction for divers. It's being included in this 3-part series because it's right smack in between Troy and Lafayette Blue. I'll save my passport stamp for the Suwannee River Wilderness State Trail from when I complete the trail in full in one go. Who's with me?

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Lafayette Blue Springs State Park

  • Region: North Central
  • Address: 674 NE Troy Springs Rd Branford, FL 32008
  • Hours: Daily 08:00 - Sundown
  • Admissions: $5/Vehicle, $4/Single Occupant Vehicle, $2/Non-Vehicle Entry, or FREE with an Annual Pass [Honor Box]
  • Website: https://www.floridastateparks.org/park/Troy-Spring
  • Brochure: N/A
  • FT Ranger on Site: No - Honor Box for payment/Display annual pass on dashboard
  • Year Park Opened: 2005

The Gear:


The Story


Troy Springs State Park is exactly what it sounds like. The main attraction is the 70-foot deep spring that can be accessed through the park or from the river. You can snorkel, swim, and if you have the proper certifications - go scuba diving! I would love to get certified now, but the time is not now. Not when I have to replace my house's malfunctioning air conditioning. There is also a nature trail and picnic area too. We arrived around 10 in the morning, so it was not crowded.

The Nature Walk

We began with the nature walk in order to warm-up and brave the cold waters of the spring. Short and flat hike. Gained some knowledge, enjoyed nature, and put my feet on more trails. Not a bad start to the day. What made this hike stand out was the "green carpet" that we were stepping on. According to a sign at the park, this green carpet (pictured below) is made of mosses and liverworts that cover moist limestone. The plants are referred to as the plant version of amphibians - bridge gap between water and dry land plants. Their nutrients come from the limestone and rainwater. They break down the limestone creating a new soil in the rock's cracks which allows more plants to live on the limestone. This explains why there was plenty of grass growing on the "green carpet".

Saw Palmetto - Spotted everywhere on the trail
Troy Springs State Park, Branford FL




Whenever I see the word resurrection, I automatically think of a Cylon Resurrection Ship. Instead of a Cylon mind downloading into a new body of its model, this fern will become a deep green color after rainfall from its drought, brown, lifeless self. And also...Sparkleberry. What a fabulous name. Sparkleberry.

Other than that, nothing too crazy to report. Obviously not a golden orb spider being totally up to something. I cannot take a picture of those spiders to save my life. I'm pretty sure Gladys got a good one. If what I think is going on is what's actually going on, then I got to conduct unexpected field research on the reproductive habits of golden orb (banana) spiders. Picture TBD.

The Visitor Center? And Stamping Station

Here lies the visitor center. The hiking trail leads you past here to get back to the main part of the park. As you can see, it looks less like a visitor center and more like a place where someone lives. If I want my park stamp, it's necessary for me to approach the structure as awkwardly as possible.

At least it's called a visitor center and not a welcome center. I don't feel very welcome, but I very much feel like a visitor. Gotta love the padlock on the door. They did make this park's stamp an introvert's dream. You get to do it yourself! No ranger, no problem. The wiring holding the stamp was anything but flexible.
Passport Stamp - FL State Parks
Troy Springs State Park, Branford FL


The Spring

The main attraction! Here's a sign that was at all three parks for whatever possible reason.

This is the walkway down to the spring from the parking lot/restrooms/picnic area. There are no stairs, only a very windy accessible ramp.

Cypress knees, my love, it's been too long!

Pretty!
Troy Springs State Park, Branford FL


Even prettier!

Snorkeling Troy Springs



Started out with the video. Now for my boring commentary and photos. There's the remains of a steamship below the spring surface. I barely captured it. The steamship was called the Madison and was a floating mail service and trading post. The Confederate forces used it in the Civil War in 1861 as a privateer. They scuttled it in spring 1863 to make sure it did not end up in the wrong hands. Scuttled steamship remains pictured below.  Source: Florida State Parks website. For additional reading, perhaps a quick bedtime story, click here. There's even a picture.
Steamship Madison
Troy Springs State Park, Branford FL
Steampship Madison (left side of picture)
Troy Springs State Park, Branford FL


My only decent turtle footage was on the video. I do have semi-decent pictures of fish though: 

No fish

Fish!

More fish!

A Gladys-Fish!


A Kat-Fish!
Troy Springs State Park, Branford FL

Hurdles:

If you happen to have a wetsuit in the car and plan on snorkeling for awhile, wear the damn wetsuit. Sometimes people get in the way of beautiful pictures. Taking pictures of banana spiders is hard. My underwater GoPro skills are way below par. I had to delete a lot of trippy pictures that didn't show much of anything. All this typing of Branford, FL makes me think about Bran and how I still have to wait a whole entire day for Game of Thrones Season 7 Episode 2. If you have bug spray in your car and you're about to walk around in the forest, use it.

Relevant Quote:


"There's probably more history now preserved underwater than in all the museums of the world combined. And there's no law governing that history. It's finders keepers."
-Robert Ballard


Relevant Resources:

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Location: Troy Springs State Park, 674 NE Troy Springs Rd, Branford, FL 32008, USA

FL State Parks Quest: Lafayette Blue Springs State Park [8/174]

Lafayette Blue

Stop 3/3: Lafayette Blue Springs State Park

North Central Florida Springs Day

FL State Parks Quest: 8/174

22 July 2017


North Central Florida Springs Day Posts



Summary:



After our Garden of Eden hike last weekend, we needed a new adventure. The plan was to hit up Troy Springs State Park and Wes Skiles Peacock Springs State Park. En route, we passed the turn to Lafayette Blue Springs State Park and tacked it onto the end of our itinerary.

Springs are defined as any natural situation where water flows from an aquifer to the Earth's surface. The springs we visited today were either on or nearby the middle stretch of the Suwannee River, also referred to as "spring country". This is the stretch from Suwannee River State Park to Branford, which is home to Troy Springs State Park (Stop 1).

Florida State Parks has created the Suwannee River Wilderness State Trail, which is a partnership of camps, hubs, and parks along the river for trail users. The link provides resources to maps, boat ramp locations, float plans, a paddling guide, and outfitters. While Wes Skiles Peacock Springs State Park is not actually part of the Suwannee River springs, it's close by and a very popular attraction for divers. It's being included in this 3-part series because it's right smack in between Troy and Lafayette Blue. I'll save my passport stamp for the Suwannee River Wilderness State Trail from when I complete the trail in full in one go. Who's with me?

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Lafayette Blue Springs State Park


The Gear:


The Story:


My phone ran out of storage while at Wes Skiles Peacock Springs State Park. In hindsight, I could have transferred my memory card from the GoPro to my phone, but I didn't think about that. So I just took all of my pictures with my GoPro.

Lafayette Blue Springs State Park park was on our way home, and it was also the place to get the stamps for both Peacock Springs and Lafayette Blue, the park itself. There was an actual ranger at the entrance of the park, and it was easy to see why. This was a very popular family park. Lots of people - birthday parties, families, Suwannee River paddlers.

Due to the crowds and having already been swimming in two cold springs, we opted to walk around and observe rather than get in the way of all the children playing in the water. We went towards the first magnitude spring since no one else was currently there. We got some good pictures. I tried to get some with the GoPro submerged under water, but it was a rather unsuccessful endeavor. There was a mini forest of cypress knees, and as we were about to wrap up, everyone had decided that we were super cool trendsetters and came over to this side of the spring.

There is a 20 foot natural limestone bridge that crosses over the spring run where it quickly merges with the Suwannee River. This is the headspring. Picture taken from the aforementioned natural bridge.



My most successful attempt at an underwater picture without having to get wet myself. I guess my hands got wet. I love how clear the water is.


Cypress knees! With just the tips being an orange-ish color. They kind of look like whitehead pimples. Now I am thinking about my terrible acne problem from middle school through college. Sigh.


Canoes and kayaks can pull up to the park. There is a pay station at the landing area. The park is between mile markers 103 and 104 on the Suwannee River. The park campground, which is a walk-in tent-only campground, is one of the river camps for people paddling on the Suwannee River Wilderness Trail.


There is a boardwalk that I explored next. The main part of the photo shows the spring swimming area that opens into the river.


View of the river from the boardwalk. Notice the quick contrast in water colors.


Swimming area.


We then decided to "hike". Or maybe the boardwalk was the hike? There was at least an interactive sign. And by interactive, there was a 3D Suwannee cooter you can touch. Sorry for the lack of photo clarity, but it was the best I could do. Fun facts from the sign if you don't want to strain your eyes to read it:

  • Lafayette Blue is a first magnitude spring, meaning it has flows of greater than 100 cubic feet per second. Specifically it discharges 13-168 million gallons of water daily. 
  • Springs provide a consistent source of freshwater, contrary to most bodies of water, allowing a permanent array of wildlife to call them home. Never have to worry during a drought.
  • There is a network of caves underneath the park with large rooms, some at 100 feet wide and 30 feet tall. The caves are home to the rare pallid cave crayfish, which can only be found in the underground Floridian aquifer in the Suwannee River Basin.





The rest of the "hike" was walking to and from the campground. On the way back we saw a sinkhole. And then I found $5.


Relevant Quote: 

[Yes the same quote is being used on all 3 of the posts] 

"There's probably more history now preserved underwater than in all the museums of the world combined. And there's no law governing that history. It's finders keepers."
-Robert Ballard



Notable Resources:

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Location: Lafayette Blue Springs State Park, 799 Blue Springs Rd, Mayo, FL 32066, USA

Cave Diving Above Ground, Thanks to Peacock Springs


Cave Diving Above Ground, Thanks to Peacock Springs

Stop 2/3: Wes Skiles Peacock Springs State Park

North Central Florida Springs Day

FL State Parks Quest: 7/174

22 July 2017


Introduction:

After our Garden of Eden hike last weekend, we needed a new adventure. The plan was to hit up Troy Springs State Park and Wes Skiles Peacock Springs State Park. En route, we passed the turn to Lafayette Blue Springs State Park and tacked it onto the end of our itinerary.

Springs are defined as any natural situation where water flows from an aquifer to the Earth's surface. The springs we visited today were either on or nearby the middle stretch of the Suwannee River, also referred to as "spring country". This is the stretch from Suwannee River State Park to Branford, which is home to Troy Springs State Park (Stop 1).

Florida State Parks has created the Suwannee River Wilderness State Trail, which is a partnership of camps, hubs, and parks along the river for trail users. The link provides resources to maps, boat ramp locations, float plans, a paddling guide, and outfitters. While Wes Skiles Peacock Springs State Park is not actually part of the Suwannee River springs, it's close by and a very popular attraction for divers. It's being included in this 3-part series because it's right smack in between Troy and Lafayette Blue. I'll save my passport stamp for the Suwannee River Wilderness State Trail from when I complete the trail in full in one go. Who's with me? [Yes I used the same Summary for all 3 of the day's posts.]

North Central Florida Springs Day Posts

Park Profile - Wes Skiles Peacock Springs State Park

  • Region: North Central
  • Year Established: 1993
  • Location
    • Physical Address: 18532 180th St Live Oak FL, 32060
    • GPS: 30.128950, -83.131857
    • Google Maps
    • Distance from Tallahassee [32301]: 84 Miles, 1.5 Hours
  • Phone: 386.776.2194
  • Fees: 
    • $4/Vehicle
    • $2/Pedestrians, Bicyclists
    • FREE with an Annual Pass (additional car passengers $2)
  • Hours: 08:00 - Sundown, 365 Days/Year
  • FL State Parks Website
  • FL State Parks: No Brochure
  • FT Ranger on Duty: No
  • Passport Stamp Location: Lafayette Blue State Park

The Gear:


The Story:


Peacock Spring 1

There were divers at Peacock I. They were mostly all submerged, but we did talk to one guy. I used the wetsuit this time around and attempted snorkeling. The water was not very clear, however I did see some fish. As soon as I saw some sort of snake or eel or something, it was my cue to absolutely nope out of there.



The Hike

Get excited for the coolest interpretive trail I've ever seen. This park seems to attract primarily scuba divers, but for those of us unqualified to swim through caves, we have another option. The trail takes us around cave system and has signs periodically informing you about exactly what you are standing above. It more or less goes directly above the exact path that the divers are exploring through as we walk. 

The geologic landscape of this park is known as "karst". This part of the Suwannee River Valley has had limestone on/near the surface which has gradually eroded or dissolved over time. The topographical features include dry sinkholes, offset sinkholes, karst windows, caves, siphons, and springs - several of which will be discussed further along. Let's go "cave diving!"

Peacock I

The hike from the trailhead at Peacock 1 is almost literally walking on the roof of a water-filled cave passage about 20ft below my feet.

Breakdown Room

  • Named due it massive rocks that fell from the ceiling which created a breakdown pile on the floor
  • Fun Fact! Speleogenesis is the process of cave formation! It all starts with rainwater. It passes through soil where it becomes a tiny bit acidic. From there it breaks down limestone! [This is a trend in like half of my posts] When the rock dissolves over thousands of years, tiny fissures and tubular passages are created. This can result in caves/caverns. Caverns are simply a system of caves.


 The Cave Environment

The Peanut Restriction

A sinkhole! Sinkholes range in size and depth - from a few square feet and shallow to 100 feet down, or even hundreds of acres. Many sinkholes are water-filled and connect directly to the aquifers, but this one is dry. Peanut Restriction is the name of the section of the cave underneath this active sinkhole. This sinkhole could remain stable for years, but it could gradually collapse over time depending on the limestone.

Crypt

Caves best support the weight of all the rock above it when filled with groundwater. Once that groundwater drops, the cave's ceilings have a better likelihood of collapsing. The collapse that occurred here at Crypt blocked the cave tunnel entirely and left some crevices that led to Crawdad Sinkhole. This room was discovered by Sheck Exley in 1975, speculated that the room was 400 feet long and more than 100 feet wide before the collapse.. The name is due to the remains of a large turtle found in the room.


Olsen Sink

A karst window are sinkhole filled with water. They are portals to the Florida aquifer providing access to the tunnels and caves under our feet. They are vulnerable to harmful pollutants and contaminants that can easily access through the window. If a diver is passing through Olsen Sink, you would be able to see their lights through the window.


Nicholson Tunnel


Henry Nicholson
--An original member of the National Speleological Society (NSS) Cave Diving Section
--Founder of the International Underwater Cave Rescue and Recovery (IUCRR) organization
Beneath Your Feet! Nicholson Tunnel is a secondary passage off of the larger main passageways that have been created over thousands of years of water barreling through the cave. Side tunnels such as this one, transport less water with a rower rate of flow resulting in heavy silt buildup along the walls and floors.
Safe and Cave Conservation
--Cave diving is dangerous! There is no light and no easy access to the surface.
--Specialized swimming technique involves going through the middle of the water column with fin tips up and behind your body in order to minimize silt and to protect the formations.
--Equipment includes powerful lights and multiple air sources.
--Permanent gold braid - constant reference point with line arrows that point to the closest, direct exit to the furface
--Most FL caves have STOP signs to prevent untrained and not properly equipped divers from entering


Pothole

Pothole, a beautiful and creative name. I'll keep it in mind for my next foster kitten. [Just kitten!]

The divers who discovered 'Pothole' in 1967 were surprised when they saw a blue glow of daylight from a tiny crack in the ceiling just 450 feet from where the entered at Peacock I. They surfaced at this newfound entrance and ushered in the concept of Peacock Springs cave "system" now having two separate entrances.



Along the Way

A few pictures while traveling through the passages of the caves..
Cabbage Palmetto


Orange Grove Spring

Despite the rain, we visited Orange Grove Spring along our drive to get to the park exit. There was a small parking area that led to a staircase that led to a spring covered in green, sort of like that layer the forms on top of queso when it's been sitting out for a few minutes.

stuck the go pro in.. plenty of fish...and plenty of rain drops



Roar for More!

Hurdles

Phone died, no decent camera, blindly aiming with the GoPro!

Quote

Resources

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Location: Wes Skiles Peacock Springs State Park, 18081 185th Rd, Live Oak, FL 32060, USA
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