Tomoka State Park

Feeling the need to replenish my outdoor-life battery, Piper and I went to Tomoka State Park for a hike last week. It's tremendous the amount of power a couple of hours in nature has on my state of mind. Here's the photo-story.

First stop: fishing pier off the group camp area. 

Upon arrival, the park attendant gave me a map that looked like it had originally been printed in 1992 and the shape of the park was hand drawn. Like any 90's classic photocopy, the words and pictures had seemingly no scale relationship to each other, which is how I wound up parking absolutely nowhere near the nature trail we were there to hike.

Luckily, that meant we got to take a tiny glimpse at the water from this fishing pier before the real hike began.

I love that almost all of my hikes get to be with this little shenanigator.

If you have to hike for awhile to get to the trail, this is a decent kind of road to hike. It was firm with a sandy top layer, little in the way of automotive traffic, shaded in the afternoon, and quiet. One thing I had forgotten about hiking in sandy places was how critical eye gear can be when the wind is blowing the fine grains around.

I absolutely love using the Seek app to identify cool looking plants. This is coral bean. It stands out against the dense green palmettos and gives off fire coral vibes.

Live oaks are slow growing shade warriors around Florida. Growing up, I loved grabbing chunks of Spanish moss off of the trees to examine the curly stems and see the different colors and pops they made when they were thrown in flames. This outdoor classroom/auditorium area is completely surrounded by live oaks and would have been a dream field trip for little me.

This spit of land between the Tomoka and Halifax rivers was once the Timucua village of Nocoroco. This rendition of Chief Tomokie was created in 1955, long after colonizers had forced his tribe off the land despite the natives' best efforts to defend their home.

Where the Halifax river meets the Tomoka Marsh Aquatic Preserve. This type of landscape reminds me of reading The Cay as a kid in school.

 

Spurge nettle. Like seemingly everything else in Florida, even this pretty little herb can sting.

This is such an excellent example of how biodiversity works. Tree roots stabilize the banks of waterways for other plants and reduce erosion. Animals, like bivalves, get a habitat in the areas where the water covers the roots, and the tree benefits from the microbiomes and nutrient replenishment that comes from decaying shells and other plants. In the case of this root ball, the center hollow of the stump is now home to smaller plant species growing up and out of the remains of the tree. Circle of life.

Eastern red cedar. Digital dichotomous key for the win.

It was temperate for Florida (real feel 72F) but hot in the sun for our cold-loving bodies. Still, worth the hike, and now we know where to park to actually hike on the trail next time. :)

Keep coming back to see more of our fun in the sun!