1205 February 9, 2025 Gator Hook Trail

I only took a short walk this morning.  I knew that we had planned a hike later in the morning and so I wanted to conserve my energy!

We had talked with a camp host about this hike.  He commented that it might be quite muddy.  We dressed in long sleeves, long pants hiking socks, and old tennis shoes.  We were prepared with bug spray and buffs in the event that the mosquitoes became too intense. 

We saw this tiny 2 ½ foot alligator crossing the road.

We drove to the Gator Hook Trailhead on Loop Road.  I saw other people starting out on the trail.  They were dressed in in cute sandals and shorts and sleeveless shirts.  I suddenly felt very overdressed.  We began to walk.  The initial portion of the trail had a layer of gravel and it was nice and flat. 

Then, there was mud.  There were wooden beams lying across the path with squishy muck between.  This is where those nicely dressed people turned around!  We were ready for an adventure and we persevered. 

There were coral rocks scattered along the path. We had to carefully pick and navigate our way from one rock to the next.  When I missed and landed in the mire it sucked my foot in and I had to yank it back out.  This hike required good balance and lots of concentration.  At one point, I looked around and just laughed out loud.  What a thrill to be out there in the middle of the cypress swamp, wending our way!  I did discover that the cypress trees grew in drier soil and so I did a bit of bushwhacking.  We saw no snakes and no gators and no other people.

We had walked ½ mile in when we came to a place on the trail where we could see the yellow blazes marking the trail but the trail was under several inches of water.  This is where we decided to turn back.  I later read that in places the water could be 4 feet deep…nope…no way!!! It had been a long time since we had that kind of excitement!

Some very large paw prints out there in the middle of nowhere…panther???

We went back to Monument Lake where we could get cell service so that we could post the blog.

The rest of the day was quiet. 

A bit of rain and a rainbow in the campground.

We had a picnic dinner and then Tim set up the outside TV and we watched the Super Bowl on Telemundo …in Spanish.  That was the best we could do!  Our neighbors came over to watch with us.  The mosquitoes were mild.  We had fun watching.  Tim and the neighbor guy narrated the game.  Our little Austin is a big Eagles fan.  He is dressed in his Saquon Barkley shirt and he is so cranked about this game…but too nervous to watch! Go Eagles!!!!