Still Gravity

While camping in O'Leno , we drove west for 20 miles to see the springs of Ichetucknee State Park. The amazing pool at the northern entrance didn't disappoint - the previous photo. Beautiful spot in a wild forest. This Florida state park gets crowded in the summer when many come for tubing, canoeing, or kayaking downriver. There were a few people when we arrived.  There are eight springs in Ichetucknee - the word means "pond of the beaver". The main springs are Ichetucknee and Blue Hole. There is a cavern in the second one that certified divers can explore. The waters were freezing cold.  Around here, the Spaniards built the Mission of San Martín de Timucua in 1608. Later came the phosphate mines, sawmills, and turpentine businesses. "Tram beds" from those days still exist throughout the park.  We hiked the Blue Hole, Trestle Point, and Pine Ridge trails. They go to the old phosphate mine. On the way

The hiking bridge over the Santa Fe River -  License our images here .         One of the oldest state parks in Florida, O'Leno is on the shores of the Santa Fe River, a waterway that goes underground at a sinkhole to reemerge some miles to the south at the River Rise Preserve. This park is on the place of a town from the 1860s named  Keno  after a popular game of those times. Later the name "evolved" and became Leno - a typo? Because "L" comes right after the "K" on a keyboard. The town died in 1896 after the railroad bypassed the area in favor of Fort White some miles to the west.  Gone were the people, and with them, the mills, the general store, the hotel, and the doctor’s office - remains of the mill survive in the river. The locals came often to the spot of the abandoned town for recreation and began to call the place   "Old Leno". With the pass of time, the name was s

The beauty of Paynes Prairie, Florida -  License our images here . Paynes Prairie A sea of wildflowers in the spring. Birds, wild horses, bison, deer, and alligators are at home in the old Alachua Savanna explored by  William Bartram  in 1774. This is also the first preserve created in Florida.  The campground is in a humid forest. Walking on the prairie always felt better. By the entrance there is a visitor center and the Wacahoota Trail - means "cow barn". It's a short trail. We climbed the fifty-foot tower for wide views of the savanna. Flocks of birds and wild horses grazing faraway. The horses came from the Spanish ranches of colonial times. The bison returned in 1975. They came from the  Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge . In Bartram's times, there were also wolves in Paynes Prairie. Hernando De Soto came to this place in 1

The beauty of the Smoky Mountains during the fall -  License our images here . We've come a few times to the Smokies. These old mountains of North America are so beautiful that we never get tired of seeing them. And we are not alone, because this is the most visited national park in the Unites States - second place is...  guess!  ( Get the answer  here ). The fall always is amazing in the Smokies. True that there is not much water in the waterfalls, but the mosaic of colors of the forest is impressive.  The short hike to  Cataract Falls near Sugarlands Visitor Center, the drive through  Roaring Fork Nature Trail - the one lane road that climbs the mountains following the cabins of old dwellers -, the trail to Grotto Falls in the route to Mt. LeConte - did you know that lamas carry the supplies to the lodge -, Cades Cove, the remote valley dotted by the cabins of old settlers, the eagle views from the scenic Foothi