Day 1 - Driving To, Exploring, and Camping at Florida Caverns State Park

 The Drive:

As I said in a recent post, I decided to delay my start date 1 day so my brother, Eric, could drive up to my first destination - Florida Caverns State Park.  I found out about this park when I was young, and have been interested in checking it out for a while.  Also, since I'd already explored much of the peninsular regions of Florida, I thought it would be nice to explore the pan handle, so this fit perfectly as my first stop.

The day started a little less smoothly than I wanted.  Throughout the course of loading up my car, I had left the doors and hatch open for a long time without starting up the car.  I know you can see where this is going.  Yep, Eric hopped in his car and started to drive out of the cul-de-sac, while I turned the key in mine, and had just enough power for accessories, but not to turn over the engine.  I waved him back up, and after pulling my jumper cables out from the spot they were buried in my "trunk," we were able to get my car going.  Since then, I have had no issues with my car, and I have been more careful about making sure to not leave the car doors ajar for too long.

With that past us, we set out on the road.  Google said the 301mi. drive to the caverns should take 5:36, and, with me following Eric, we were able to shave off about an hour.  Taking US19 to I10, and heading west to Marianna, we saw what we hadn't seen for a while - hills.  It was a nice drive.

Exploring:

Arriving at the park, we were informed they might not have sufficient campsites for us, and that the campsite would have to be reserved at the park entrance, but that we should get our tickets for the cavern tour first, since the tours can sell out.  We got our tickets ($8), then went back to find out about the camp site.  They did have one, so we got it, then went back to the visitor center to walk some of the trails we thought were supposed to be short, while we waited for our tour time.

These short trails really aren't very short.  It was probably a couple miles worth of trails, winding through mosquito infested, hot and humid, woods and swamp lands.  They were also mildly strenuous, with numerous elevation changes, rocks, small caverns, boulders, wetlands, and other types of terrain.  After completing most of these trails, we decided to head back to the visitor center to rest for a while, and to escape the mosquitoes.


The tour takes you on about an hour long trip through the main caverns.  There are numerous forms of stalactites and stalagmites throughout, pools of water, and tiny bats and crickets.  The guide, as most are, seemed to very much enjoy taking the time to speak, but not to allow people to take as many pictures as they would like, often turning off the lights in the room while another photog and I were still exploring.  Of course, I tend to take my time in places like that anyway, so it probably wasn't a bad thing to hurry us along a bit.

After the tour, Eric an I went on the last major trail they have there.  Unfortunately, it was more about mosquitoes than seeing interesting nature.

Camping:

When we finished the trail, we went to our campsite, which was nestled in the woods, about 50 feet from the swamp, and full of mosquitoes.  After setting up the tent (we left the fly off to aid ventilation and to allow us to see the stars), we checked out the small swimming hole.  It is at the head of the river that feeds the wetlands.  On one side of the river/lake is a decent sized open field - which provided a little reprieve from the mosquitoes - and some picnic shelters.  There are also some campgrounds at the far end of the field.

Getting back to camp, I pulled out the MSR stove, and cooked up some teriyaki noodles, that I added some chicken to.  I had a little too much water, so it ended up being a soup, but it was good.  By now, night had overtaken the sky, and the mosquitoes had surprisingly gotten less aggressive.  After washing the dishes, we headed back to the swimming hole to check out the night sky - something we can't do at home.  While there was still a decent amount of light pollution, the sky presented us with many stars and a couple of planets.  I spent a while there trying to photograph some of them, and got a few decent pictures for my efforts.

It had been a long day, so we packed it in for the night.  Because it had been so hot, I hadn't wanted to bother with my sleeping bag or pillow, so I tried to sleep using just my foam mattress, as I had given my inflatable one to Eric.  This left me with no head support, and quite uncomfortable, making it difficult to get situated.  I ended up folding up the end of the foam to form a small head rest, which did improve it, but did nothing to help retain the heat when the temperature plummeted overnight.  I lay there very uncomfortably, not wanting to disturb Eric, who was mostly able to sleep, but when he got up because of the cold, I decided to put the fly on, which would trap the heat in the tent.  Unfortunately, when he tried to get back into the tent, he couldn't figure out how to open it in the dark, so he slept the remainder of the night in his car, while I grabbed my pillow and confiscated the blanket he'd left in the tent.



After breakfast, I told Eric of my plans while I was still in Florida, and he headed home.  I headed to Walmart to buy some ice and car glass cleaning supplies, since camping under the trees had wreaked havoc on my visibility.  Then, I hit the road...