Black Bear Wilderness Area

Clif and I decided early on in the week that today would be designated for hiking.  The dilemma: it is archery hunting season in the forests we would have liked to have hiked.  I found one, although not as long as we would have liked (2.8 miles round trip), but the name alone was intriguing.  Those of you who know me, know I have yet to capture a picture of a bear in the wild which is a goal of mine. :)
Bears are active this part of year, and sightings have been reported recently.



We ventured to Sanford, west of I-4 onto Orange Blvd to the north of SR 46.  This area is known for its bear sightings.  I was eager to get started despite the overcast weather and rain threat.  The mud was slick and slippery.  When crossing over the wooden planks I adhered to the sign that said "slippery when wet".  It didn't make a difference.  I slipped and fell right on my butt anyway!
My boots had absolutely no traction.



As we were hiking along, we heard a noise.  We stopped to listen.  It was a grunt of some sort.  We couldn't decide if it was a wild boar, gator, or a bear.  I managed to get down the slope to the water's edge for a closer look.  I took a quick picture while I was at it.



It didn't matter which way we looked, the view was the same.  The trail was a narrow berm in which these two bodies of water surrounded on both sides.  If bear were in the area, I think they walk the berm.  I can't imagine a bear wanting to wade it this.

A little bit further down the slippery trail, I spied this humongous gator swimming from a tributary into this canal.  I was just reaching for my camera when it saw me and Clif and lunged.  That was the biggest splash I have ever witnessed a gator making.  He was at least 14 feet long.  His head was huge, perhaps 2 feet long and a foot wide.  I was astounded.  I couldn't move.  I stood looking to see where it went.  It must have dove underwater as we never saw it again.  I looked back to share my excitement with Clif only to see him 20 feet down the trail.  He had high tailed it! He yelled to me to get out of there, but my thought was, if I start running, I'll fall on my butt again, then what chance will I have?  I just stood there until I realized the gator must have been just as scared of us as we were of it.



Just before getting to the St. John's River overlook, the view of this swamp was just breathtaking.
Look at how perfectly aligned the trees are!  If you look closely, you will see water stains on the trunks showing the different water tables the swamp has had in recent years.



This is the view of the St. John's River.  It is a mile hike from the parking area.  You can continue on another berm to the trail's end which is 0.4 mile.



We continued onto the berm between the swamp and the St. John's River.  The trail was just a tad narrower than the one we were just on.  You can see the bodies of water on both sides of us.  It was just as slippery.  I was glad to have my hiking sticks to stabilize myself.



Just as we got to the end of the trail, we heard and saw another BIG splash.  I told Clif it must be another 14 foot gator.



His reply, "I think that gator we saw earlier had a short cut and is stalking us!"

Needless to say, we made it safely back to the truck.  We didn't see any bears, but we had an adventure spying the HUGE gator and now have a tale to tell about it.



On the way home, Clif stopped on the side of the 417 to get a picture of a field of wild yellow daisies, or goldenrod, don't know which.  I know the picture doesn't do it justice, but on the way to our hike, (when it was a bit sunnier and no misty rain) they were so brilliant and breathtaking.  Clif remembered my comment, and stopped to get a shot for me.