2015-02-01: Hiking the Florida Trail thru the Ocala National Forest

What a great day! We met up with YankaBucs and MsYB up in the Ocala National Forest to go Geocaching and hiking along a section of the Florida Trail. Leaving one car at the trail crossing along side Forest Road 599, we drove the other car around and up to State Road 40 where the Florida Trail crosses again. This way we wouldn't have to backtrack.

The hike was approximately 4 miles long, varying slightly between a couple GPS's, phones, and step trackers. Could be the walking in circles at each cache location while trying to find them. This section of the Florida Trail was an easy hike with some minor bushwhacking, again when leaving the trail at the cache locations.

All in all it was a good day finding 21 caches, getting some fresh air and sunshine, and a little bit of cardio exercise. Leaving south out of the ONF, we stopped at Beef O'Brady's in Umatilla for some lunch.

I think they need a new sign.

2015-01-31: Geocaching and Hiking in Gemini Springs Park

Welcome back and thank you for joining us on another of our adventures. We have a long hike planned for tomorrow, but still wanted to get out and enjoy another beautiful Florida winter day.

Staying closer to home, we made a short drive up the road to Gemini Springs Park in DeBary, FL. Gemini Springs is a 210 acre county park located in Volusia County. We found seven geocaches located along the mile long nature trail and throughout the park.

It was a nice relaxing stroll by the springs and through the old Florida landscape of hiking trail along the banks of Mullet Lake.

At this spot below, we ventured off the hiking trail towards the swampy marsh you see beyond the trees to grab a Geocache. As I approached and got close to the cache, I saw a gator sunning on the edge about 40' away. I took a few steps to the side to try and get a better photo through the trees, when I startled him and he launched into the water and swam away.

One of the cache containers called Farmer Brown

That was all for today. We'll see you back again tomorrow and I'll tell you about our long hike in the ONF.

2015-01-25: A Quick Greek Festival Followed by Geocaching

Today started out a little different than normal. We were headed up to Belleview, FL to attend the St Marks Greek Orthodox Church's annual Greek Festival. Being half Greek myself, I have been to a few of these in Orlando but it has been a long time. We were to meet up with some of my mother and other relatives there. However, when we arrived it was already packed!

After walking around the outside vendors and tables, we squeezed our way through the indoor fellowship hall where rows of tables for eating and watching, vendor tables lined the walls, a Greek band playing music on one side, and dancing in the middle. We finally managed to make our way through, viewing everything, and getting back outside where there was a little more breathing room!

Continuing looking around, I spotted my uncle and my cousin. My uncles wife wasn't feeling well and stayed home. My mother and other aunt hadn't arrived yet. We chatted for a few minutes, but it was too crowded for us to hang around any longer. So back in our car to go Geocaching and exploring the area.

We managed to find 13 Geocaches in the area, some longhorn cattle, and this huge oak tree. Another great day and another area explored. Where to next?

2015-01-17: Cacheapalooza 9 Geocaching and Hiking in Jonathan Dickinson State Park

Today was the day for Cacheapalooza 9, a huge Mega event located in South Florida at the Jonathan Dickinson State Park. A Mega event means that more than 500 geocachers have to log their attended in order to qualify. I think this is my 3rd trip done to a Cacheapalooza and Candy's first.

Jonathan Dickinson State Park is an 18 square mile park located just south of Stuart, FL in Martin County. It contains miles of hiking and biking trails, canoe and kayaking opportunities, and more.

They day started out fairly cool and warmed up slightly as we began hiking. We checked in, signed the log book, and looked around at the crowd to see if any of our caching friends were here. We saw some of their cars in the parking lot but not at the pavilion. They must be out already on the trails.

So Candy and I selected one of the many trails and began hiking through the scrub. Starting out at the pavilion, we headed north along the Kitching Creek Trail to the Connecting Trail finding caches along the way. That trail takes you over to the Red Loop Trail.

After hiking up the Red Trail for a little bit, I turned west on the Ocean to Lake Trail when I should have turned east. But I didn't have a trail map and I couldn't remember which way I had taken on previous visits. Anyway, we continue finding caches, crossed over Kitching Creek and turned left again on the multi-use trail headed south. This should take us back near the pavilion and the parking lot, right? Hmmm

Continuing south and grabbing caches, I noticed on my GPS that the caches started curving to the west past and away from the pavilion. Looking at the satellite view, there looked to be campsite trail that might cross back over the creek so we could return to the pavilion. Well the photo below shows what we found at the end of the trail. There was no bridge to cross over to the other side.

So it was either continue southwest and loop WAY around the bottom and then back north OR backtrack the way we came. We chose the shorter backtrack route! After six miles of hiking, we finally made it back to the pavilion. Saw a couple of friends and chatted for a little bit. Then we drove into town and found a Chili's to grab some food, drink, and relax a while before the long drive back up to Orlando.

Another great day of adventure! See ya next time...

2015-01-03: Geocaching with Friends in the Ocala National Forest

It's always fun to go Geocaching with a group of friends and yesterday (Jan 3rd) was one of those days. We met up with YankaBucs, MsYB, HorseshoeChamp, Geoturtlelover, and ItchyFeet2Wander in the Ocala National Forrest to find the TAFF and Breaking Bad series of caches. It was a fun fast day in the ONF and we managed to find 65 caches before Candy and I called it a day and headed home. Didn't take a whole lot of pictures except for this creative cache container and a couple of deer and bear tracks.
Today (Jan 4th) Candy and I drove back up to the ONF again to find some more of the TAFF series of caches along with a few others mixed in along the way. We added 42 caches to the found column today.