Gilchrist Weekend Day 4
With mixed feelings, I packed up camp today. While I was a little sad to wrap up the vacation weekend, I was looking forward to being back in my cushy bed with my shower that gets scalding hot the way I like it.
I took a few last pictures of the spring before driving away.
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Rainbow Springs State Park
At the recommendation of the docent couple from the Cedar Key Museum, I headed to Rainbow Springs State Park. Today was still chilly and gloomy, but despite that, the park was beautiful – it must be gorgeous on a sunny summer day when the sky is blue and the flowers are in full bloom. The park has several geocaches that took me through several very different landscapes. I started out around the main entrance and swimming area.
Then I ventured across the old butterfly garden and abandoned zoo area to explore some of the semi-formal wooded paths along the spring.
These transitioned into some much more rugged trails with warnings about bears – I saw bear poop along the trail so they must not be exaggerating!
I walked about 5-6 miles before it started to threaten rain, so I headed back to the beginning. On my way, I passed through the waterfalls and azalea gardens. Such a pretty park!
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I got back just in time to see someone actually in the swimming area, so I decided to join them! There weren’t many people who decided to join me, so I had the water nearly to myself. Despite the cloudy day, the water was still incredibly clear and blue. There weren’t too many critters to check out, but there were a few very nosy fish that gave me nice extreme close-ups. By the time I decided to wrap it up, it was raining – seemed like a good time to call it a day and head back home.
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Over the last 4 days, I walked a total of about 24 miles and slept very well!
