Exploring Myakka by Foot

We have really been blessed with some nice weather since arriving here allowing us to eat outside together for most of our meals.  When we were eating breakfast at Ken and Bonnie's campsite this morning, we noticed a Red Shouldered Hawk watching us from above.

Our mornings have been very relaxed too with us sitting outside for awhile just talking and enjoying the beauty of the park.

Today, we were exploring Myakka River SP by hiking some of the trails that were not flooded.  We loaded up our hiking gear and packed some lunches and snacks and headed first to the Ranch House Trail.

Bonnie's hiking sticks needed some adjusting...

...or else she was going to have to squat-crawl through the woods.  :)

The beginning of the trail was covered in a thick canopy of trees.

A short distance from the start of the trail is where the ranch house for the Meadowsweet Pastures had previously existed.  Some of the foundation along with broken pieces of dishes and glassware were nearby.

Meadowsweet Pastures had been owned by Bertha Palmer, a very successful American businesswoman and philanthropist.

The trail was covered with shade for only about another 1/3 mile before we reached a crossroad in what had formerly been open pasture.

The pasture was dotted with flowers...

...and occasional trees.

Even dead trees can be beautiful too.

We could see a lot of animal tracks in the mud on the trail.  Below are raccoon prints, a deer print, and what we think may be a bobcat footprint right in the middle.

We reached a flooded area of the trail that was too deep to cross so we turned around and headed back the way we came.

When we got back to the crossroad, we took a little break to eat a snack and drink some water.

Then we began heading south on the crossroad towards the power line trail...

...that was lined with beautiful yellow daisies in many places.

It was kind of hot out in the open sun but we were still having fun.

When we reached the power line trail and began heading back west to the main road,

Ken spotted the baby alligators in the water to the side of the trail.

We saw a couple of more bigger alligators down in the water along both sides of the road like this one.

By the time we got back to the main road and walked back to the car, we had hiked almost 5 miles.  My feet were tired but it was a beautiful hike.

Next, we headed up to the Bird Walk for lunch.  At the Bird Walk, you walk out this long walkway over the water that is surrounded by water hyacinth.

We found a spot of shade and enjoyed our lunch.

The water hyacinth are beautiful but invasive.  The parks and Florida waterways struggle with keeping it from taking over the rivers in places.

There weren't many birds out this time of day but we did see this Tri Colored Heron...

and another Great Blue Heron.

There was also this cute little lizard on the back side of the post near my feet.

After we got back to our campers, we relaxed until dinner at Ken and Bonnie's campsite.  We had burgers of almost every flavor:  Ken and Chuck had salmon burgers, Bonnie had a beef burger, and I had a turkey burger.  We sat outside as long as we could but the mosquitoes began attacking around 7 again.

Chuck and I taught Ken and Bonnie how to play Spades tonight and they caught on quickly.  The women had won most of the card games last night, but the men were the big winners tonight.

But I think we all are winners because we are SO blessed to enjoy this beautiful park with wonderful friends!