Hot and Buggy

So after all of the good times, good food, and great company that Texas had to offer, we had to move on.  The next park was going to be a bit of a spur off of the main path through the south.  We were headed up to Arkansas to visit Hot Springs National Park.  February is the best time to go hot-tubbing and why not try one of the first nationally recognized hot tubs.  The park is situated within the town of Hot Springs, AR where fresh spring water flows out of the mountain at 143°F.  The water fell as rain a few thousand years ago and slowly percolated down into the Earth's crust until it reached a combination of things.  First it is heated by geothermal activity where (since heat rises) it takes advantage of a thrust fault to rise to the surface before it cools.  This phenomenon was recognized by Native Americans and pioneers alike.

The park service claims it is the first 'park', beating Yellowstone by some 40 years.  Andrew Jackson signed a law protecting the area in 1832 as a 'federal reservation' (not Indian), which falls into a similar category as a park.  No laws prevented development though, and by the late 1800's many bathhouses existed to medically treat a plethora of ailments.  Eventually in the early 20th century, it was designated a national park.

Due to its odd unregulated development, it is a national park that is also a city.  It encompasses a few city parks, several square blocks, a mountain, and historic bathhouse row.  What this means for us is a quick visit due to lack of activities (and to keep lodging costs down). 

So we began with a small stroll around the city parks

Followed by tours of some of the historic buildings.

And eventually...a bath! (really...but no cameras at the actual one)

We even quaffed the elixir at one of the many free spring water fountains in town.

The perfect activities for a rainy February day.  We had to keep moving though, and the next park on our list would test the limits of our patience.  On the way there, we managed a good solid flat in the back woods of Louisiana and Stacy learned first hand how to plug a tire.

We also stopped for some of the best fried seafood ever in Mobile.  All of this is leading up to...the Everglades!  This is another park that we are visiting for the second time in our lives.  We had previously spent a Thanksgiving holiday kayaking around one of the three sections of the park.  And now we return to finish the job.  We showed up at the second section (Ten Thousand Islands) with the expectation of more paddling.  The weather had other plans.  Twenty knot winds kept us off of the water for a good many days.  So we spent our time walking inland on the nature trails there and in Big Cypress National Preserve. 

I will say up front that the ranger-led programs at NPS units are awesome, from fireside chats to snowshoeing.   But Southern Florida parks take the trophy for the best programs.  We managed to get our names on the list to:

Bike with a ranger

Canoe with a ranger

And twice walk into the mud with a ranger.

The second 'slough slog' with a ranger was in the Everglades itself, as opposed to Big Cypress.  It had been dry weather and the entrance path was the only water remaining.  Lo and behold, this is where a nice 8' gator decided to hang out.  We carefully side stepped around him at a distance of about 15 feet.  When the last person walked past, he got up to leave (or so we thought).  He actually got up to follow us into his cypress dome.  The rest of the slog was spent with a watchman at the end of the group keeping an eye on those keeping an eye on us.  Here is me keeping watch...

All equipment included, free of charge!  The third section (shark valley) has one trail to one outlook.  We were told we should bike it (and not fall off...)

A worthwhile day of biking.  We saw mama gator with a nice bunch of lil' snappers.

Finally we headed back to the main section (Flamingo) and what was to be the test of patience.  I have thus far refrained from mentioning the only negative part of these parks.  And if you failed to put 2 and 2 together (read the title, dummy), I mean the mosquitoes.  Apparently, since we missed the worst in AK, fate sent us clouds of bugs in FL.  Evenings and morning were spent reapplying DEET, running to and from the car or tent, or hiding.  We loved the activities in this park, there was just no leisurely downtime.  It culminated with the hiking of the Coastal Prairie trail.  Sounds lovely, no?  It is where the US Army and the EPA field test their insect repellents. So the archetype of buggy.  Stacy and I have upped our hiking game on this trip.  While I tend to trudge at about 2.5mph no matter the terrain, Stacy still slows up the hills but will hike fast when flat.  She set a land speed record on this trail of 13 miles in about 3'45" because of the mosquito cloud surrounding us.  And I quote: "Second worst day hiking on this trip!!". 

After this we were almost ready to leave.  Stacy wanted desperately to see a Manatee as we had from a distance in 2012.  So we headed to the marina not expecting much but were pleasantly surprised when 3 were feeding and wanted to investigate us...

Another cherry on this sundae of awesome.  Stacy has been wanting to photograph an Owl since the start.  We always hear them, but never spy the buggers.  The last hike we did was a short boardwalk out to mahogany hammock.  Just because.  The sign at the trailhead says we might see an owl.  Awesome.  We did not expect anything.  About halfway around the loop, an older couple points out a scruffy looking owl in the trees.  GREAT!  We shoot him (or her) for a little.

Then we notice movement on some other branches.  It turns out he is scruffy because he is still a juvenile and mom and dad were in the same tree hanging out.  GREAT!  We shot some of them too.

And then, as dusk approaches, jr. starts getting antsy and screeching at his parents.  Mom calms him down with a little preening.  CUTE!

Then, dad comes over to preen mom SUPER CUTE!  I think we shot about 300 photos of just the preening, and got nearly as many mosquito bites.  Enjoy!

Like I said, we really enjoyed the time spent moving in the 'glades...and the really windy days...and the indoor spaces, and the availability of DEET. 

Things were only looking better as we were about to hit three parks in a row that would prove to be a vacation within a vacation.  Until next time,

-K