Like many state parks in Florida, Jonathan Dickinson conducts prescribed burns to preserve the habitat as closely as possible to how it evolved; without these periodic controlled conflagrations, oaks would take over the landscape, dominating and crowding out the pines which depend on fire for their survival.

Here is what the landscape looks like after a burn. The small fire-denuded palms in the photo are still alive and will grow back fine in a few months. They are made for fire. (Photo by quoderat.)

We also climbed a mountain today. Well, what passes for a mountain in South Florida. Hobe Mountain rises all of 86 feet (no, that’s not a typo) above the landscape and is the highest naturally-occurring, uh, summit in South Florida. We barely made it up such an intimidating ascent, let me tell you.

Here is a photo of the picturesque boardwalk leading to the observation tower. (Photo by zanna.)

The smoke from prescribed burns can be seen lingering. (Photo by zanna.)

Florida’s undifferentiated horizon. The horizon in this photo is approximately 13 miles away.