We first visited Highlands Hammock State Park a year or two ago. We returned briefly yesterday for a picnic lunch and a walk at our favorite spot from last time, the Cypress Swamp boardwalk. The water level was lower this time than last, with this visit farther into the drier season than before.

The popular boardwalk, after a lovely wide section with angled benches, loses much of its width and one of its side rails. This makes the swamp seem much more intimate, without that mental barrier between you and the alligators. (We saw two.) (by quoderat)

Besides the alligators, we saw a large spider and a small flock of ibis (both by zanna)

Florida Hikes reports that they enjoyed a wild orange milkshake, picked from trees in the park that are descendents from an earlier use of the land as an orchard, but we are zero for two for having the concession stand open in the first place. We did however stroll through the small Civilian Conservation Corps Museum. My favorite part was probably a map with pins for all of the work camps across the country.

By September 1935 over 500,000 young men had lived in CCC camps, most staying from six months to a year. The work focused on soil conservation and reforestation. Most important, the men planted millions of trees on land made barren from fires, natural erosion, or lumbering—in fact, the CCC was responsible for over half the reforestation, public and private, done in the nation’s history. Corpsmen also dug canals and ditches, built over thirty thousand wildlife shelters, stocked rivers and lakes with nearly a billion fish, restored historic battlefields, and cleared beaches and campgrounds.

In less than 10 years, the Civilian Conservation Corps built more than 800 parks and planted nearly 3 billion trees nationwide. [history.com]

Today we went to Grassy Waters Preserve, which according to its site, “serves as the freshwater supply for the City of West Palm Beach and the towns of South Palm Beach and Palm Beach Island.”

It is wet prairie and cypress swamp primarily. Here is where the wet prairie abuts the cypress swamp. (Photo by zanna.)

And it is an entirely different world under the cypress. (Photo by zanna.)

We found a motionless frog resting near the boardwalk. We suspect is is a pig frog, though it could also be a bullfrog. (Photo by quoderat.)

There was also a small alligator near the staff boat launch area. (Photo by quoderat.)

For the first time on this trip, we stayed right inside a state park.

Jonathan Dickinson State Park is large and much of it is scrub and sand pine. Even in winter in Florida, it is often very hot during the day. We started early and completed our hike before 10AM, and even then were starting to overheat.

During WWII the area now encompassed by the park was used as a secret radar research base, which must’ve been a bit hellish before air conditioning was widely available.

Early yesterday morning we explored Kitching Creek Nature Trail, which was only a short walk from our cabin. Dew still covered many flowers (Both photos by quoderat.)

There is often an interesting mix of palm, water-loving cypress and slash pine in the park (and the moon). (Photo by quoderat.)

A curious mockingbird observed from a dead tree. (Photo by zanna.)

And an osprey also remained calmly perched by the trail as we photographed it. (Photo by quoderat.)

As we headed back to the cabin, a bluejay landed briefly and then flew away. (Photo by quoderat.)

The air temperature and the water temperature in the Keys hasn’t been that conducive to snorkeling, so we decided to go on a glass-bottom boat tour at John Pennenkamp Coral Reef State Park. Though the photos don’t capture it all that well and aren’t very good — shooting through glare-prone glass from a moving vessel at moving, rather small fish — the tour turned out to be very much worth it.

Here’s a few selected shots, though we didn’t manage to capture even a bare fraction of the diversity and abundance of life there. This time, all the photos are by quoderat:

The reef we visited was about 4-5 miles off the coast. To get there, the boat traveled through a labyrinth of mangroves. Viewing through the glass on the boat is in many ways easier than snorkeling. Fewer distractions and concerns. Wider field of vision. But it doesn’t feel as immediate, which I missed.

On the way to our next accommodations, we spotted a Bugatti Veyron, the first time we’ve ever seen one in person.

Taken from the Old Bahia Honda Bridge looking back at the southwest tip of Bahia Honda Key.