Outdoors Archive:
Honeymoon Island State Park
Of all the places I have visited in Florida, Honeymoon Island State Park is currently my favorite. Not only is the beach amazing, but you can also hike through the tropical landscape and see all sorts of different things.
The two-mile hike takes you on a loop throughout the island where you can see all different types of wildlife. Osprey (a huge bird) seem to be everywhere and there are also a few Bald Eagles in the park. And who would have thought the park is also home to a ton of armadillos.
Besides hiking, you can also spend time on the beach swimming, snorkeling, and shelling. Not a bad place to spend a day out in the sun.
Armadillos In Florida?
While I was out hiking on Honeymoon Island, I stumbled across an armadillo along the trail. I was pretty surprised to see one here in Florida. For some reason, I never pictured armadillos hanging out under palm trees.
Weird thing is, I lived in Texas for six months without seeing one even though they are very common there. The first time out on a hike here in Florida I ran right into one. Weird.
As it turns out, the nine-banded armadillos are common here in Florida. They are not native to the state but were introduced here in the early 1900’s. They now live throughout the state and can be found wherever there is dense ground cover (read more facts here).
I’ve never seen an armadillo in person before and was pretty amazed by the creature. It sort of looks like the result we might see if the Easter bunny hooked up with a rhino.
The Perfect Morning
I woke up this morning and had the idea of taking my camera along with me on my morning run. Turned out to be the perfect morning for some photography:
Pedernales Falls State Park
This past weekend, I went and checked out Pedernales Falls State Park. It’s located about an hour outside of Austin here in Texas. It’s made up of more than 5,000 acres of land and has a bunch hiking trails and camping areas.
Although the waterfalls weren’t what I was expecting, they were still cool to look at. It was also nice to get outside and do some hiking, especially in November. The leaves are starting to change colors so the scenery is pretty amazing.
Back From Beach Camping
Well I just got back from my beach camping trip and it was a ton of fun. We went back to Padre Island and camped at the same location we did last time. Luckily my girlfriend got some time off this time so we were able to stay longer.
Enchanted Rock
A few days ago, my girlfriend and I decided to go check out Enchanted Rock State Natural Area. It’s a state natural area made up of more than 1600 acres that’s located just north of Fredericksburg, Texas. The rock has been a National Natural Landmark since the 70’s.
What Is It?
Enchanted Rock is a HUGE boulder that sticks out of the ground more than 425 feet. The summit of the rock sits at 1,825 feet above sea level. It’s also one of the largest underground rock formations in…
Gibson Island
One of the coolest things I did while I was back in Wisconsin was check out Gibson Island. It’s a tiny island located down the street from where I grew up on the Cloverleaf Lakes. It used to be privately owned so I was never able to go check it out as a kid since it would have been trespassing.
Luckily, the residents of the Cloverleaf Lakes managed to raise over a million dollars through various sources (donations, fundraisers, etc) to purchase the island in order to protect its natural environment and wildlife. It’s amazing to see a group of people take the initiative to make something like this happen.
Beach Camping On Padre Island
This past weekend, my girlfriend and I had an awesome time beach camping on Padre Island. It was a great experience and something we plan on doing often.
This was the first time I’ve ever camped right on the beach before. I’ve slept on the beach a few times in the past but never in a tent or on purpose. We literally setup camp right above the high tide line and slept under the stars.
It’s an amazing feeling waking up to the sound of the ocean. The only downside was the fact that the inside of our tent was like 100 degrees. But it was a small price to pay for hanging out on the beach.
Did I Touch The Hollywood Sign?
As I mentioned in my first post about going to California, one thing I wanted to do was try and touch the Hollywood sign. I knew going into it that they had a lot of security around it and that it was going to be difficult.
So did I do it? Unfortunately no I did not. I decided that it wasn’t worth getting arrested or falling down the side of the hill to my death. Here is an overview of the different approach options and why I decided again doing…
The Peralta Trail
Hope everyone had a great holiday! Now, time to share another hiking experience. I recently did one of the most popular hikes in the Superstition Wilderness known as the Peralta Trail. It’s located here in Arizona east of Phoenix. I thought I would share it with everyone since it was a lot of fun.
Starting Off At The Trailhead
The reviews I read of this trail were not lying when they said this trail is used often. There were quite a few cars in the parking lot along with a lot of people. Anyways, the start of the trail was relatively flat. It reminded me a lot of South Mountain which I have hiked a few times. The trail follows along the canyon bottom for more than a mile and then starts to get a little steeper. Eventually, you start to hit some switchbacks and the scenery gets a little more interesting.
The Freemont Saddle
After hiking about 2.5 miles, you reach the Freemont Saddle. This is where most hikers turn around and make their descent back down to the parking lot. It’s a great place to have a picnic if you decide to bring along some food. I brought along some granola bars and a turkey sandwich and was thankful for it. I was starving by the time I got to the saddle.
The view from the saddle is amazing. Here is a picture looking south from the saddle:
Weaver’s Needle
That isn’t the only nice view from the saddle. Looking north, you can see Weaver’s Needle. A 1,000 ft. high rock column that is awesome looking.
