A Touch of Myakka

Time for a Sarasota visit with Jess and Ken - so the Turk and I headed south for the long labor day weekend.  Jess decided we needed to spend a day doing unique Florida things and this turned out to be a great idea.

signage in the parking lot

In the morning while it was still cool, we drove the 'long' 5 miles to Myakka River State Park. Myakka is one of Florida's oldest and largest state parks. The river flows through 57 square miles of wetlands, prairies and woodlands.   What to do in the park?  Hiking and biking trails, horse trails if you have a horse, fishing, kayak and canoe rentals, and camping.  We found 5 log cabins built in the 1930's by the men of the CCC - Civilain Conservation Corps.  The logs are trunks of cabbage palms that are chinked with tar and sawdust to seal the spaces.

We talked with one of the rangers about alligators. We saw only a couple and wondered if there were alot.   With a sparkle in his eye, he told us that alligators stay deep in the cool water when its hot outside, but come winter, they all come out to sun.  Later, in a photo sent by my alligator loving friend Joanne, I found this to be no exaggeration!

Deep Hole at Myakka - expand to see the gators!

We decided that this visit was a reconnaissance trip since we had lunch plans at Linger Lodge on the Braden River, where you are met by stuffed Florida natives including snakes, squirrels playing golf, and gators of course.

At Myakka, the Florida landscape was beautiful, but very wet with all the rain we've been having. We decided on one short hike to the Canopy Walkway.  The walkway is suspended 25 feet above the ground and extends 100 feet through the hammock canopy. There are 74 foot towers that support the walkway so you can view the treetops, wetlands and the prairie/hammock interface.

starting the hike

74 foot tower

With all the rain, the trail was flooded, so we relied on the Turk to lead the way across slightly higher ground that eventually got us to the canopy walkway. The best part was walking across the bridge while the Turk jumped up and down to get it to sway.  Apparently the Turk has gotten over his fear of heights, at least when there is an opportunity to scare us!

Mark and Jess testing the suspended walkway

We will definitely return to Myakka - maybe the fall or winter.  Though that view of the gators is daunting.  Though it seems the Turk had to recover from this brief excursion.  

Yes, it is August