Easy hiking in Tucson

I headed for Saguaro National Park (West) to do a little hiking. I stopped in at the office to flash my pass and to ask about the elusive crested (cristate) saguaro; did you know a perfect specimen died in September? I never even saw the obituary. Monsoon season made the ground very wet, then they had a 70 m.p.h. wind that caught that non-aerodynamic crest and...crestfallen.

I asked if I could hike to one. He gave me a discreet once-over and suggested it might be a long hike. He did point me to some easy hikes, though, so I waddled off toward Wild Dog Trail.*

*I intended to walk the shorter Valley View Trail, but I got lost. Let's not make a big deal over it.†
†I got to the road and flagged someone down for a map. It was embarrassing. Let's drop it.

The trail goes that way.  Saguaro, you are fired.

I met up with two guys hiking, and one asked Are you the New Yorker? We compared notes (his axle broke in Ithaca), and we laughed about how "unfriendly" New Yorkers are. After about ten minutes of chatting, it occurred to him that I wasn't hiking with anyone, and he got startled.

Are you alone? Be careful!
Will do! And you have fun!

Since I didn't want to risk two days in a row of reckless behavior like walking unassisted, Annie joined me today on a Robles Pass hike. We meant to do the easy, quick Creosote Loop Trail, but we missed the turn and took the charming Rocky 13 path. It's not a loop, and so we ended up someplace unexpected. There was no one to flag down for a map.

Tee hee! Nice "arm."

Pam from Oh, the Places They Go! told me where to find a nice crested saguaro, and so I shall. What can go wrong?

Osceola National Forest - We get lost, so you don't have to.™

Ocean Pond, Olustee, Florida.

Ocean Pond is in the Osceola National Forest

HOG PEN LANDING.  We took them at their word and docked here.

[This is the full brunt of Irene against northern central Florida.  I am not smug.]

When I was here in April, there were three vehicles boondocking here. None this day, but we looked at the pit toilets and understood. There is a $2/day fee, and besides space for larger rigs, there are smaller primitive lakeside tent sites. In case I wasn't clear, THE TOILETS ARE GROSS. Take your $2, drive 100 miles to Micanopy, and use the bathroom twice.


Before you leave, check out these dragonflies!  Annie got these pictures without a tranquilizer gun, but she's usually pretty calm anyway:

The campground on the north shore looks nice. $18 FHU, $12 water, and $8 primitive. Here's Annie (not included) and a date palm. There were ads posted wanting camphosts, if you like doing that. 30 hours/week (per couple? not sure) gets you a site, electricity, water, septic, propane reimbursement, laundry and wifi (coming soon). 


ETA:  Hitek Homeless suggested I link to the information here on FreeCampsites.

As long as we had come this far, why not wander around in a forest!  Er, maybe we should think ...  Right!  But, there are things we should consider ...  Let's go!

I saw this on the iPad:

What the ... ?  Let's go see it!

What kind of place is this?  And, why is Roxanne walking like that? 

Another manmade water feature had flora and fauna, and didn't look so much like a nuclear waste dump:













Things got ridiculous, though.





Okay, Brain, how do we get out of here now?

Same way we do every day, Pinky! Try to follow the map!

What happened to the road?

*shakes tiny fist at Olustee Battlefield State Park, an entirely separate entity from the Osceola National Forest that borders it and therefore will not allow free passage!*

And then, I emptied my clip into the sign and we drove away.FreeCampsites: Ocean Pond.