A Walk on the Wild Side

Across from Curry Hammock State Park (where we stayed for 2 weeks) is a sort of annex of the park, what is billed as a Nature Trail.  One morning, Jeff and I decided to take Max on a trail walk, since it was pet-friendly.  The walk began on Grassy Key Trail, a trail that will, eventually, run the entire length of the Keys and will be paved (black-topped) so that walkers, runners and bikers can easily enjoy it.

But, there is a nature trail that branches off from Grassy Key Trail after about ¼ mile from the point where we started.  The map from Curry Hammock provided a map and we thought it would be a good morning outing.  I guess I sort of assumed it would be somewhat of an easy trail to walk (by that, I mean sandy), so I just had my sandals on.  However, as we started down the trail, I realized that it wasn’t going to be a sandy trail!

In fact, the path was covered in patches of coral!  As a bit of history, this part of Florida, the Keys, is fairly “new” land in the overall history of the world.  It’s only about 100,000 years old, a mere baby when you consider the Earth has been around for 4.5 billion years!!  I guess  some  might say the ancient people of the Earth were also responsible for the last great ice age (prehistoric global warming, I guess!) , because, at that time, while snow accumulated forming glaciers in some areas, in other parts of the world, sea levels were dropping, exposing coral reefs that flourish in the Keys.  So, the foundation of the Keys is coral, like you see in the photos above.  It was rather difficult walking on these coral reefs, since the coral is now like some extremely hard and unforgiving rocks, and not the delicate living organism that one finds underwater!  Needless to say, my sandals weren’t really made for this type of walking!!

One thing we did come across that wasn’t plant life, or coral, in nature, were these bones.  We have no idea to what they really belong, but we are guessing that maybe they are those of a Key Deer.  Key Deer are a subspecies of the white-tail deer and are only found on the Florida Keys. They are smaller than typical deer.  There is a protected refuge for them in the Keys.  However, it appears that the area was quite extensively damaged during Hurricane Irma (first Category 5 storm of the Atlantic 2017 hurricane season).  Did this little deer get lost and somehow end up here, several miles north of the protected refuge, due to the storm?  We’ll never know, but it is a mystery of nature.

I have to admit, I really like to photograph palms, and the Keys are certainly a great place to find them!  There were also plenty on this trail.  Here are 2 of my favorite images – one because of the great pattern of lines, leading to or away from the “heart” as I think of it.  The second image is one that really shows how lovely they can look when the sun shines from behind and really lights up the green!

Another interesting thing we saw was this perfectly round hole in the ground as we walked along what seemed to be the main path.  We couldn’t imagine what it was until, a few steps further on the trail, we came to a palm tree growing out of what looks like a similar hole!  Apparently, the palm tree that the hole we discovered once held was pulled out or somehow removed (no palm tree lay around that area) and left that perfect hole!

I call this “perfect irony”.  As we walked off and out of the trail, back onto the paved Grassy Key Trail, not far from our Jeep, we noticed this sign.  A fine time for a warning!!  LOL!!

Enjoy!