What else do you do when it's freezing out?

Gulf Islands National Seashore – Fort Pickens Area

February 16-17, 2013

Yay!!!  Kris is in Pensacola!  Finally!  The process can begin! 

Shortly after Kris arrived in Pensacola, I was excited to show the photographer one of the most photogenic areas of Pensacola; the Gulf Islands National Seashore Fort Pickens Area.  This is a section of the National Seashore on the Western end of Pensacola Beach.  Fort Pickens is one of three military forts from the 1830s strategically located around the Pensacola Pass.  The fort still stands and most areas are open for the public to explore.  This is also where the Northern trail head for the Florida Scenic Trail is.  Campgrounds are conveniently within the park but geared mostly for RV camping.  I however, love these campgrounds.  Pull your car right up, unload your stuff, walking access to a full bath house (with hot water), and even a place to plug in an extension cord?  Yes, please!

Kris and I decided that on the coldest night so far this winter, we would go set up a tent and test out some of our gear.  Gear to be tested; Kelty Salida 2 tent, Eureka! 30° men’s compression bag, Alpine Design Sierra 20° women’s mummy bag, Thermarest trailite self inflatable air mattress, and various foul weather clothing layers. 

Let the cold begin!  Setting up the tent, was a windy feat.  Snow birds that would be cozy in their RVs for the night gave us confused glances as we set up our small tent.  The sweet ones warned that we better double up on the stakes, that the wind had been brutal; so, we did just that. 

After we set up camp, we had some time to get in some quick exploring before the sun went down, and we went out for some grubbing.  The park just so happens to be next to the best place in town to get oysters.  Let me be clear; I love oysters!  Preferably freshly shucked (from Apalachicola) and served on the half shell.  The slimy and salty delicacy of the sea was a first for Kris, so he ordered a half dozen baked and bravely ate all of them.  I ate close to 2 dozen raw.  I surely will miss those slimy buggers.

Back at camp, the temperature dropped to about 28°F with wind blowing about 10 mph that night.  It was a bitter cold, but inside of the tent was cozy.  We brought a few extra blankets and my extra everyday sleeping bag.  The extra bag was laid on the floor of the tent for insulation, and Kris let me try out his ThermaRest.  The ThermaRest made the ground nice and soft and surely helped to insulate it.  My Apline Design mummy bag was great, however, it is probably not quite small enough to compress to an efficient size for hiking, more to follow with further tests.  Kris said he was “surprisingly toasty” in his Eureka! 30°F bag.  So toasty in fact, that couldn’t fight the urge to plunge outside for a brief moment.  Brrrrr…  The extra blankets might have given some extra insulation, but after the morning, the cold Florida night was quite a nice one.

Astrophotography at GINS Fort Pickens by Kris Rollason

The sun came up to break the chill and an Osprey chatted away loudly.  We prepared breakfast and coffee using Kris’s MSR Whisper Lite stove and my super amazing French Press coffee maker from the house (bless car camping).  Our neighbors didn’t seem too impressed that we made it through the night, but we were pretty pleased with the results.

We packed up the site and went to spend a chilly yet clear and beautiful day on the beach.  Kris went out for some exploring and photographing of the fort.  I set up a chair on the fishing pier and waited for a bite.  The crew that was fishing at the end of the pier pulled an octopus out of the channel that was about 2.5 feet from tentacle to tentacle!  Crazy!  Even when the fish aren’t biting too hard, one never knows what will be seen sitting out on the water.

The naughty afternoon hike

UWF Dunes Trail – Florida Scenic Trail

February 5, 2013

   As many of you know, I have been a beach lover my entire life.  Even recently I was able to work in a position minimizing ecological impact by clean-up workers when near areas such as marsh and sand dunes.  While researching areas near Pensacola to do some day hikes, I stumbled across a section of the Florida National Scenic Trail known as the UWF Dunes Trail.  This section was located on Pensacola Beach within the tract of nature preserve owned by the University of West Florida, my alma mater.  What’s exciting about this trail was that approximately 8 miles of this section traverse the dunes and maritime forest.  That’s correct; people are actually allowed to walk in and over the dunes.  This is normally a huge no-no, as hefty fines are given out to people who think they can just tromp over dunes and their vegetation.  Just in case one was wondering why these dunes are so important not to disturb, I will tell you!  Dunes are created when wind pushes sand leeward on an island in a process called saltation.  Grains of sand bounce along the ground instead of fly through the air.  Sand is pushed to the back of an island until either the wind dies or it is stopped and held in place by something.  Sometimes this is dune fencing or vegetation, but I have seen dunes form around a coke can.  Ideally, vegetation holds sand in place, allowing for further expansion on the plant’s root system.  More growth of dune plants means more sand to hold in place, thus growing a dune system.  These dunes are extremely important ecological features creating habitat as well as creating a first wall of defense for inland homes and business against forces such as tidal surge during a hurricane.  While dunes will be blown out during a hurricane, their presence helps to slow down the wall of water known as a surge and hold the island in place.  Voila! Dunes are awesome!

   Now, if you worked with me during the past two years, you know how much of a stickler for staying out of the dunes I was, and to the credit of my co-workers, you could continue on with the importance of dunes.  However, this trail is made for walking through the dunes!  What a naughty place to work on breaking in my boots.   

   The trail head begins just West of Portifino Towers on Pensacola beach and immediately heads North through the dunes and then West toward the Gulf Islands National Sea Shore.  The terrain is relatively easy; however I am used to walking in the sand every day.  Vegetation was not hindering, some Salt Meadow Hay and Spartina to get through.  Occasionally the path will lead through a bit of water that has collected but it was fairly dry for me.  My boots, by the way, did keep my feet dry.  The path is marked by the orange blazes indicative of the Florida Trail, but PVC pipes are used due to the lack of trees for the majority of the hike.  The greatest elevation gain is about 25 feet, and that’s only if you feel like scaling the dune.  Scenery is spectacular out there.  The Santa Rosa Sound lies behind the dunes to the North and the Gulf of Mexico an ear-shot away to the South.  The path passes through some Maritime Forest with old salt-burnt live oak and pine stands.  If you keep your eyes open you will see Osprey on their nests or dolphin feeding and playing in the Sound.  The most excitement I got that evening was the close call of doom for a frog that came pretty close to meeting my boot.  Sorry little buddy!

   The trail will most likely be impossible to hike in about a month.  This is a haven for ground nesting birds such as the Least Tern, Black Skimmer, Snowy Plover, Killdeer, etc.  These birds will dive bomb and poop their hearts out to warn intruders.  Besides, no one wants to step on a poor defenseless nest they didn’t see.

The trail continues through the dunes until you reach the boundary of the National Seashore.  It then leads back South to the shoreline where it continues as the Florida National Scenic Trail along the crashing waves.

The view looking West 

   It was a gorgeous afternoon for a hike, even if it did feel so naughty.  I would not have changed a single piece of it for the world.  Obvious challenges that will soon be faced were realized, while at the same time being able to ignore the mundane things that so often get one down in the usual day to day grind.  But, I could say that for any time I am at the beach.  I only hope that the mountains will give me the same sense of freedom and enlightenment.