Tosahatchee

Florida is supposed to be in a drought, but someone forgot to tell Tosohatchee that. We spent the first 5 minutes of the hike attempting to take the high path along an old disused dirt road, but eventually realized the futility of trying to keep our feet dry. Within a half mile or so we were knee deep in cold water. The hiking went well for the first hike out in a while. The trail was mainly wet, but in some places just very muddy, and in a few rare places is was actually dry.

At some stage in the swamp we heard a very loud double boom that sounded like a building being blown up. We were curious, but kept hiking. Later we learned that the Space Shuttle had landed that afternoon. What we had heard was the sonic boom. We were very close to Kennedy Space Center in Tosahatchee. The boom sounded different here than it does from my home in Tampa when the shuttle lands. Much louder of course.

Just as we were starting to get discouraged with the wet, mud, lack of wildlife (other than the voracious hoards of mosquitoes) I walked past a tree and caught a furry grey movement out of the corner of my eye. There were three small raccoons clinging to the tree. One fell out as I turned to look, and he slunk away to hide in the grass. The other two posed, to a varying degree for some photos. I know raccoons are considered vermin, but they sure are cute when they are little and before they have figured out how to beg or steal food.

After a brief time out on the roads as we passed through Christmas we entered Orlando Wetlands Park. I had hiked this section previously, but as it's just a partial day's worth of hiking I rehiked it. OWP is a water utility wetlands facility that assists in the treatment of waste water from Orlando. The park is officially closed October through April, but hikers are allowed to use the perimeter trail. It was a quiet walk, apart from the buzz of mosquitoes. We saw a couple of otters, armadillos, turtles, and the rear end of a wild hog, as well as many buzzards a couple of hawks and an owl.

The final part of the day was a short road walk past the site of the original wooden Ft Christmas.

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