Topsail Hill
State Preserve: Santa Rosa Beach, Florida
{February 15, 2014 Valentine’s Hike}
Michael and I woke up
to get ready to leave for Santa Rosa Beach at around 5:00 a.m. He filled our
camelbak bladders with water, and packed a granola bar, a protein bar, and an
apple. Yes, an apple. One. One Apple. Singular.
If I had packed our camelbak’s, it would have included: Water, Peanut Butter
Sandwiches, Beef Jerky, Trail Mix, Granola Bars, and TWO Apples (You know,
since there are two of us.). I did not realize our packs had the bare minimum
until we were far into our hike. I panicked, slightly.
Bless him. At least he packed SOME protein.
We dressed pretty comfortably and in layers. It was fairly cool in the morning, so we both wore hoodies (which we shed by the end of the hike).
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| Michael (the husband), wearing jeans, light hoodie, Nike hat, Nike trail shoes, and camelbak. |
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| Melissa (the wife), wearing jeans, Nike light hoodie, Fossil sunglasses, Nike tennis shoes, Camelbak, & Canon Camera |
We arrived at the
park 5 minutes before the gate opened (opens at 8:00 a.m.) The cost of
admission into the park was $6 for one vehicle. That’s it. And for as great as
this Preserve is, that is a steal. The park ranger at the entrance was
extremely friendly and informative. He said that we would absolutely love the numerous
hiking trails that they had, and supplied us with a map (The map was a
stretched .jpg printed on some shiny paper. Basically, a Graphic Designer’s
worst nightmare).
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| Trail Map |
We parked in front of the bathrooms (very clean, by the way) and the tram. The
tram is free and takes you all the way to the beach. It was tempting to take
the tram, but decided that we wouldn’t be lazy and just begin our hike.
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| Before we really got started! |
I am so thankful that we did! Not even a quarter of a mile into our hike (on
the Turpentine Trail), we came across two beautiful White Tail Deer. We spooked
the buck and he jumped away. Luckily, the trail was mostly sand. It allowed us
to be stealthy to get closer to him. I got some great shots of the 8 point, and
his little “button” pal. It was so exciting for me because it was the first
time I had been that close to a wild animal of that size. We stood for a long
time just watching them. They finally decided to walk off where we couldn’t
follow. We had a great time looking at their fresh tracks, too.
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| White Tail Deer (Buck/Male) |
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| White Tail Deer (Button/Male) |
We continued on the
Turpentine Trail until we came to a giant puddle blocking the trail (more like
a mini lake). Michael tried to check out how far out the “puddle” went around
the trail. Sadly, it went farther than the thick brush would allow us to
venture. We had to turn around and find another trail to go to.
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| Michael vs. Nature |
The Deer Track Trail was a great one to bird watch! We saw Blue Birds,
Wrens, Rufous Sided Towhees, & Woodpeckers. We spent a lot of time
just standing and listening to them.
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| Rufous Sided Towhee (male) | |
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| Rufous Sided Towhee (female) |
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| Eastern Bluebird (female) |
The Deer Track Trail & Campbell Lake Bike Path brought us to a lake, where we decided to take
some photo ops of ourselves. It was a short trail, which was also blocked by
some water.
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| Michael (the husband), being all handsome and stuff. |
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| Me (the wife), being all weird. |
The Beach Trail took us straight to the beach. You would
not believe how many deer tracks we saw in the sand! They were everywhere! We
passed by the one stall bathroom (which was out of order) and the picnic
pavilion before reaching the beach. The beach was empty, and it was wonderful.
Michael even drew our first “Mr. & Mrs.” in the sand!
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| Pretty much empty. Yay! |
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| Awe! Not a trip to the beach until you write in the sand. |
|
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| Hiked all the way to the beach! |
We left the beach and
started on the Growth Trail. There, we came across a Red-bellied Woodpecker and two Pileated Woodpeckers. We almost had to give up on
this trail because there was another large body of water. We fashioned a small
bridge out of large fallen limbs so that we could make it across the knee deep
water. Wish we had taken a picture of it! I was too busy being scared the
bridge would break.
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| Red-bellied Woodpecker |
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| Pileated Woodpeckers (male & female pair) |
On the way to another lake, we saw
some very fresh deer tracks and hoped to come across some more deer. We did!
But unfortunately, we only heard loud thuds and bushes moving while they ran
away.
We met a few other
hikers (and some cyclists) along the trails. Some friendly, and some not so
much. Here’s a tip...
Do:
If you come across a trail that is impassable, and on your way back meet fellow
hikers heading to said trail…save them some disappointment and be courteous
enough to tell them that the trail is impassable.
Don’t: Make eye contact and say nothing.
We hiked all the way
back to our car, coming across another lake close to the entrance with wood
ducks. He and I both changed in the bathrooms into some nice clothes and headed
to Lousiana Lagniappe, a delicious restaurant on a bay. He had Grouper Pecan
and I had Grouper Almondine.
Both
were absolutely delicious! We both ordered something we normally wouldn't get. It's becoming a tradition of ours when eating at new places!
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| Us at Louisiana Lagniappe. |
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| His (Grouper Pecan) |
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| Mine (Grouper Almondine) |
It was the perfect ending to our “Valentine’s Day”.
-Mel & Michael
{The Hike Life: Husband & Wife}
