CREW’s management honored a selection of their volunteers for their dedication to the cause and to the trails. After some goodie bags were awarded, they all posed for a few photos. Congratulations and well done, all of you – and thanks you to CREW for a lovely evening.
Category Archives: CREW Marsh Trails
The full wolf moon
I looked it up on my Farmer’s Almanac app – it’s the moon that the wolves howled at, also known as the Old Moon. It sure did illuminate the path back to the parking lot – quite nicely!
The marsh overlook
There’s a strange phenomenon at the overlook. A wall of warm envelops you, until you lean over the railing. Suddenly, you’re hit with a layer of cool air. My friend Linda wisely observed that cooler air sinks, so this phenomenon is entirely expected.
Sunset at the CREW Marsh Trails
The day goes down in flames behind the pines, but we have a night of enjoyment stretched before us.
Tonight’s adventure: wine and cheese under the stars
As a member if CREW – Corkscrew Regional Ecosystem Watershed – I was invited to a wine and cheese party this evening under the stars and the Full Wolf Moon. Fun and nature geek friends shall ensue. lets go!
End of the CREW Marsh hike
What an awesome place! I am coming back soon, for sure. I hope to learn more and more by just going out on guided hikes over and over. Repetition, repetition, repetition!
Close to the end of the hike
I really need to come back here sometime. It went too fast! And there’s so much to see and learn.
A moss forest
It’s a tiny little world in there – and I bet we’d be amazed at the life we can’t see with an eye or a camera!
Plenty of hidey-holes
Old dead trees play host to all manner of plant and animal life. In nature, nothing is wasted.
Lichen on a tree
It looks like lettuce, but it’s really the perfect marriage between algae and fungus.
Gator warning
Not twenty feet from this sign is a group of picnic benches. I guess the gators have to eat somewhere!
The buffalo tree
This live oak is probably a couple hundred years old. It looks like a buffalo head is emerging from its trunk.
Wild coffee flowering
Ah THIS is why people want it in their gardens!
Huckleberry
This is so small – not even knee-high – we almost passed it.
Shoelace fern
The shoelace ferns are abundant here
Resurrection fern
It rained last night for the first time since march 25th so the fern has resurrected itself.
Wild coffee in the hammock
I’m told you can’t drink it
On the boardwalk
We are headed to the pop ash slough – a slowwwww moving river with trees growing in it.
Thistle
I got lucky with this shot – the wind stopped just long enough!
Gazing back at the overlook
Aside from the wind moving the flowers around and blurring our photos, this is good weather for a hike – not too hot, no glare for photos.
Nature rocks ;)
We’ve come out of the marsh and into a hammock where there’s a place that schools who visit drop off a rock.
Corkscrew Marsh
Five thousand acres, storage for millions of gallons of storm water. Flows south to Everglades and Florida Bay, and also west to the Imperial River and the Gulf of Mexico. Filled with sawgrass, which is not actually a grass, but a sedge.
Marsh overlook
We got here via a path that had a sea of wildflowers on either side
Southern dewberry
The southern dewberry grows close to the ground – conveniently located for the dining pleasure of short critters.
Burned boots
Small reptiles and such will hide behind a palm’s boots when fire comes through. Fire is an important event that results in opening up the understory area to sunlight, rain, and new growth.
Caesar weed
Hiding on the side of the path in the transition zone is the pretty little Caesar weed flower.
Deer run
Just like I typically take the same route to Publix, animals have their favorite routes through the forest. This is the entrance to a deer run.
Carmelina
Pretty blue wildflower in the pine flatwood called carmelina. A Carolina wren is singing close by.
Headed to the marsh overlook
It is windy and cool today. And the wind really takes advantage of the open space in the pine flatwood and marsh.
Dog banana
A couple of weeks ago during the Wildflower Festival, we saw paw paw in bloom. These “dog bananas” are the fruits or paw paws.
Saw palmetto in bloom
The bloom looks similar to the Queen Palm in my front yard – but saw palmetto has teeth on the stem, and it will make berries that have medicinal uses.
Pine flatwoods at CREW
This property once belonged to ALICO – Atlantic Land Improvement Company. They’ve got a road named after them around here. It is the first land CREW acquired.
Paying homage o the founder of CREW
Joel Kuperberg founded CREW in 1989 for the purpose of ensuring the availability of clean water for South Florida.
Today’s Adventure: Hiking through the marsh
We’ve been to the cypress dome down here at CREW – now lets check out the marsh 🙂 Our tour guide is David Cooper, a Florida Master Naturalist who volunteers here. I can tell I will learn a lot from him. Let’s go!