We had another bluebird day, so I was eager to get out to Bulow Woods to see the general condition of the trails. There was only one other vehicle when I arrived, so I put on my boots, bundled up, and got onto the trail. It was 43 F (6.1C) when I arrived at the trailhead, so I had on three layers up top, a knit hat and mittens. Having lived in SE Florida for nearly seven years messed my cold tolerance. I put on waterproof boots because I had been on this trail before and there were some very muddy spots.

When I first walked on this trail, starting from Fairchild Oak State Park, it was basically an old road, wide and sandy. During the intervening years and several hurricanes later, the road is slowly being encroached by Saw palmetto and wild grasses, taking on the appearance of a real trail. It is no longer possible for a vehicle to travel along this path unless some of the Saw palmetto is trimmed back.

As you draw closer to Cedar Creek, the trail follows the old road bed, perched above the water level of two marshes and muddy creeks that follow the old drainage ditches. In a couple of areas, springs or overflow from the marshes crosses the old road, creating some serious mud patches that require careful negotiation unless you want to lose a shoe to some orange-tinted mud. I had to do some green belays off of Saw Palmetto and wound around a few trees off the trail to avoid the worst spots.

The forest canopy opens up as you near Cedar Creek, a salt marsh.

The tide was out when I finally reached Cedar Creek. I stopped to take some photos and admired the golden hues of the salt marsh.

I was able to reach and cross the bridge today and continued on towards Bulow Creek and one of my favorite places in the forest.

I was heading towards Bulow Creek and a tiny peninsula that juts out into the creek giving access to views across to High Bridge Road and SE towards A1A (which is out of sight).

This is Bulow Creek, which soon empties into the Halifax River, a continuation of the Intracoastal Waterway. This area is a favorite with fishermen and crabbers. Certain families who have been in the area for a while have their favorite crabbing areas. The beautiful creek provides a long reach suitable for kayak and canoe travel, or light shallow fishing boats. It is contingent on the tidal current of the nearby river, thus the water is brackish.

While I was parked under the shade of a Red Cedar, I noticed several white and black birds flying above the salt marsh. I snapped a photo of a tree across the way where several birds were perched. Looking over the photo, I discerned at least three species: Wood Storks, Ibis and Roseate Spoonbill. I also noted some smaller egrets, possible Cattle Egrets, although it was hard to tell from a distance. There was also a White Egret fishing nearby — I could hear its harsh call periodically. A tri-colored heron was also fishing across one of the channels. And I hear the call of an osprey and saw a very large bird take off, perhaps disturbed by my presence — it could have been a Great Blue Heron as the wingspan was enormous.

This trail through Bulow Woods is on the Great Florida Birding Trails List. As I was about to leave, I also noted the flight and call of a Kingfisher flying above the creek. The area can have great birding. There were also many birds singing in the canopy of the woods, including migrating Robins — I recognize their song from childhood.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bulow_Creek_State_Park

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I’ll figure out this shrub with the beautiful red berries. It was growing abundantly along the shoreline of the marsh. I noted quite a lot of it also growing in the salt marsh and mangroves at Betty Steflik’s Preserve.

Although autumn recently edged into winter, there still was some remaining golden flickers of the last Pignut Hickories, still shedding their leaves. The path was a thick carpet of leaves and fallen pine needles in places overlying the white sandy surface.

There are some huge Southern Live Oak in Bulow Woods. It’s hard to estimate the size of this particular tree, but it was easily bigger than three feet in diameter, with deeply furrowed gray bark. I love oak trees… Fairchild Oak is, of course, the star of the woods, over 400 years old, having endured numerous hurricanes and tropical storms, the activities of indigenous natives, Spanish, and Americans… and more. The woods has some great specimens besides the Fairchild Oak, like this tree standing near the Cedar Creek salt marsh.

After re-crossing Cedar Creek, I made my way swiftly on the trail, carefully picking my way around the mud holes and then hitting the dry sandy stretches. Before I knew it I walked out of the woods into the parking lot. I let a ranger know about a tree fallen over the trail. He promised to inform his staff on Tuesday so the guys could cut out the obstacle. The trail not only welcomes foot traffic but also bikes, so a fallen tree would be in the way. The ranger also noted that they are low on funding, short-staffed and are still working to repair the bridges damaged in 2022 during Hurricane Ian which bombarded this region. This report told me (without me needing to ask a specific question) that the bridges in the northern section of the trail system were not yet repaired. It has been an unusually wet summer and autumn.

So, I completed approximately six miles with my return trip, which is probably the most I’ve ever done so far since returning to Flagler County. I am certainly getting into better shape for walking greater distances.

I hope everyone had a safe Happy New Year. I never stay up for the fireworks, although I heard some during the night.

Well, let’s see what this new year brings us… and what we create for ourselves!

Eliza ❤

Camera: Nikon Coolpix L830

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