Thursday, January 21, 2021
Gainesville-Hawthorne State Trail
A beautiful winter Florida day, sunny and mild - 50s in the morning and 70s in the afternoon. Woohoo! Great day for a bike ride!
The Gainesville-Hawthorne State Trail is a 16.5-mile linear state park linking the two towns in the park's name, passing under canopies of trees and past swamps and prairies through Paynes Prairie Preserve and the Lochloosa Wildlife Management Area. The trail is considered “hilly,” but only by Florida standards.
The first bike ride of our vacation
We started at the western end of the trail in Gainesville at Boulware Springs Park and rode the best 10 miles (20 miles out and back). This was a warm-up ride for the 50-miler two days from now, so we didn't want to wear ourselves out.
Sweetwater Overlook
Alchua Lake Overlook
There are a few spurs off the main trail leading to overlooks. We took the detours to Sweetwater Overlook, Alachua Lake Overlook, and the Prairie Creek Boardwalk on our ride east, saving one pedestrian-only trail for the return trip.
Prairie Creek
Anhinga drying its wings
Our turnaround point was County Road 325, after which we had read that the trail becomes less interesting and road crossings more frequent. On our ride back, I'd just commented that I couldn't believe we hadn't seen any alligators yet, when we spotted three little gators in a slough by Kate's Fish Camp. The little ones are so cute!
Young gator
Swimming in the slough
A mile before the end of our ride, we locked our bikes at the entrance to the pedestrian-only La Chua Trail at Payne's Prairie and took a short but scenic 1.2-mile wildlife hike on an elevated boardwalk past Alchua Sink to a large wetland, home to lots of fat and frightening gators. At one time the trail extended further into Payne's Prairie, but the sink has clogged, turning the prairie into a lake, and the abundance of alligators that gather here has made the far end of the trail unsafe.
Alchua Sink
Vultures - a warning to not stray from the trail
Heron and gator friends
End of La Chua Trail
We completed our bike ride after 20 miles, having to pass Old Yeller (our trusty 21-year-old Xterra) at the end and continue a few more tenths of a mile to reach that exact mark. Ha!
After loading up the bikes, we drove to the nearby University of Florida campus to see an art installation called “Some Were Quite Blind,” consisting of four large metal statues of animal penises, in particular, a ram, a bull, a cat, and a boar. Definitely worth illegally parking for five minutes to check it out.
Penises of the animal world
Later in the afternoon, we visited Palm Point Nature Park on Newnans Lake and saw the University of Florida rowing team out in the lake practicing. I guess Gators aren't scared of gators. Sunset here was amazing!
Sunset at Newnans Lake
For dinner, we drove to the other side of Gainesville to Crafty Bastards Brew Pub, not to be confused with Crafty Bastard Brewery in Knoxville. (Tom inquired, and the Gainesville bastards were there first.) The chili, reuben, and local beers were good, and the live music was lots of fun. After we ate, we visited the bottle shop next door and found ourselves in the midst of a free beer tasting. Great timing!
This bastard looks crafty indeed
Tom
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