Gators Galore @ Paynes Prairie
Greetings! Saturday we journeyed over to a huge, beautiful state park near Gainesville.
We just explored one trail, but there are many miles of trails to explore. You can camp out,
canoe, kayak, ride bikes & hike to your heart's content in Paynes Prairie Preserve.
We took the La Chua trail and saw so many alligators it rivaled the Alligator Farm in
St. Augustine. These were not performing for treats, behind a fence, or given their food.
It was the real deal--o'naturale, so to speak. The gators were just sunning, swimming,
fishing or sleeping. It's a wild, unkempt area with several canals hosting lots of water weeds.
Not exactly a Monet setting, but great for gators.
A boardwalk takes you out of the shade to view a small lake (or large pond depending on your
point of view) way down below. There you see your first reptiles: king alligator & his turtle
subjects in the slimy green water surrounding them. Several canals feed into the lake.
The trail parallels one of the canals. We saw alligators for the entire sweaty, 1.5 mile walk out
to the overlook.
Wooooh, it gave you a start when an alligator would suddenly pop up close to you
and you hadn't even known it was there. They can make themselves invisible.
We saw a young mommy gator with her little ones swimming nearby. (Image on the left.)
We wouldn't have noticed them, but another hiker pointed them out. The babies would call
out to mommy now & then, but she ignored them & continued with her nap. Along the way,
at least two other groups of hikers told us they had seen alligators on the path. That would
be really creepy.
It's a very quiet, relaxing place but it's hot because most of the trail is out in the open looking onto
the prairie. There are also wild horses----in fact, they're pictured here---see the small black
dots about in the middle of the image? If you're really sharp you'll see two together & a smaller
one to the left. There are also rumored to be bison, wild boars & cattle but we didn't see
any of them. Another day, another trail perhaps?
PHOTO TIP: Check your state park listings to discover great new places to take pictures.
I was amazed at how many are within a couple of hours of Jacksonville. Don't forget your
sunscreen, bug spray, snacks & water. Remember that whatever you bring along gains
weight the longer you carry it.
BLESSINGS!
Psalm 40:1-2
This website
More pix
Contact me: artisticimagesbypc@me.com
Connect on Facebook
We just explored one trail, but there are many miles of trails to explore. You can camp out,
canoe, kayak, ride bikes & hike to your heart's content in Paynes Prairie Preserve.
We took the La Chua trail and saw so many alligators it rivaled the Alligator Farm in
St. Augustine. These were not performing for treats, behind a fence, or given their food.
It was the real deal--o'naturale, so to speak. The gators were just sunning, swimming,
fishing or sleeping. It's a wild, unkempt area with several canals hosting lots of water weeds.
Not exactly a Monet setting, but great for gators.
A boardwalk takes you out of the shade to view a small lake (or large pond depending on your
point of view) way down below. There you see your first reptiles: king alligator & his turtle
subjects in the slimy green water surrounding them. Several canals feed into the lake.
The trail parallels one of the canals. We saw alligators for the entire sweaty, 1.5 mile walk out
to the overlook.
Wooooh, it gave you a start when an alligator would suddenly pop up close to you
and you hadn't even known it was there. They can make themselves invisible.
We saw a young mommy gator with her little ones swimming nearby. (Image on the left.)
We wouldn't have noticed them, but another hiker pointed them out. The babies would call
out to mommy now & then, but she ignored them & continued with her nap. Along the way,
at least two other groups of hikers told us they had seen alligators on the path. That would
be really creepy.
It's a very quiet, relaxing place but it's hot because most of the trail is out in the open looking onto
the prairie. There are also wild horses----in fact, they're pictured here---see the small black
dots about in the middle of the image? If you're really sharp you'll see two together & a smaller
one to the left. There are also rumored to be bison, wild boars & cattle but we didn't see
any of them. Another day, another trail perhaps?
PHOTO TIP: Check your state park listings to discover great new places to take pictures.
I was amazed at how many are within a couple of hours of Jacksonville. Don't forget your
sunscreen, bug spray, snacks & water. Remember that whatever you bring along gains
weight the longer you carry it.
BLESSINGS!
Psalm 40:1-2
This website
More pix
Contact me: artisticimagesbypc@me.com
Connect on Facebook
Posted by Pamela at 4/13/2011 5:03 PM 
Categories: Florida, America, Instructional, Photography tips, Personal
Tags: alligators water weeds Monet alligator farm sunning mommy gator state park paynes prairie wild horse
Categories: Florida, America, Instructional, Photography tips, Personal
Tags: alligators water weeds Monet alligator farm sunning mommy gator state park paynes prairie wild horse
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