28 January 2018 Manatee County

It was our first vacation day. We planned to spend a time on the trails visiting a new state park and a nature preserve before heading to Sarasota for a visit with Ali's aunt. Our first stop was at Lake Manatee State Park. The trails were mostly quiet today as were enjoyed exploring a new park and found a couple caches. The water was quiet today except for a few boats out fishing. The state park was a pleasant place to start a week of vacation.

Our final stop of the day was the Edward Chance Preserve at Gilley Creek. There was rain coming, but we hit the trail to explore as much as we could and find a few caches which were lightly visited, including the toughest hunt we have ever had for an ammo can, except the container was an ammo locker. We were in dense growth noting all the signs of numerous wild pigs and hoping not to spot one in person.

There it is!

It was a huge container up close.

By the time we left the growth, we were covered in hundreds of burrs.

We stopped by the picnic table under this graceful, moss-covered oak to slowly remove the burrs.

We were able to find a couple more caches and enjoy some of the trail before wisely deciding to leave the longer hikes for a day with better weather. We reached the car before the real downpour started.