The wilderness. About 80 F. High fire conditions. Drought prevails. Notice the burned trees? Large fire four years ago caused by careless camp fire-over 400 acres burned if my memory is correct.

Many of the trees had burn marks on them. Periodically it was great to walk underthe trees for respite from the sun. I received  a  dose of sun poisoning. My legs look like I contracted chicken pox.

Near Hidden Lake we saw two sand hill cranes well camouflaged in the tall grass. Moments before I snapped this picture Dan saw the gosling hightail it into the nearby bushes.

Hidden Lake. This is the largest body of water we encountered in our hike. The larger lakes were dry.

From whence comes the prevailing wind?Fire damage too. Imagine hiking this trail on a moonlit night listening to hoot owls.Suddenly, the headless horseman appears dead ahead laughing diabolically as she whips her snorting horse toward you...

What is your guess? Manna from Heaven is not correct. We are guessing mold of some sort. Maybe a lichen. Deer Moss?

No, this is not lunch. Any ideas? We are thinking Grub worm. Most grub worms come from Japanese beetles.  Not sure if this unglamorous detritivore is helpful or harmful to the forest. Home owners panic when their lawns become infected with these pests. We saw many snail shells along the trail. They are part of the detritivore community and help recycle leaves and decomposed plant life. Inteteresting, no?

Yep, there were ticks. Dan attracted and discarded two of them. He removed one of them from his torso after we returned to the motel for the evening.  Did you know they are actually arachnids? 8 legs. Tiny mouths. Big appetites. Big bellies. Don't think about it.

14 miles of wilderness is enough for one day! From this sign to the car was about .1 of a mile. Our legs were in revolt and made worse riding in the car for 45 minutes to the Outback. Getting from our car to the front door of the Outback without a wheelchair was a miracle.

Casting a long shadow, Dan receives Devine encouragement to finish the last 50 yards of the Juniper Prairie Wilderness Trail. He finished.

April 13. We hiked 8 miles round trip on the Yearling Trail. Now we are motivated to find the book and movie. We had an animal sighting a few miles before reaching the trailhead. A black bear crossed our path on the highway. We were bear aware after the sighting.

Unlike the largely meandering hike yesterday the Yearling Trail had some sandy beach like strait aways. Our shoes filled with sand and our socks were colored black from the presence of ash waiting in ambush since 2013.

Onward in search of the 1836 circa cemetery.

We lost sight of the trail for several minutes but wandered our separate directions until we found what was, unbeknownst to us the same trail with a segment or two MIA. HEY DAN!! OVER HERE! DAN?

It is good to be on the trail again....together.

What in the world, you say. Circa 1925 cow dip. Imagine enticing your cattle into this dip. And then out. Rodeo!

The cemetery had several graves of people born in the 1830's. One person was planted in the 1960's.

Sarah Jane Long, 1837-1909. "An affectionate wife, a kind mother, and a friend to all"

Confederate soldier who "died as he lived-A Christian. 1832-1915.

We bid you adieu good people. RIP.

Blooming Thistle. Don't pick! Admire from a respectful distance.

Dan descends 70-80 feet into a sink hole.It is YUGE! There is no challenge too low or deep for Dan.  Bill sat this one out and imagined what it might look like waving at Dan. Just imagine being present when this sink hole collapsed.

Gnarled and burned. Considerable regrowth in the past four years.

This Turkey Buzzard took an interest in us. A little unnerving.....

One mile to the trailhead. Dan receives call from doctor's office with advice to keep an eye on the tick bite site. Advice: If you see a target around the bite site, off to the doctor you go. Fortunately no recorded cases of Lyme disease from ticks in the Ocala National Forest. BTW, the other tic born illness is Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever. Cell phones are amazing, no? Dan and I have Verizon. Unsure what the ticks use.

The hikes were great. Lost three pounds. This is what mould looks like after you find a box of crayons or water colors.

On the way home we stopped at Portillo's for a Italian Beef Sausage combo and a mug of beer. Great end to two days of hiking. No, despite his best efforts Dan did not get that sandwich to levitate. Before we departed for home Dan watched a man put his mug in the sandwich bag and make a successful getaway. Crime pays! Home by 6:38 pm. Honey, I'm home! Slide show presentation shower bed Zzzzz. 18 holes of golf tomorrow. Life is exhausting.....er..good!