Happy Monday, Bloggers!
In the spirit of sharing knowledge, I wanted to write about my experience this weekend and how it lead me to discover a new community. If you are in Tallahassee you may have heard the news about Lake Jackson going mostly dry last week. I have lived in Tallahassee since 2003 and in my 18 years of being here would have to say this phenomenon is at the top of my list of coolest things I've ever seen here or perhaps anywhere. At first glance, you might think (like I did) this is a photo taken at the grand canyon (okay maybe not the grand canyon, but you know what I mean😄). But nope, this is good ole Tallahassee, FL and a view of the Porter Hole Sink. There is yellow caution tape around the entire sink area with a sign to proceed at your own risk. Did I proceed? Absolutely. If you remember from my wasp story, I am saying yes to things that my overly cautious self would usually avoid. I would typically have stayed behind that yellow tape, but instead I slowly climbed down into the sink area -- I mean, YOLO right? There is a stream of water that flows from the top down into the canyon and I even jumped across it in a somewhat dangerous fashion. No photos of that were taken.
Apparently, Lake Jackson has "dry downs" dating back to 1901 because it is a sink hole lake. The friend we went with has been building docks for 30 years out on Lake Talquin and Lake Jackson, and told us a story about building a dock many years who while the lake was in a dry down period. It was pretty funny to build a dock for a lake with no water. I'm sure all of the homeowners who purchased their house for the lake view may be a little upset during these dry down times! The dry period can last several years.
If you are in Tallahassee, now is the best time to visit! Give it a few more weeks and the terrain getting out to the sink hole will become overgrown with plants. The soil is so rich you can actually see tiny seedlings already sprouting among the lily pads.
There are still pockets of water to watch out for and spots that are thick with mud. Definitely wear some boots or shoes you don't care about. I saw a person lose their shoe in the mud! Some people were also riding ATVs which seemed like fun but I honestly wouldn't want to go too far out into the muddy areas...I mean, where did all of the alligators go?!? 🐊
Anyway, after our little exploration we bumped into a coworker at lunch (TLH is so small) and she told me about the WFSU Ecology Blog. So cool! And of course, they blogged about it. So now you can also explore another blog and if you are in the TLH area then maybe this post will give you an idea of something to explore and learn more about this weekend.
This is so cool! I live about two hours from TLH but am there often and I would've been totally freaked out to randomly stumble upon this. I laughed out loud at the thought of where the alligators went (reminds me of Holden Caulfield and the ducks!) but like... really? Not sure how much rain from this tropical depression Tally is supposed to get but we're in for a bunch here. Thinking it'll be a lake again before you know it! Do a follow-up blog! Bonus points for alligator sitings!
ReplyDelete*sightings. I've been in a web2.0 class too long when I use SITE like that. *facepalm*
DeleteOh, my, YES, where do all the alligators go???? When I moved here in 1979, the lake was like this. It filled back up, then did it again, can’t remember when. I plan to get out there on my new trail bike later in July. Maybe attach the bike to a winch attached to a friend’s truck on the shore . . . YOLO (I had to look that up, like I did with FOMO) How did it smell?
ReplyDeleteAlso, I didn’t know you were in Tallahassee! I live in Glendale and would love to have a beehive in my yard. How can I do that??
Haha, I never use YOLO but figured why not?! I also had to look up FOMO :) It smelled a little fishy...that low tide smell you know. But it honestly wasn't too bad and only in a few spots. We took our bikes out but didn't bother...too muddy! Have you biked the Piney Z/Lafayette Heritage Trails yet? It's becoming so humid out but we love to ride from Tom Brown over to the Alford Greenway and through Piney Z. Maybe I'll do a blog about that. We're out the Parkway almost to Chairs Crossing. There is an apiary in Monticello called Full Moon Farm you could check out for bees. I believe they sell Nucs and give lessons. We sort of had a weird way of getting our bees through a beekeeper friend in Minnesota but there is an Apalachee Beekeepers Association and Tallahassee Beekeeping on FB that I've been following. I'd be happy to help too however I can :)
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