Laura S Walker State Park

We did an impromptu trip to a new (for us) state park in Georgia. Given warm temperatures (80’s) and no rain, it seemed to a good time to be camping. The park was great. Besides hiking trails, plenty of geocaches, and kayak rentals, there was great cell service and even strong wifi in the campground (which is pretty unusual for a state park). This park is only 30 miles north of our last park but quite different in cell and wifi service.

We enjoyed two hikes. One was in the woods while the other circled the lake.

We also found quite a few geocaches. Most were typical ammo containers but this one was quite unusual and scary. We kept looking at this trash can lid but we were both afraid to lift it since that would be a great place for a snake to hang out. Inside was what looked like a pipe clean-out. Turns out that was the container.

We laughed at the swimming area. I’m not sure the pipe floats would keep out an alligator.

One morning we watched two squirrels make a nest. They scampered up and down the tree to bite off small branches then bring it back to the nest. Within a couple of hours they finished and disappeared. We read online that squirrels will make 2-4 nests in an area. If one becomes unsafe the mom will move the babies to one of the alternate nests. So squirrels have safe houses?!

Many of the pine trees along the trails had “catface” scars. The two points at the top of the cut are the "cat ears". The angled cuts in the wood are the "whiskers". This was how pine sap was collected to make turpentine and rosin. Some of the trees still have the metal pieces used to direct the flow. The park had a small museum explaining the process.

   

 

The most exciting thing for me was seeing a coral snake (yes, it’s venomous and also yes, I mistakenly wrote cobra instead of coral!) on the trail during one of my morning walks. As much as there are dangerous creatures in Florida like alligators, bears, and a couple of snakes, I haven’t actually seen them at home or camping. I definitely paused in my hike, used the zoom feature on the phone, and then waited until the snake left the trail. I might have also ran past. Anyhow, it was cool!!!

 

An exciting, educational, and relaxing time.