From the parking lot at Circle B Bar Reserve. The reserve had only been open a few days since Hurricane Irma had hit when I made the trip over to walk the trails. It was closed for almost 6 weeks after the hurricane due to so much damage on the trails.  The most popular trail is still closed since part of the trail was washed out (they don’t want people wading in the swamp with the alligators, go figure!). The one thing I noticed immediately was the lack of leaves on most of the trees around the parking lot. The wind stripped them all away. The above trees were full of green leaves before Irma. It made parts of the park look like the dead of winter even though the weather had still been in the 80’s.

There was still a lot of moss in some of the trees as the sun was coming up over Heron Hideout Trail.

The big dead trees along Marsh Rabbit Run trail were still standing.

Looking across the marsh, I knew it was going to be a perfect morning out.

The trails had downed trees all long the way. It must have taken them a while to move all of those fallen trees off the trail.  The moss still covered the ones that were still standing.

People who come here often complain about the amount of people who now come to the park, especially after the video of the alligator crossing the trial.  It is a free public park after all. If you can get here early in the morning, it’s still a magical place. I like to walk the trails when it’s very quiet. As the big families are heading in right before lunch, I’m heading home for lunch so it works out.