On a Friday morning early this month, some friends and I headed up to Blackwater River State Forest in northwest Florida to hike part of the four-mile trail encircling Bear Lake. The trail went through several different areas of forest surrounding the lake, including biomes dominated by ferns, bushes, and ash. The hike was very much different from what one would expect from Florida and we were pleasantly surprised by the experience.
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| A wide-angle view of the lake from the parking area at its southwest end. |
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| A view towards the eastern portion of Bear Lake. The trail we hiked would encircle this portion of the lake. |
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| A fairly homogenous pine forest lines the shores of the lake. |
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| While I usually hike alone, having other people lends a sense of scale to many scenes, such as this part of the trail through the open forest. |
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| A view through some trees along the lake at its southwestern side. |
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| Many trees along the east edge of the lake grew directly out of its shallow waters. |
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| Calm waves on Bear Lake appear like tiny hills from close-up. |
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| Dozens of tiny fire ants hard at work building. Countless anthills lined the trail along the lake. |
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| A view across the entrance to a small bay at the lake's southeast end. The lake's irregular shape gave some interesting views along the creases and bends of its shoreline. |
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| More pine forest at the west side of the lake. The forest's stark edge and bare understory are likely the result of controlled burns, which gave the ground an ashen quality. |
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| A large, prickly flower found along the trail. Flora in Florida is very different from that in New York and in many cases unfamiliar, to me at least. |
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| Spring catkins caught in a spider web. While the northeast is still buried in snow, spring has fully arrived in the south, and many deciduous trees have already flowered and leafed out. |
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| A very small spider clings to the edge of a pine tree on the margins of nothingness. |
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| One part of the trail was dominated by these tiny young pine trees, already possessing thick trunks and long needles. |
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| Open forest and green ferns gave this part of the trail a strangely cinematic feel. |
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| Tall, narrow pine trees stretched out as far as the eye could see, their green tops so high above the ground we hardly even noticed them. |
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| This remarkably round seedling earned the young pine trees the nickname "Bowser Plant". |
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| A deep crimson flower of a pitcher plant, probably only a day or two from blooming. |
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| Pitcher plants have always seemed fairly exotic, so it was exciting to happen upon them along the trail. Thin hairs cover their outer layers, and their inches-deep interiors contain enzymes designed to entrap and digest unsuspecting insects. |
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| A whole patch of pitcher plants ran along the trail for some time, their oddly-shaped bodies and red bulbous buds briefly replacing the ferns that covered most of the ground. |
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| The well-used, winding path heads through a small clearing in the forest. |
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| This small orange butterfly stopped in front of us while we had stopped to rest. I think it's the first butterfly I've seen in real life with the stereotypical striped antennae. |
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| This old reflector on a decrepit post is designed to help boats get safely back to shore after dark. Bear Lake is home to campsites and several boat launches. |
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| A blue dragonfly stopped on a tree that had fallen across the trail. |
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| A handful of pine trees interfere with - or enhance - a view from the eastern shore of Bear Lake. |
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| A dense spider web caught in early afternoon sunlight made for a kaleidoscope of colors and lights from the right angle. |
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| From a different perspective, the web seems to disappear, its maker hanging precariously from a confusing jumble of seemingly disconnected lines. |
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