The mosquito level is easily tolerable here in the Lone Pine Key area so off we go to check out the local developed foot trails (the kind where your feet actually stay dry).

First: a hammock with its own moat

Mahogany hammock trail makes a loop under the canopy of towering mahogany trees. At just a foot or so above the surrounding wetlands the soil is dry enough to support these hardwood trees and an entire self contained eco-system that develops beneath them.  We heard a barred owl out here.  Decaying plant material changes the pH of the water draining from this island which then dissolves Florida’s bedrock limestone all along the edge of the hammock.  The result?  A moat.

Pa-hay-okee overlook

It is very cool to pick out cypress domes and hardwood hammocks as we scan the seemingly endless miles of cordgrass. It is amazing how complex this ecosystem really is.  We saw a swallow tailed kite here today.

Pinelands

Just a bit higher in elevation and we get pinelands. The roots of slash pines cling to the thin layer of soil.  Gumbo limbo and Strangler Fig find footing too.  Tree snails find home among them.  The ground is pocked with solution holes (more of those dissolved areas in the limestone).  Palms of all types create an understory.