Monday, January 30, 2023

Walking through the Canal Diggings


 We save our hikes into the diggings for the winter months.

 You go deep into the canal diggings with the land rising on both sides, so very little air moves on the trail. In the summer months it's just too hot and buggy and poison ivy crisscrosses the trail. But in the winter months, it's perfect.


The tall pine trees create a thick bed of pine needles to walk on and the air is hushed. I started to say it was quiet but hushed is a better description. You don't hear any sounds unless an airplane flies overhead.


There are a lot of really good articles (and books) written about the canal diggings but my sweet hubby helped me with some of the pertinent information.

"When I talk about the "canal diggings" I'm referring to a canal that was proposed in 1935 as a 30-foot deep, 150-foot bottom width, Ship Canal for commercial traffic to have a shortcut from the Atlantic Ocean to the Gulf of Mexico across Florida from Jacksonville to Yankeetown.

Concerns about salt water intrusion into the fresh water aquifer caused proponents to adjust the canal to a 12-foot depth thus allowing only barge traffic and the name changed to the Cross Florida Barge Canal.

After many starts and stops, construction resumed in 1964 only to be stopped for good in 1971 due to efforts led by environmental activist, Marjorie Harris Carr.

About one third of the canal did get completed, some at each terminus, but the remainder includes long stretches of earth having been dug out and piled up along the sides. Over the ensuing decades the forest has reclaimed this ground.

Today, the 110-mile long, 70,000 acre Marjorie Harris Carr Cross Florida Greenway (renamed in 1998) is a state park that provides over 300 miles of hiking and biking trails on the remnants of the Cross Florida Barge Canal."

Above written by sweet hubby


We walked in the diggings for over 2 hours and only saw one other person.


I want to share photos of the limestone boulders we saw.
It would be fun to play 'what do you see?'


This was a favorite!


There are so many interesting shapes and just think how few people ever get to see them.


Would you want to hike this trail at night?


Maybe when the moon is full?


It would probably be a little spooky!


But I love it and I think you would too!


Have you seen anything unusual this week?


Hike into the DEEP woods and GO WILD!

I'm joining Mosaic Monday HERE 

and I like Thursdays HERE !  

47 comments:

Salty Pumpkin Studio said...

Beautiful trail.
Hike there for sure, and at night with heavily armed group of survivalists, and bloggers. :)

It's me said...

Beautiful nature…beautiful walk….enjoy the new week love from me 🍀❤️🐾🍀

Tom said...

...most p[people walk through life and never see the details that surround them.

Yvonne said...

Lots of boulders makes it interesting, especially after nature has reclaimed them. In my younger days, hiking deep into the woods and going wild was strenuous, but wonderful. I'm glad you have such a beautiful place to hike, and I know all too well that winter is the best time to avoid poison ivy.

Vee said...

How interesting! I had never heard about the canal before. Thanks to your hubby for the information. No, I would not like to walk there at night (not sure about the day.) The first formation looks like a lion with a giant mane resting. I like that game!

Daniela said...

I always feel in awe after reading a post of yours, dear Diane, your shots are always stunning!
With sincere thankfulness,
I'm sending my dearest hug to you
XO Daniela at ~ My little old world ~ (Dany)

Hena Tayeb said...

I hadn't heard about the canal diggings before. Interesting. Nice pictures.

Carla from The River said...

I enjoyed this post, thank your hubby for the write up. :-) Thank goodness for Marjorie Harris Carr!!!

roentare said...

It would be a pleasant hike through the woods there. The tracks do look a bit hazardous though

Ann said...

I would love to hike there. It looks absolutely beautiful.

Danice G said...

Amazing scenery. Yes, most people never get to see such beauty in nature.

Jeannie said...

It is a shame they didn't finish the canal. It probably would have dropped the price of things being shipped. Seems like all we hear in the news now is "can't do XYZ because of supply chain" problems."

To answer your question: NO! I would not like to be there in the dark. It does look spooky.

Jeannie@GetMeToTheCountry

Ed Rosack said...

Thanks for posting this.

I'd heard of the Cross Florida Barge Canal but didn't realize the Marjorie Harris Carr Cross Florida Greenway is on the remnants of the Canal.

Marcia said...

Some of those rocks looked like they had eyes! Not a place to hike in the fog or dark. Sounds like you had a grand time of it.

Creations By Cindy said...

Girl, If I hiked there at night I would have help with me! And I am talking about the kind of help that makes a loud noise! LOL! Great pictures. Hugs and blessings, Cindy

Debbie said...

it looks like a perfect trail for a winter walk. i saw a lot of different "things" in the boulders, i wonder what others saw? i saw a lion in the entirety of the first one and a dinosaur's face in the right upper half of it!!

the third boulder looks just like a rowboat and, no, i would be afraid to walk this at night!!

Terri D said...

The only unusual things I've seen this week are your rocks in these pictures!! (giggle) No, I wouldn't want to hike that trail at night!! Thanks for sharing. Very interesting!!

Jenn Jilks said...

That is really interesting! You are right about the dark.It's really interesting to see it i n the day!

Jenn Jilks said...

P.S. All we see is white stuff here!

Irma said...

I don't want to think about being in the woods at night, because I don't see well in the dark.
For the daytime this seems like a beautiful walk with those rocks.
Greetings Irma

David M. Gascoigne, said...

Looks like an interesting walk. Good to see nature reclaiming its own.

eileeninmd said...

Hello,
It is a nice trail for a walk. I like the tall pines. It is interesting about the canal diggings. I think the third photo looks like a boat. Take care, have a wonderful week!

MadSnapper said...

That is truly an awesome place and I have never heard of it not on your blog or ever even knew that they thought about building that. Interesting facts and something I would like to do not the whole 300 miles though haha. I love walking on pine needles and I know what you mean about the hushed sound there is a special sound in wooded areas that don't have a lot of people in cars!

MadSnapper said...

I forgot to say I love those limestone rocks or Boulders or whatever you want to call them and I saw something and almost every single picture from frogs and bears all kinds of things I can't remember right now but I did see something in all of them

Rainbow Evening said...

enjoyable walking...love to do it

Have a great day

Jeanie said...

Those paths are beautiful with those magnificent trees but I think I'd give a night hike a pass!

Breathtaking said...

Hello Diane :=)
It's a fabulous place to hike or bike, and the tall trees and pine needled ground look most appealing to me. I saw a head and shoulders of an owl in the granite stone in picture 3.
I don't think I would be scared to walk there at night. I would just need a good flash light
but it would be more enjoyable during the day. Thank you to your hubby for the info.
Have a happy day.
All the best. :=)

Rain said...

That last photo is awesome!!! Even though I love a spooky-rific time, no, I think I'd pass on walking the trail at night lol...it sure looks pretty during the day though! ♥

Kim@Snug Harbor said...

Thats very cool. Thanks for the blog post about it because I'd never heard of it before. It would be fun to hike it at night with a lantern.

Wally Jones said...

I can smell those pine trees from here!

What a wonderful trail. You're right about this being the right time of year for that spot. Been through there in summer when the Yellow Flies and No-see-ums rule the land! Not pleasant.

The history of the canal is really interesting. I have some great memories of fishing around Yankeetown, the mouth of the barge canal and the Withlacoochee.

It's almost a new month! Let's enjoy it.

Gillena Cox said...

Intriguing looking boulders. Have a good week. Visit me HERE

Much❤love

Sallie (FullTime-Life) said...

Thanks to you and your sweet hubby for the info and pictures. I knew a little bit about the canal that didn't happen (happily) but not this much. And hushed" is a beautiful word and perfectly describes how the diggings look -- even in pictures. I would love to walk there (in the daytime, but then I don't even walk to the mailbox after dark so...). Loved this.

Lowcarb team member said...

I'd not heard about canal diggings before, it looks a good place to walk/hike.

All the best Jan

BeachGypsy said...

Well I had never heard of, and didn't know anything about this canal! So this was neat to learn about! I love all the hikes, always something neat to see/hear/make pictures of. Love seeing the wildflowers and the birds! Nothing better than being out in nature and it is so relaxing. Hugs!

Lea said...

An interesting bit of history!
Great photos!
Have a blessed day!

Barbara said...

Thanks to you (and especially to your husband) for this easy-to-understand explanation of the canal that never came to be. I have wondered and even poked into some research about it a year or so ago but now I understand.

As for the questions about when I'd like to walk through it. Definitely not at night. The limestone formations are a little spooky to me.

Thanks for an especially good post! You wrote it up very well!

Teresa said...

Tu paseo me ha parecido precioso, a mí también me encantaría verlo, pero no de noche. Las formas se ven interesantes, la primera me parecía un león. Besos.

Linda said...

Interesting history and enjoyable photos. Be careful because you can catch poison ivy, even when it is dormant.

Pamela M. Steiner said...

Beautiful pictures of a lovely place. I'm so glad Marjorie Carr Harris was on the ball and got the barge canal stopped. We have places up in our part of the state where you can see the actual posts for the bridges that were to be built, and then in Eureka there is a huge bridge over the Ocklawaha River that would have been over the barge canal, but definitely doesn't need to be such a huge bridge today. I love going over it...it's like sitting on top of the world. I can remember as a child in school in the 60's, hearing about the canal, and fearing that the bottom half of the state would just be disconnected from the rest and float away. Thank you for sharing the history and the beauty of what remains.

gluten Free A_Z Blog said...

wow! That was really interesting. Thanks for sharing the history of the canal diggings. What a great place to walk.

Cloudia said...

So much magic on that trail! Thank you for sharing with us

Angie said...

Diane - I am consistently surprised at the WILD that you find in such a populated place. Thank goodness for people who made an effort to keep it that way!

Rostrose said...

Dearest Diane,
how nice that you have this area for winter hikes, with hardly any other people and hushed noise. That's a blessing these days! But I see it's necessary to have strong nerves - the rock formations are very spooky at times. Only your favorite looks harmless to me, I see a sleeping calf... what do you see? Thanks to your sweet hubby for the background info, that's very interesting and I'm glad nature was able to reclaim this place.
Best wishes - have a happy weekend and a good February,
Traude
❤️👋
https://rostrose.blogspot.com/2023/02/costa-rica-4-kapitel-streifzug-durch.html

Veronica Lee said...

I don't think I would hike there at night!

How interesting about the canal diggings!

I enjoyed the photos, Diane.

Red Rose Alley said...

Oh, I see a little bear in one of the limestone boulders. And I see hearts. : ) Love those first two pictures of the deep woods. And a nice informative verse written by your husband. "Hushed" is a good word to describe this area for sure.

~Sheri

EricaSta said...

Sorry, I`m late ... today is enough time to aknowledge your way dear Dieane. Preüaring my surgery ...

I enjoyed reading, because it was very interesting again for me. The wood is wonderful.

Have a very good weekend, hugs by Heidrun

Karen thisoldhouse2.com said...

Just beautiful! Thanks my kind of hiking grounds -