Ft. Pickens

Fort Pickens

Pensacola Beach, Florida

June 2008

WANDERERS: John, Mike, Sharon.

SIGHTINGS/ IDENTIFICATIONS:  North American Raccoon, Red Drum, Southern Stingray, Osprey, Laughing Gull, Least Tern, Say's Phoebe, Owl (type unknown), Common Blackberry

Update: The Park Rangers at Fort Pickens wrote me back about the Owl. Here is what they had to say:
Dear Mr. Dougherty,
Over 300 species of birds, including seven species of owls, have been
observed at Gulf Islands National Seashore. The most common of these is the
Eastern Screech-Owl. However, a colleague of mine recalls observing a
Great Horned Owl at the Fort Pickens area around the time of your visit.
These formidable raptors are impressive to observe standing two feet high
with a wingspan of up to four and a half feet across.  They prey on small
mammals, but will also take birds which may be the behavior you observed on
your visit. These birds are an integral part of the unique ecology that
exists in areas preserved within the boundaries of the Seashore.
Thank you for your interest in Gulf Islands National Seashore. PARTY ON WAYNE!
   
RUN: 14-15 miles, over night.  
Difficulty: 14.0 Moderate to Challenging 


RATING:  8.9/10 for diversity of wildlife, great views, historical value. 

Here is some great music for a beach hike.


WEATHER: Hot and Sunny, 80-105º

TYPE OF TRAIL: Beach, sand, paved road, live oak forest, marshland. 

WALK THRU: With Hurricanes Ivan and Dennis blasting this area in 2004-05, Ft. Pickens was left a mess. All of the State Park buildings were left in ruin and the road that took thousands of visitors to its campgrounds every year was washed out by storm surge that came over the island. With news that the road was going to be rebuilt in 2009, my friend mike decided we should go out and enjoy this beautiful barrier island to ourselves before it was given back to the masses. 


Before we hit the trail we realized that our fishing poles would not fit inside our packs. We ended up attaching them to the sides of our packs, the poles were sticking straight up into the air like radio antennas. This radio antenna look will play an important role in my imagination later in the hike. We hit the trail around 4pm just as the day was starting to cool off a bit. Its still hot this time of day but manageable. The sun doesn't go down til 8pm during the summer so this gave us plenty of time to get to our camp spot before dark.  Mike, Sharon and I started down the bicycle path on the right hand side of Ft. Pickens road. 

Immediately into our hike we witnessed two action packed nature sightings. First was an old man in a speedo. I looked at Mike and said crikey, this must be the rare "Senectitude Speedo Mentula." While this species is rare inland, it can be found worldwide roaming the beaches during the day. What a sight. Not two minutes later we were passing a bird nesting area clearly labeled "BIRD NESTING AREA"-Do not enter. A young "Albo Viator " was walking through this clearly marked area. Not two seconds later a group of 20 Least Terns started dive bombing the young teenage tourist. It was great to watch these astonishing creatures come together to protect their young. As we made our way further down the path we could see the child running, still being dive bombed, into the distance.

The path soon became very uneven with huge dips and bumps, making the walk with our heavy packs very awkward. Before too long the bicycle path was only available in small chunks while large pieces of it were missing due to storm surge. Ft Pickens road at this point was completely washed out so that option was no longer available. After trudging through some very soft sand we decided to switch over and hike along the bay. The sand here is hardened from the tide and relatively flat compared to the gulf side which slopes down dramatically towards the water. 


Hiking along the sound was serene. The water was really clear and as we walked we could see crabs scuttling and mullet jumping.  Not too far from the shore were grass beds, which are amazing habitats for all sorts of sea life. If you look close you can also see stingray and flounder beds where these creatures hide and wait for dinner to swim by. On the land side of us was more bird nesting areas. While we never walked through one of the nesting areas, we did see a few birds from the shore sitting on eggs. A few times we got some calls from birds telling us to keep moving. I think our fishing poles kept us from getting dive bombed. 


We had made it about 3 to 4 miles down the beach before we finally hit the first section of shade. There was a large concrete slab with small trees growing around it. I am not sure where this structure came from. I have looked it up online with no luck. Even though it was between 5 or 6 o'clock the temperature was still in the 90ºs and Mike, Sharon, and I were all pretty much out of water. Not thinking too much about it before hand, I thought there would be water somewhere on the island. Before the hurricanes you could get water at a number of places out here but looking around I wasn't so sure. The Landscape out on the Island transformed into an Apocalyptic Landscape. Gravel from the old road littered the sand everywhere. Odd items could be found every couple of feet from the houses that were destroyed. Every ten yards we would walk by a child's shoe or a wood plank or a door to a house. 


We spotted two white buildings from the sound. I knew from previous camping trips that this was the Ranger Station and hoped the building had running water. We walked inland to the abandoned buildings and it was not looking great but to our surprise the water was still running. It appeared to be clear, it smelled good and tasted fine so we gulped some down then refilled our bottles. 

After a short rest we were on our way. We headed down what used to be Ft. Pickens Rd to catch the foot path. This is the first nature trail on the right after the Ranger Station. The trail was in great condition and gave us a tour of some of Ft. Pickens rich wildlife. First we headed through some coastal marshes. Then we made our way into a live oak forest. On the tree tops we spotted multiple Osprey Nests. You could also see the Ospreys flying overhead and looking for prey. As we made our way deeper into the woods an Owl flew just over our heads. As we turned ourselves 180 degrees, we saw that it was chasing another bird. I know Owls are territorial and will attack other birds, so maybe this was a territory feud. While I am still working to identify what kind of Owl it was, I believe the bird it was chasing was a Say's Phoebe. 


The trail through the woods had become very overgrown and we could no longer make our way through. We decided to bushwhack straight north and walk along the Sound again. The next 15 minutes involved walking through an ankle deep swamp, extreme fear of snakes, and spider webs in my face. Probably the least pleasant part of the trip. Some how we ended up at the campground which is West, but we were out of the thick stuff and that's all that mattered. Walking through the empty campground was amazing. All of the old amenities were quite rugged and rusted. The grass was growing wild and rampant through the old fire pits where it normally would have been burned and trampled by thousands of campers. 


We made our way through Camgrounds D and E, past Battery Worth and back to the sound. We decided to camp on the beach, soundside, just past Battery Worth. With the Sun just about to set the real challenge of our overnight adventure was about to begin. FISHING! It was the perfect time of day to catch some dinner, and since we didn't bring any dinner we had some encouragement.  Each of us had a pole and our secret lure on the end of our lines. As we stood 20 yards apart, we individually had visions of bringing home the bacon. Wanting to contribute to our 3 man tribe. We had trekked all the way out to the end of a barrier island, a place most people could only get to by boat for the last 3 years. I felt that this was some how good luck and our odds of catching a fish were increased. 


I wasn't getting any bites. Sharon or I hooked into a small catfish. The catfish was very small and this species is considered unpalatable by many fisherman in the area,  I tend to agree so we let it go. Mike was having no luck either and decided to switch to a second secret lure. I was beginning to think Geronimo was not going to lift his curse from the Island, it seemed as though we were doomed to splitting a small bag of instant mashed potatoes. The sun had already set, when WHAM! Mike's pole was bent down from 25 yards away. I ran over to watch him fight what looked like a man eater. This fish was taking line out on Mikes pole and I was worried that we might never find out what was on the the other end. I glanced at Mikes set up and he was using a very small Penn real with 6-8 lb test. There wasn't a lot of line left to dish out. Michael tightens his drag and with the might of a superhero gives this creature a taste of its own medicine.  He pulls the pole up and back, quickly reels in and repeats.  As the fish got close to shore we saw a dot on the tail. REDFISH. The redfish saw us as well and took the line back out. These fish are notorious for last minute runs like this. At this point loosing the fish would be unbareable, but I have seen it all happen before. Michael continues to fight the fish until he has it close to shore again.  At this point he just walks backwards and drags the fish up onto the sand. I get behind the fish and flop him up a bit further. Sharon grabs the measuring tape to make sure he is with in the limit. 22 inches! This fish is a keeper and will be a great dinner. Geronimo has lifted his curse for us and we are greatful. 

We set up camp and cook the fish over an open fire. Its delicious and we spend the night talking about the amazing catch. We drink beer, wine, and are merry. Across the bay we can see Pensacola but it feels far away. The island is pitch black and I am sure we are the only ones camping this night. Behind us lay the ruins of the Fort and the Jail cell that held Geronimo in the 1880's. The stars are bright as can be. There is not a cloud in the sky and I see a shooting star for the first time. 

Night: I wake up some time in the middle of the night and hear something making noise in our camp. It sounds like something is playing with a plastic bag. What could it be. In my sleepy state I am confused and the situation does not click immediately. I think to myself, there are no bears on this island,  better check it out anyways. I get out of the tent with my headlamp on and find that there are in fact bears on the island, WASHING BEARS! These little innocent looking creatures have just snuck into our camp and eaten our morning rations. No Apple and cinnamon, brown sugar oatmeal in the morning for us. As I chase after the small bear hoping to salvage one oatmeal package I find a trail of wrappers leading to a tree. I shine my light up into the tree only to find neon eyes staring back at me. I pick up my trash on the way back to the tent and stuff it in my pack.  Sharon and Mike awakened by my screams are disappointed about our spoiled breakfast. 


Morning: We wake up early to try and catch some breakfast. No luck what so ever. For breakfast we drink a little water and decide to hike back to the truck. The morning sun is much hotter than we imagined it would be. As we made it further and further towards the truck we became more sore, tired and dehydrated. For some reason we decided to walk through the soft sand right down the middle of the beach. This made for some tough hiking and the only saving grace was wetting our handkerchiefs and putting them over our heads.  Eventually, we made it back to the car slightly sunburned and dehydrated but we knew the perfect cure. We headed straight to Paradise for some Lunch and Cocktails. Great Job!

TRAILHEAD: 1225 Ft. Pickens Rd. There is a parking lot here before the Gulf Islands National Seashore really starts. Its the parking lot after the last condo on the right. Park your car here. You have three options. You can walk along the Gulf of Mexico on the left side of the road. You can walk down a bicycle/walking path in the middle. The bicycle path runs just along the right side of the road. Or you can walk along the sound side, the sound is the body of water to your right.

FOOD:  Oatmeal, Small bag of instant mashed potatoes, Three Coors Lights, 4 miniature bottles of wine.

EQUIPMENT:  Kelty Light Year XP 20-Degree Sleeping Bag (Long)  Kelty Coyote 4750 Backpack (Nite Sky)  MSR Pocket Rocket Stove  Katadyn Hiker PRO Water Microfilter  Sierra Designs Lightning XT 2 Two-Person Ultralight Tent  Snow Peak Mini Solo Cook Set - Titanium   Therm-a-Rest Trail Pro (Regular)  First Aid Kit, Socks, Rain Gear, Rod, Reel, Lure of choice, Lots of Water, Sunscreen, Mosquito Repellant. 

BODY CONDITION:  Great Condition. Sunburn, slight dehydration.

LESSONS LEARNED: -Catching fresh fish and camping is amazing. 

-Camping in Apocalyptic looking beach areas is amazing.

-Sunscreen, Sunscreen, Sunscreen.

SIDE NOTES: -For most backpacking trips I bring a hand line to fish with. For this trip you will need a normal saltwater rod and reel combo. 
-Head down to Paradise Bar and Grill, a locals hangout, for some seafood and drinks.

MAPS/ CONTACT:  Map of Ft Pickens from the Parking Lot to the Pass.

http://wikimapia.org/#lat=30.3201369&lon=-87.2301579&z=14&l=0&m=b

Map of Ft. Pickens from the Ranger Station to the Pass. Includes details of the nature path and campgrounds.

http://www.nps.gov/guis/planyourvisit/upload/Nov%2009%20for%20Roxanne.jpg