Ocklawaha Prairie Restoration Area Part One: The Chernobyl Memorial Forest Hike

The weather finally got nice this weekend and so I hit the trail hiking both Saturday and Sunday. My first hike was solo with the dog in a place called the Ocklawaha Prairie Restoration Area. This restoration area is located outside of Ocala, Fl. and encompasses 6,077 acres.

When I first read about the hikes available in this area I was interested in the hikes near the levee system, but on my first trip out I failed to realize that there are actually two trailheads, a northern and a southern. The levee system is located at the northern section, and I (having done little research before my hike) simply headed to the trailhead I was familiar with, which is at the southern end.

The southern portion of the Ocklawaha Prairie Restoration Area is comprised of a forest called the Chernobyl Memorial Forest, thusly named in recognition of the 1986 nuclear plant disaster in the Ukraine. So why a memorial forest? After the disaster, many Ukrainians who had formally lived in forested areas, were forced to move to urban areas. The survivors of the disaster liked the idea of a forested place set aside in memory of all that was lost. The Chernobyl Committee sought out a place for this forest and Florida was chosen. Thus the Chernobyl Memorial Forest here in north-central Florida. Back in 1996 (ten years after the disaster) the St.John's Water Management District plants over 150,000 young long leaf pine saplings, which have now grown into a towering forest.

Once out of the car and ready to go, I went and checked out the information stand at the trailhead. It was a beautiful Saturday afternoon and there was no one else out on the trail. After taking a quick look at the trail map (and snapping a picture of it with my digital camera for reference) I headed off on the Chornobyl (that's how it's spelled on the map) trail, which is marked with red blazes through out it's 3.8 mile loop.

Red Diamond Blazes

Huge Pine Cones!

 All of the trees having been planted at once, are found in perfect rows making the scenery pretty similar the whole way around the loop. Now, even with the trail marked with the red blazes, after a while I began to feel like I was lost. I know it sounds silly because the trail was so wide and etc., but every turn I took seemed wrong. I usually pride myself on being able to keep and follow a mental map, but something just wasn't adding up. There were many side roads and trails that broke away from the main path, and I began to wonder if I was supposed to have taken one of them. I felt unsure. In my head I was traveling around the loop in a counter clockwise direction....turns out I wasn't.

Breezy leading the way!

After taking yet another turn that felt like the opposite of what I was supposed to do, I decided to call Mission Control for confirmation. I own a GPS, but I don't really know how to work it, and on top of that I never loaded maps onto it, so it's not good for much besides geocaching (I know I know...I should load the maps and use the darn thing). I do however, carry with me a SPOT tracking device that sends up a location track every ten minutes as I hike along. Luckily, the hike was within cell service and I was able to call home and instruct my mother on how to log on to my SPOT page and track me. From the tracks she was able to tell me that I was heading in the right direction, and essentially guided me back towards the parking lot.

Tracks in numerical order. Look how pronounced the trail was. How could I have felt so lost?!

After reviewing the tracks when I got home I learned that somehow I had gone around the loop clockwise, thus making all my turns seem wrong in my head. I am glad that I didn't turn off on any of the side tracks I saw, as they would have lead me off into the middle of nowhere. I know this sounds silly, but despite the red blazes on the trees, this was the first time I have ever felt lost while hiking. I guess I just began to wonder if I was on some other trail besides the loop and if I was supposed to be following the red blazes in the first place.

All's well that ends well I guess! This hike would have been somewhat boring had I not felt lost through out it. It's probably a better trail for horseback riding or biking. I can see how the side trails would be fun to explore....if I had maps on my GPS, but I wouldn't try it without them, as it is a very large area to get lost in, with few distinguishing landmarks to use to help find your way. In my next post: a more successful hike at the northern trailhead of the Ocklawaha Prairie Restoration Area with a short video too :) Till next time!