Walk and Ride

April 20, 2008 Sunday

And now for something completely different...

I'm a little tired of all the backtracking over the same sand, since I'm really on a "mission" now. I thought to try combining walking and biking, because when I'm not walking I am biking. Dropping and locking my bike at the Fort Pierce Inlet, I drove to Blind Creek. Kerryane and I used Blind Creek as a destination when we did our car to car walk.

Parking the car at Blind Creek, I headed North. The beach was fairly flat and open. I knew I was going to be on the beach for an extended time so I filled my fanny pack with snacks, water, camera, phone, suntan lotion, bicycle pants, gloves, and bicycle paraphernalia. It was too heavy! I could feel it tight against my hips. Not completely comfortable, but I got used to it. The views were beautiful and the day fabulous; I was distracted. I was happy.

At Middle Cove I had to limbo under numerous fishing lines. I'm not sure if they were catching any fish or just having a relaxed day at the beach. There were a couple of display of garbage “art”, which I’ve thought about constructing myself, but now will re-think because they weren’t particularly attractive. Further North I caught a whiff of horse manure. I was getting close to Fredrick Douglas park. They bring horses for a beach ride once or twice a month. I followed the horse tracks to the park and took a little break. My barefeet were getting a little tired and the slope of the beach was no longer flat. The sand in this section was coarse and starting to wear on me. The sun had been at my back and I was feeling a little sunburned. Four more miles to go?? And I wasn't even finished because I had to get back to my car.

Finally I arrived at the Fort Pierce Inlet and my bicycle was ready to roll. I was looking forward to a change of pace. My timing was off, the walking took longer than I had anticipated. I still had 8+ miles to get back to the car, usually a breeze...but the breeze was against me, slowing me down. I traveled along HWY A1A. This was still better than retracing my steps. I will be using this "walk and bike" strategy again. I was extremely tired but had covered a lot of ground.

Section: Blind Creek North to Fort Pierce Inlet

Water temperature: 72

UV: 9 at noon
Wind: From the South
Tide: low going high

Time: 12:00noon-4pm
Length: 8 miles walking, 8 miles return biking
Marine animals: none

People: plenty at each beach access, very few otherwise...
Beach litter: very little

Walking on the beach with a friend

April 2. 2008 Wednesday

Usually I love to walk by myself. It is reflective and calming. Today we tried something new. My friend Kerryane walked with me. It did take a little bit of coordination to get the two of us headed in the correct direction (sort of) at the correct time (late again) but we had other things to accomplish so...we drove about 19 miles South with two cars and put one car at Blind Creek then drove to Herman's Bay and walked North. Aren't we clever? No backtracking! and doing it twice. Not that doing it twice is really a pain, but when you're working on mileage it does seem wasteful.

Almost the first thing we saw, after walking off the boardwalk at Herman's Bay, were shells. We're talking mounds of different, near perfect shells, a sheller's paradise. It was enough to slow a walker down to standing still. Which we did until our feet hurt; we're barefoot again. We picked a few shells to carry until we put them down. I did take pictures...which will soon be posted. A small thunderhead pushed quickly (and quietly) past us. Most of the clouds were luminous.

The beach soon broadened and flattened, and with only one condo in sight, was quite pleasant. We chatted and walked. Kerryane really walks faster than I, so I had to work to keep up. Sometimes we were quiet. We passed Ocean Bay park and then Walton Rocks, where a fisherwomen confirmed we knew where we were. There are many paths into the dunes and none of the parks are marked beach side. We debated if we would actually be able to find the car at Blind Creek. Just a silly thought.

Once back to Blink Creek, Kerryane departed for another appointment, but I wasn't ready to stop. I took the car South to Normandy Beach. In the parking lot I watched as a car backed out over the remains of their lunch. We're proud to Americans but why no pride in community or self? As I picked up the garabage, depositing it in the trash ten feet away, I wondered how these people could be so lazy and in my eyes disresptful. The aroma of french fries and hamburgers waffed up through the heavy broken bag. My mind went to wastefulness as well as laziness, then quickly to freegan, which I had just read about. Oh my, I'm not sure I can take you to all the places that I go when I walk on the beach. Besides it might not really connect in your mind; it would be a situation where you really had to be there.

To the beach I walked, with my shoes in my hand, North to Herman's Bay. The shoes came in handy since my feet were already sensitive to the cutting shells. On the shoes went when the shells were thick, off again as the sand smoothed out. This was only a little time consuming, besides I had the camera out taking pictures of the numerous birds that flocked on this section.

Section: Part 1: Herman's Bay, St Lucie County North to Blink Creek park

Part 2: Normandy Beach North to Herman's Bay and return

Water temperature: 72

UV: 7 at noon

Wind: From the South

Tide: low toward high

Time: 2:00pm-3:20p North
3:30pm-4:15pm North-South return

Length: 3.5-4 miles 1st leg

1 mile (2 round trip) 2nd leg

Marine animals: a few tiny jelly fish babies, there were a few dead birds but plenty of live ones

People: a few

Beach litter: medium, I didn't pick up anything. Again the items were too big. Way, way too big. We couldn't figure out some of the stuff, except I did recognize a TV.