When we awoke to cool sunshine on St George Island, a wealth of new destinations spread out before us. We could return to St Joseph SP for more beach time or press on to Gulf Islands National Seashore for another return visit. There was Blackwater River SP, a canoeing destination upgraded since our earlier adventures in the area and the enticing “Falling Waters” State Park which we had to see to believe.
Now we had already sighted several outliers of the SpringBreakers, a species which migrates to these parts in the Spring for mating rituals. Their characteristic call is, as yet, unpublished (and that is probably for the best.) When we called ahead, we learned that a concentration was already reported at St Joseph’s and more were expected. The rookery was full and the cacophonous calls filled the night.
Turning North, we reported our intentions to MB who snickered, guffawed and chortled. Ah, she of these several decades a winter Floridian questioned the concept of a Florida waterfall. HA!
So, we present visuals transmitted to you from the Florida Highlands (324 feet above MSL, which I hasten to add, towers over the 281 foot hill we live on in Montgomery.)
We walked down the sturdy boardwalks to the Waterfall, congratulating ourselves on our propitious planning. We arrive a day or two after a five inch rainfall and found the streams feeding the falls running copiously and clear for the first time in seven months.
The water drops down a 100- foot deep , 20-foot wide cylindrical hole where it disappears into a cavern.
Later we walked more boardwalks around several more deep sinkholes and learned they were evidence of a subterranean water course whose ceilings had collapsed, and could again, suddenly and catastrophically. We were re-evaluating that aspect of our propitious planning until we cleared the area.
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