Renewal Leave - Part Nine - Bella on an Adventure

I went back to Sleeping Turtles Preserve to hike this week and this time I took Bella with me. She loves a good long walk and this trail allows for dogs. It also never seems to be super busy. We only saw three people and no other dogs. She had a blast sniffing everything in sight so it was a slow 2 mile walk but a great one exploring everything. 

 

Renewal Leave - Part Seven - Hiking Around

I went to Venice to try a new hiking trail in Wellen Park, but it had no parking for people who don't live in that community. So I pivoted and found another park nearby. I really enjoyed hiking Sleeping Turtles Preserve. It reminded me so much of old Florida, especially Camp Dorothy Thomas where I used to camp in Riverview as a Girl Scout. Some of the trails follow the line of the Myakka River and in this section it is very calm. 

 

First Day of 2026

We went to hike Whiteside Mountain for the first day of the year. It was cold - and parts of the trail were icy. And there was lots of ice on the sides of the trail too. 

Sapphire Valley Hideaway Part Three

Saturday we slept in and it was glorious. Mid morning I went out and drove to Narrows Falls in one of the nearby neighborhoods and then stopped by Meadow Lake and the Horsepasture River. 

We went into Cashiers to grab lunch from Whiteside Brewing and on the way back the rock walls along the road were super icy - the high was 36. 

And in the late afternoon, I went walking at sunset along the Lake Trail again by myself. So pretty! 

 

The water that piled up in this canoe along the trail was frozen! 

From the parking lot of our condo, you can see Old Bald in the distance. 

Sunday morning we got up and had breakfast and were out of the condo by 10am to go hiking. Last full day of the year and of our trip. 

We went back to Gorges State Park (about 15 minutes away) to hike the Rainbow Waterfall trail. We haven't done this trail since 2021. This trail is 2 miles out and 2 miles back and is pretty strenuous with almost 1,000 foot change in elevation. But it is beautiful and encompasses 4 waterfalls. It took us about 2 hours and 15 minutes to hike it and that's with short stops at all the waterfalls. 

Falls #1 - Hidden Falls - last time we hiked this trail was Spring Break 2021. Davis was so terrified then of getting into the river on the rocks that he was a sobbing mess in all of our pictures. This time? He was jumping all around on the rocks. 

#2 - Rainbow Falls - 150 feet high! - the trail is super muddy here because of the spray off the fall. I caught a bit of a rainbow glow in the bottom of the picture. 

#3 - Turtleback Falls 

#4 - Drift Falls - this is the only one you can't actually get to because its on private property. This is as close as you can get. 

We came back and had lunch and napped while watching sports on the TV. 

Not a bad way to finish off the year.