Triple Creek Preserve | Riverview

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Do you mean to volunteer but can’t seem to find the time in your schedule? I’ve found that by donating your time and skills in areas in which you get enjoyment, you can merge volunteering with your hobbies thus killing two birds with one stone. Which comes in really handy if you’re a champion stone-skipper during an overpopulation of mallards.

In my case, an affinity for hiking paired well with needed trail maintenance at Triple Creek Preserve. I aimed to get my week’s trek while giving of myself to others. And maybe expand my knowledge of nature.

Expanding My Hiking Horizons

Natural Therapy

I love to hike. It is an excellent means to get the dreaded exercise while keeping my brain occupied. The gratifying gifts of nature get me out of the house and into the fresh air and sunshine that invigorate and stimulate mind and body.

That is to say, I like to look at the birds up in the trees. And jug bands, too.

Variety

It’s my nature to get bored with repeated sights and activities so I need to mix new experiences into my routines. I crave variety, otherwise, paradoxically, I’m liable to lose interest and return to my default past time: recliner sitting.

In order to keep things fresh on the hiking front, I try to rotate through as many different trails as time and means allow. Lucky for me, Hillsborough County is chock full of conservation parks and nature preserves managed through its ELAP Program.

A New Trail

One recent day I was looking for info on the Triple Creek Preserve. I could not find the spot on previous drives along Balm-Boyette Road so I hoped to find a reliable official map. The Hillsborough County site pages can be confusing and vague, though the calendar has proven especially helpful in finding events. No luck on a definitive map, but I may have found something better.

A Call for Volunteers

As I was looking over the county’s webpage for Triple Creek Preserve I found an event posting for an upcoming second Saturday volunteer trail-marking. These don’t happen at the same park each month. It was fate that it was to be occurring just one week from then at the very park I was exploring.

The county needed volunteers to help clear the Triple Creek Preserve trail and re-blaze the path for the upcoming hiking season. Space was limited; I submitted the form immediately, hoping I wasn’t too late. My reservation was accepted so I marked my calendar. I might forget. In a week? Heck, I’m capable of forgetting it by that afternoon.

With a ranger or Environmental Technician (ooh la la) to guide our work, I could give up my search for a reliable map. I’d be working alongside a professional resource. And I’d be helping to blaze the trail—why, I’d come to know it like the back of my hand.

Volunteering has its rewards.

Information Please

Nature guide

There was an additional small benefit to volunteering at Triple Creek Preserve. I need a more efficient resource for identifying the flora and fauna I encounter on my hikes. My questions could be answered as they arise by the environmental technician (henceforth referred to as En-tech).

I’m outdoors now more often than before and in a completely different environment from what I am accustomed to. Florida is home to plants, animals, terrain and weather patterns that are new and mysterious to me.

My inquisitive nature compels me to learn more about these things. My brain won’t let me simply go for a walk in the woods; it demands that I investigate every little discovery. This inquiring mind wants to know and leads me from observing literal rabbit holes to diving deep into online rabbit holes.

Time and tempo abuse

My new habit is to snap a thousand pics on a hike then return home and search through guidebooks and internet resources. Sometimes I have instant success, but usually, it takes hours of time and leaves my curiosity hanging.

Try searching for “wildflower, white, radial petals, yellow center, Florida” and see what that leaves you with. All those images and databases have yet to tell me what this is:

This method can work but it has its costs. Hikes that I used to enjoy at a brisk, aerobic clip through the familiar environments back home have slowed to a snail’s pace on these trails where every step can reveal something I’d never seen before and for which I must pause and snap five pics minimum. I may as well motorize my recliner.

When the day is done, I’ve turned a 60-minute hike to half-day dawdle, my calorie burn was smothered, I’ve lost time on the internet, and I’ve have not learned a thing. The time has come to seek more responsive and timely resources for information. Perhaps I had found it via volunteering.

Working alongside the En-techs would be like having informal tour guides on hand to answer any immediate nature questions I might have. If I didn’t abuse the opportunity, this could be a nice bonus to the activity.

A Wet Dry Run

The Triple Creek Preserve cleanup day was only a week away but I couldn’t shake this irrepressible urge to do a pre-event hike of the trail. Though I still hadn’t found the entrance indicated on Google Maps, I packed a bag and filled up with water, took a copy of the questionable map from the website and set off anyway.

A creeping drive along Balm-Boyette Road—at a pace that would make an AARP member look like Stroker Ace—finally revealed the obscured parking area I had blown passed several times prior.

I snapped pics of the better-marked map under glass and set off onto a beautiful overgrown trail. Recent spates had painted the path with massive puddles and a soaking humid heat hovered in the dense oaks and pines.

The existing markers were very confusing and I went half a mile off course at one point. Glad I had those maps. After stepping hip-deep into a creek that I mistook for a puddle, I finally returned to the parking paddock. Hot, wet, bitten, and hungry for more, I took mental notes from my experience for the upcoming maintenance day.

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Triple Creek Nature Preserve

13305 Balm Boyette Rd.
Riverview, FL 33579
Phone: (813) 672-7876
Hours: Sunrise to Sunset
https://www.hillsboroughcounty.org/en/locations/triple-creek-nature-preserve

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Trail Maintenance and Marking Day

Meet and Greet

This would be my first time trimming and blazing a trail, but I know how to read blazes and have of course used landscaping tools and a paintbrush before. I packed a light pack with snacks, first-aid kit, and lots of water and rumbled over to the preserve in Ol’ Fatty Lumpkin-Gerty the Blue Dinobus first thing Saturday morning.

I was anxious to meet the crew, as I had yet to really meet anyone outside of Family since moving here. Self-employment has left little time for socializing.

Devin, the environmental technician, briefed us on the goal, tasks, and tools. We introduced ourselves—all five of us, including a second county employee, possibly a ranger (I forgot to ask)—and set off. Everyone was cool and the age and experience ranges were broad. 

The Work (and Play)

The trail is a two-rutted tractor path that does get periodic mowing. Our job was to replace the old trail markers with bright red blazes, trim foliage from the line of sight to the blazes, and clear the trail of any hazards to hikers or the mower.

Devin and Possible Ranger thoughtfully considered and adopted my suggestions (based on experiences during that trial hike) and the suggestions from the two other volunteers into the plan where prudent. We painted, trimmed, sawed, hacked, and pruned our way around what is now known as the Red Trail of Triple Creek Preserve, a loop now well distinguished from the connected and yellow-blazed Balm-Boyette Scrub Trail.

Everyone pitched in as best they could and all seemed to be enjoying themselves as we worked together to get the job done.

The Reward

Of course, I asked as many questions as I could think of and got some great answers to everything from identifying wildflowers and trees to how the county acquires and maintains its preserves. Our guides were very forthcoming and knowledgeable about most things. In fact, only one plant I asked about stumped them both.

We looped back to the trailhead safe and sound with knowledge gained, acquaintances made, a solid hike in the bag, and a feeling of accomplishment. And I was soaked to the bone with sweat and a few drops of red paint.

The Price of an (Unofficial) Free Guided Tour

I am used to doing things alone. With the exception of riding motorcycle, my only accomplice on most endeavors is my wife. But on most hikes and rides, I go alone. It’s glorious solitude; a time for deep thoughts and introspection. Also, my brain has difficulty tolerating someone else’s agenda and pace. Sooner or later I either need to shoot ahead, trail behind, or choose a different path.

Still, I’ve always been a team player when I’m committed to getting a job done. In this case, I kept my mouth running at a minimum and we finished the work. All it cost me was an extra hour or so beyond a normal-paced hike, and twice the sweat.

The Triple Creek Preserve trail marking chore was long, hot, and wet—anyone else hungry for lamian?—but we cleared the path, re-blazed the trail and met some new people with similar interests, all while doing what we love—hiking. It was a win–win…win. And I now have a better understanding of the trail, the preserves, the responsibilities of maintaining the preserves, as well the plants and critters.

Thoughts From the Recliner

Stretching out to take an afternoon nap, I sipped a cold glass of Milo’s iced tea and thought about the day’s events at Triple Creek Preserve.

Helping hands

From now on, return trips to Triple Creek will be enjoyed in the new light of not just the path revealed, but of the facts that I learned from the guides and from my fellow volunteers, as well as the knowledge that I had a hand in keeping the trail alive. I’ve always silently acknowledged and thanked those that maintained the trails in the past; it’s long overdue that I share in the work. The free tour was just a bonus.

Works well with others

 I have always enjoyed working alone. Unless there’s a crisis, my brain feels better when it’s just me in the equation.  But now being self-employed as a freelance writer has me working in isolation. I’ll soon be fluent in cat. So the opportunity to work with others is becoming more appealing.  

I’m cool with teamwork. This day, I—we—made good connections, good repairs, and good blazes for others to follow in our path. I helped create something good and it cost me little more than a typical day hike.

Perhaps I’ll look for a hiking club to join. And, though I’m still going to have to use the internet to research new wonders, birding and native plant classes can certainly help. Good thing the County maintains that calendar.

And in the End

The phrase “giving back” implies that we indebt ourselves to others through our very existence in society. So, I prefer the phrase “giving of yourself.” I think it better indicates voluntarily giving to your fellow man without obligation.

Of course, “giving of yourself” could have other implications. But let’s keep this G.

And as I experienced by volunteering at Triple Creek Preserve, giving doesn’t have to be a sacrifice. Helping others can easily become a habit when you yourself benefit in some way. In this instance, I had the benefit of a great hike and honest work. My second Saturdays are now devoted to trail cleanups. Maybe I’ll see you out there.

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• What do you love doing that could be merged with an act of giving?

Please comment with any questions, critiques, or greetings. I’d love to hear from you.

Thanks for Reading!