Mormon Key Campsite

October 1, 2011 -- Not a trail per se but a condition worthy of mention. The Mormon Key campsite is overrun with sandspurs. There are no open sandy areas to camp upon. Two years ago, there was plenty of sand and some sandspurs. It was a very painful experience. The native vegetation is losing to the weeds. Ouch!

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Permalink Reply by Flex Kayakfari.com on October 10, 2011 at 7:35pm

Thanks for reminding me! ;))

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Permalink Reply by yakmaster on October 10, 2011 at 9:05pm

aren't sandspurs native?

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Permalink Reply by Esther Luft on October 10, 2011 at 10:00pm

Well, if you want to be a stickler about facts, yes, they are native. Native weeds. : ) The entire native pre-dating Columbus thing is way beyond this simple girl. What do I know, sandspurs hurt. These are the onerous and painful coastal sandspur (Cenchrus spinifex). Yes, they help prevent erosion but so do other desirable plant species. Heck, I rather deal with prickly pear than sandspurs any day. Ouch!

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Permalink Reply by Ross Hancock on October 10, 2011 at 10:53pm

I'd rather have my butt situated in a nest of sandspurs on Mormon Key than in my cozy chair at work.

Sandspurs -- they are like nature's little pillows, but sharper.

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Permalink Reply by Flex Kayakfari.com on October 10, 2011 at 11:30pm

i thought they were nature's velcro, que no?

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Permalink Reply by Ross Hancock on October 11, 2011 at 7:57am

One must marvel at the inventiveness of nature in all its forms.

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Permalink Reply by vivian on October 11, 2011 at 9:16am

I'd rather have my butt situated in a nest of sandspurs on Mormon Key than in my cozy chair at work.

LOL! As I sit here at work concur with you. Can't wait to get out there but thanks for the heads up Esther...might think of bringing my Hennessy Hammock.

BTW: How bad were the conch shell remnants along the beach? They were real bad last year suffered damage to one of the canoes after violent beach landing due to rough surf. We called it the landing on Mormondy :-)

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Permalink Reply by Esther Luft on October 11, 2011 at 10:01pm

Ha, ha , landing on Mormondy. I can relate.

Ross, you are more dedicated than I am. I don't know about being situated in a nest of sandspurs; they really hurt!! Ask Ted, he fell in them, rolled in them, brought them home embedded in his flesh.

Vivian, The shells were abundant but I have seen worse there. Two years ago it was difficult to even walk in the surf. We found mostly large conch shell and clam shells. You could still walk on then, cautiously. They would definitely cause hull on a rough landing.

Wow! Between a nest of sandspurs, nature's velcro and landing on Mormondy this site may just have dropped on my list of favorites. Ah, but the sunsets...

Oh, one bragging point -- my Exped tent, without a footprint or underlayer had zero sandspur damage or penetration. Woo hoo!! It's a little heavier than the ultralight tents but that heavy tub is well worth a few more onces. I LOVE my tent : )