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<center><h1>
Time to Hit the Croom Rital Trail</h1></center>
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Follow me on this hiking adventure through the Withlacoochee State Forest along the Croom Rital Trail in search of the last remnants of a once thriving 1800's settlement deep in the Florida wilderness. Before we lace up our boots and hit the trail, let me first give you a brief history of the ghost town of Oriole.
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Early settler's in the 1800's once called this land home where they started orange groves, raised livestock and lived off the land. Residents of the area also traded among themselves and the infrequent passerby or visitor. Access to the land was difficult and required taking a ferry across the Withlacoochee River in order to reach this remote location.
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The Oriole Post Office was eventually established in 1884 as the settlement continued to grow. A railroad line was constructed bringing in the big business of phosphate mining which was a booming industry at the time.
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<em>Florida phosphate mining in the 1890s - <a href="https://www.floridamemory.com/items/show/141779">Florida Memory Project</a></em></center>
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Oriole reached a population of about 100 residents, but the Great Freezes of 1894 and 1895 decimated the crops that sustained the residents. Shortly after an outbreak of influenza, which claimed many lives young and old, the town was abandoned. The land was eventually utilized by ranchers until the mid 1920's. 
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There are few remains still standing that serve as a reminder of this bygone era. If you're not scared to venture off-trail and know where to look you just might find a piece of history hidden in the woods. 
<center><h2>Now let's hit the trail and see what we can find!</h2></center>
<center><h3>At the trail head you're greeted by a huge oak growing in an unusual manner. It was likely knocked over during a hurricane yet continued to grow. 
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We'll be hitting the 'River Trail' section today in search of history!
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Guess I forgot it was hunting season in this county and to bring my bright orange vest...Oh well, guess I'll just push my luck!
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As you begin your adventure down this trail, you're surrounded by perfectly aligned rows of slash pine.
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This portion of the trail was marked with orange blazes, but they were quite different than most blazes I have seen on trails throughout Florida. They were small metal rectangles nailed into the trees instead of the spray-painted blazes I am accustomed to seeing. I believe my friend @fotosdenda put it best in a comment on a recent #colorchallenge post in which I used the following two pictures.
<blockquote>They really, really wanted that post to be seen, didn't they...the overzealous orange-square-nailer person</blockquote>
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https://steemitimages.com/DQmbbZp3gRBg275dhGNVb33xZRXE7No9Mbj76iMjkcApH4J/3.jpg
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After another mile or so of hiking we reached a split in the trail where we took a left to follow the Blue Loop trail for a short jaunt.
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Not long after our change in direction we noticed something amid the tree-tops off in the distance.
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It was an old rusted windmill hidden in the brush about 100 yards off the trail.
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As we began to get closer to the base of the windmill we started seeing all kinds of old tin lying around the site.
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It's always a bit exciting to see old tin lying around because there's a decent chance you might find a snake under it when you flip it over. Unfortunately no snakes were found under the many pieces of tin lying around the site but I did pick up a piece and get a show by moving it around in front of the Sun.
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This windmill was most likely built and used by the settlers to pump water out of  a well dug to tap into the huge Florida Aquifer. Needless to say, there was no such thing as tap water in those days.
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After inspecting the area for a while and snapping a few photos we decided to cut back over to the trail. We took a different path and found a bunch of old fence posts in a formation that led me to believe it was likely part of the livestock pen.
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We continued down the trail eventually coming upon a fork where we saw a sign that would turn most people away to just continue along the trail.
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Maybe we went down that trail, maybe we didn't....who knows? But let's continue our adventure, shall we? The trail ahead traverses a few different types of ecosystems. From low-lying swamps to upland oak hammocks, the scenery is always the best part.
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I was surprised to see a limited amount of animal activity so far on the hike. Other than a few small birds we had not seen much life. Eventually we heard a rustling ahead to the side of the trail, it was an armadillo.
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Since armadillos are typically pretty deaf and blind for the most part, I attempted to slowly approach it to try for a better shot. However, since we were upwind of the animal it soon smelled me and took of running. Shortly after a bit more hiking we reached the five-mile marker.
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"Just a bit further," I thought. It had been at least three years since I had previously made this hike with friends. Everything was so overgrown and different from my last visit that I was unsure we would be able to find our destination this time. After what seemed like another mile or so, I began to recognize the area better and found the small side trail leading to the last remnants I know of in these woods. A bit down this side-trail we again heard movement. It was another armadillo but I couldn't get my camera up fast enough, only got a blurry shot of him scampering off into the brush.
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As it turns out, that little guy fleed under the fence gate I was intending to go through. There was an abandoned gopher tortoise burrow he seemed to be using as a shelter.
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He recognized my presence after I took that last shot and quickly turned tail to retreat into his hidey-hole. Immediately after, I noticed another armadillo nearby foraging. We froze to not spook it and it came right over to the same burrow the other armadillo hid in.
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I'm assuming these two were mates or something so we left them be and continued on our way. Only a short 50 yards into the treeline from there we found what we were looking for...an old cemetery from the ghost town of Oriole!
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The majority of the grave sites here are home to victims of the influenza outbreak of that time. Unfortunately some of the victims were very young children. While the site is not well-known, it is still cared for on occasion by a small group of volunteers looking to preserve the history.
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There are a few very ornate headstones in the cemetery, the above photos are of one my favorites. Here are some shots of a few of the others.
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What was really quite sad was there were several for very young children that succumbed to the virus due to insufficient medical advances in care at the time.
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This was also a favorite of mine, it was quite striking to be honest. The name 'Emma Pearl' just kind of elicited a grandmother-type image in my mind.
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That concludes this adventure in the woods folks, I hope you enjoyed this short jaunt back in history as much as I did. It's always exciting for me to discover forgotten history in the woods...Time to hit the trail back!
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Remember that giant oak at the entrance to the trail? Funny thing was, when we reached the trailhead again there was an old lady apparently trying to re-live her childhood. I guess she had climbed the tree and was having a difficult time getting back down safely. You can see the husband grinning! They were both laughing hysterically as we passed by!</h3>
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https://steemitimages.com/DQmT3S3sL5i9pnV9UukjRsXdAdfWqbNDJv53N6iu1GvNzB6/5.jpg
<em>photos captured with Canon 80D/18-135mm - all rights reserved ©2018 @libertyminded</em>
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<h3>Thanks for stopping by!
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Please Upvote/Resteem if you enjoyed this post!</h3>
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until next time...</em></center>