Last day of civilization! I spent a couple of days with a Stevens friend, and then she dropped me off at the Kickoff event organized by the Florida Trail Thru Hikers Alliance, Thursday evening. I wasn’t certain what to expect but wanted to get to know a few hikers before I started the swamp.

Even before I was completely out of the car, one of the volunteers walked up and introduced themselves (Hi, Turtle!) and gave me a brief overview. I set up my tent and started to meet everyone. There were close to a dozen hikers there with easily the same amount, or more, of volunteers. A FTA representatives were there as well as previous thru-hikers.

They fed us a great dinner and as a wrap-up for the evening had a brief “fireside” chat of tips and warnings for the upcoming sections of the trail. As that wrapped up, the shuttle schedule was figured out and we started winding down.

For whatever reason, I don’t sleep well the first few days in my tent. I have to readjust to the noises and sleeping on a inflated mattress with only one pillow. Between that and pre-trail jitters, I was up before my alarm went off.

Everything was covered in condensation and dew. Welcome to hiking in Florida. I packed up damp gear and made my way over to the coffee in my typical zombie-like shuffle. Breakfast was filling (eggs, bacon, pancakes, croissants, fresh fruit and unlimited coffee). After that and some last minute shuffling of gear, Karalee (one of the volunteers) drove myself, Kelly, and Matt over to the southern terminus as the Oasis Visitor Center and we were off.