Florida Trail: Day 1
Overview:
First day of a new trail, in a completely foreign and new landscape. Karalee (volunteer from the kickoff) dropped a few of us off at the Oasis Visitor Center and walked us up to the monument and helped us take the obligatory terminus photos. Signed the trail register and then we were ready to start.
The first portion follows the edge of the airport, but almost immediately you reach a section of water-covered trail. From then until the end of the day, I had wet feet. Each section of “swamp” was short, which helped alleviate some of my nerves for a 30-mile section of swamp, but it was wet, then dry-ish, silty mud, slick water-logged clays, and every once in a while a section of packed dry swamp dirt. The worst sections were water-covered sucking mud, where you wondered each time if your shoe was still on your foot. Do I have a shoe? Is it lost to the swamp creatures forever? Invariably, it was still attached but those sections made slow going.
About two miles into the trail I ran across two tents camped next to trail and met my first on-trail thru-hikers, Peaches and Trout. I stopped and chatted with them for a few minutes before I continued moseying down the trail (maybe it’s up the trail since I’m heading north?).
Eventually, I made it to 7-mile camp (at mile 6) and had a late lunch, stretched out my calves and got ready to complete the last three miles to 10-mile camp (at mile 9.5). Those last miles I didn’t want to stop and I really wanted just to get to camp and set everything up. I was still surprised that I hadn’t seen anyone all day (aside from Mosey and Heather when they turned around to head back to the “real world”). I’m not typically a fast hiker, but maybe I just kept slogging through the miles.
By the time I saw Matt and Kelly standing in the middle of a small swamp creek I was ready for camp. At the time, unbeknownst to me, they were standing both in the camp laundry and water source, lol. For a backcountry camp location, 10-mile was luxurious (it had a picnic table and fire ring). I quickly set up my tent to let it dry out during the last hours of sunlight, and made my way to collect water (prior to mixing up all the muck) and then rinse out my shoes and socks. There was sooooo much slit and sand in both.
As I was finishing up, Out and About showed up, followed shortly by Biff. I made my way back to my tent, got the rest of my sleep system ready and started on dinner. Splurged a little tonight with a Backpacker Pantry Chicken Lasagna dinner with my recovery protein drink followed by the evening hot chocolate. As I was eating, Biff, She-Ra, Peaches, Trout, Ghost, and Missing Person arrived.
I set up my camera for a quick time-lapse during sunset, I’m hesitant about leaving it out overnight with the humidity. Once the sun set, the mosquitos descended. Everyone rapidly made their way to their sleeping accommodations (mostly tents, but there was one hammock and one tarp).
Rating the Day:
⭐⭐ Weather (hot and humid)
⭐⭐⭐⭐ Difficulty (flat, but some water and sucking mud)
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Physical Energy (rested and ready to start)
⭐⭐⭐⭐ Scenery (new and completely different from anything I’d ever hiked in before)
⭐⭐⭐⭐ Mental State (new trail, a little hesitant due to the swamp crossing, but optimistic)
High Point of the Day:
Starting a new trail and about midway through the day, I hiked through a cypress slough. The water was over my knees, but it was crystal clear and the surface was easy to walk across (no sucking mud).
Low Point of the Day:
The slow, but steady, accumulation of silt and muck in between my insoles and socks. It created a lot of friction and drastically changed how my foot was hitting the ground, which required me to stop and “rinse” my shoes and socks out every couple miles.
Basic Stats:
FT Miles: 0 to 9.5
Distance Walked Today:* 11.9 miles
Steps for the Day:* 19,168 steps
Trail Conditions:
Temperature (Perception): Very warm and humid
Wind (Perception): A slight breeze, off and on all day
Cloud Cover: Started out clear and then some fluffy clouds moved in, with haze during sunset
Precipitation: None
Trail Surface: Packed dirt, sucking mud, swamp, and knee deep water
Terrain: Pine savanna and cypress sloughs
Water Sources: Topped up my water bottles at the kickoff and then swamp water near camp
Wildlife Observations:
Gators: Several near the southern terminus, but none on trail
Snakes: Two, I saw the tail end of a large, black snake (maybe had a stripe, possibly a Eastern Indigo Snake) but it was moving away pretty quickly, and a smaller banded snake (maybe a Eastern Watersnake, Northern Mole Kingsnake)
One lizard
One very small frog (maybe the size of my thumb)
Small fishes and crawfish
Couple egrets and herons
People on the Trail:
Mosey (walked the first couple of miles with us)
Heather (from the FTA, first mile or so)
Matt and Kelly
Ghost
Mountain House
Missing Person
Biff
Peaches and Trout (they started the evening before and I ran into them a mile into the trail, then they camped with the group)
She-Ra
Out and About
Bopit (started the trail with us, but zoomed ahead)
Cheers & Jeers (Gear, Food, etc.):
I packed my food as if I was 4 weeks into my hike (and hiker hunger had already set it), so my bear canister was extra heavy
So far the new pants (from ElevenSkys) are working well.
What did I Listen To?
Sounds of the swamp (walking through the swamp was stressful enough, I didn’t want the distraction of listening to anything)
Photo & Video Stats:
Number of photos for the day: 105
Total time-lapse sequences: Short time-lapse during sunset
Number of video clips: Two per mile, plus one at the beginning of the day (Selfie mode and facing outward)
