Up and Down on Flat Ground
Day 20: 15 Miles
It's cold overnight, threatening to freeze. I stuff my water filter in the bottom of my sleeping bag because it'll get ruined and lose its effectiveness if it freezes. I wake in the pre-dawn darkness to pee, and I discover the rainfly is crusted with ice. It rains little ice chips into the tent when I unzip it. I figure if I start at 9am today, I can cover the 15 miles to the next night's target and still arrive an hour before sunset for an unhurried dinner and camp setup, so I return to my sleeping bag and wait for the day to warm up.
When I next get up at 8, the sun is just peeking through the trees and I can see my two camp mates are already gone. I have the place to myself. I walk around and explore a bit, but not too much as it's still only a little above freezing; there's frost in the shady spots and the dew melting on the grass is icy cold. I'd like to keep my toes dry to start the day if I can.
The terrain is dry marsh grassland and pine, but I can see Cypress domes in the distance, and they mean water. A couple miles in, the day is warming nicely and my feet are dry when I come to the first knee deep slough. I look right; nothing but water and a line of Cypress trees. I look left; same thing. My shoes are dry for the first time in probably three days, and I really don't want to walk in wet shoes all day. I take them off and walk through barefoot. The ground is sandy with just a little mud, not slippery and nothing sharp. Can't go barefoot through most Western streams - too many sharp rocks. I check my trail guide and it indicates another potential wading spot in half a mile. The ground is soft dirt covered with moss; I walk barefoot until after the next crossing, then happily put my dry shoes and socks back on. Oh, happy feet this morning!
The morning continues through the dry marshland and then into oak hammocks. Oak hammocks are on the slightly higher and dryer ground, and have a mixed, multi-tiered flora of oaks and palm trees up high, grasses down low, and younger, shorter palms making up the middle tier. They're lush and green, and I can't help but think of Gilligan's Island each time I walk into one. They are effectively Oak and Palm tree islands in the marshland. Pretty cool, and fun to walk through.
Throughout the day I see a pair of Sandhill cranes with their odd, hoarse call (definitely not songbirds!), a raccoon, a whitetail deer, a black snake(very fast!), a hawk that I can't identify, and what I think are a pair of falcons. It's a busy day on the animal front.
In the afternoon I feel a deep melancholy. It seems to strike out of nowhere, and in the three weeks so far I've felt upbeat every day. What brought this on? I don't know. I wonder if it's because the other hikers left before I saw them this morning. I've noticed that sometimes when that happens I get a feeling of loneliness. It seems to be the only time that happens; I can walk alone all day and not feel lonely, and certainly not melancholy. I ponder it, but that only makes it worse. I put on some music - nope, not that kind. I pick something different and start to feel better. I come to a muddy, swampy, thickly treed area. I pick paths through the dry spots, losing sight of the trail a couple of times and having to pick it up again. The focus helps distract me from my down mood. Then hunters wandering around keen it even more, especially the last pair I see. They're a couple in all brand new camo gear, not a spot of orange on them anywhere, and I don't have any confidence they know what they're doing. I point out to them where the highway (you can hear it in the distance) and upcoming campground are(the one I'll be staying at), and hope they don't shoot in that direction. I hear shots later, but they don't sound near.
The next few hundred yards are an absolutely gorgeous swamp with a black bottom. Are these called blackwater swamps maybe? The Cypress tree cover is thick, and the swamp bottom is black dirt and organic matter. If you look straight down the water is clear; look out at an angle though, and it's like looking at a black mirror. I traverse the swamp slowly on a series of boardwalks, awed by the scenery, wanting to take my time. It's really incredible and quite stunning. I hope the pictures do it at least a bit of justice!
I reach the campground when the swamp ends, and there's another hiker there already. He's a veteran, and is being sponsored by Warrior Expeditions. Founded by a vet who believed he could help combat veterans transition back to civilian life with thru-hiking and other long, high effort outdoor experiences, the vet, trail name Turk-ish, tells me they choose some 40 vets each year for hikes like the Appalachian Trail, Florida Trail and others, as well as biking across the US or paddling the Mississippi. Big Adventures. Turk-ish was quite happy and proud to have been selected for the Florida Trail. He believes he's one of three sponsored vets on the trail this winter. Sounds like a terrific program.
We chat for quite a while, and between the gorgeous swamp, the route finding, the hunters, and an engaging dinner companion, my spirits were back to normal. We parted ways for the comforting, home feel of our individual tents. He warned me he snores; I said I'd be fine. It's supposed to be quite a bit warmer tonight. That'll be nice!
