It’s warming up quickly in Florida. So I planned a two-day backpacking trip before it’s too hot to hike anymore (though it was already in the high 80’s). The heat made it a tougher hike than the last trip even though I didn’t have to wade through water. Luckily, most of the hiking was under trees so I didn’t have the direct sun on me.
I again picked a portion of the Florida Trail. This time following the trail was easier since there were less options with few crossing trails and a clearly defined main trail. It was funny that I still registered “happiness” every time I saw an orange blaze (and was not lost) after my last hike.
The first day was through Etoniah Creek State Forest. It was quite “zen” in that I saw no one the entire time. There were sinkholes here, either wet or dry.
Fairy-tale look of reindeer moss.
I did an out-and-back trip that totaled 14 miles. I had 3 choices on campsites. If, after going out 7 miles I was tired I could stay at this shelter for hikers.
Or, there was supposed to be a small campsite near where I parked the car. I hadn’t seen it when I started my hike in the morning but just figured I hadn’t looked hard enough. Unfortunately, I couldn’t find that campsite so I ended up hiking another 1.5 miles at Rice Creek Conservation Area. This 2nd back-up campsite (also a shelter) was full with a family (with 4 young boys and a dog) staying there. I wanted something quieter! They suggested a spot that is marked for no camping but they said rangers didn’t kick people out for camping. Not an ideal situation, but I could at least get to sleep without the kids yelling in the background and it was great camping.
Rice Creek had more interesting trails. Hoffman’s Crossing is a 1,886’ long thin boardwalk that crosses a swamp. The hike itself on the boardwalk was quite fun and a bit challenging.
The views of the swamp was also very cool. BTW, given that it was a swamp and nights weren’t cold, the mosquitoes were out. Bug spray didn’t prevent all the bites.
Another section was the Rice Creek loop along the creek. It had 20 different bridges / boardwalks so that you mostly stayed dry (a bit muddy in places though).
A highlight was seeing an alligator family. There was a mom plus babies that were about 1.5’ long. I counted 5 babies but another hiker said they counted 9.
And lots of flowers.
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