Hiking The Florida Trail

A short description of my hike on a section of The Florida Trail.

Last weekend I went camping with my father-in-law and three brothers in-law in the Alexander Springs Campground in the Ocala National Forest. Part of the reason for the camping trip was so I could take the opportunity to hike a section of the nearby Florida Trail.

I got a later start Saturday morning than I had intended, but fortunately the temperature was in the high 60's and low 70's during the majority of my hike. Before leaving camp, I showed my father-in-law on a map where I would be hiking and which direction I would be taking. That's prudent action every hiker should take to minimize search efforts should they be needed.

I hiked about a half mile down the county road in front of the campground to get on the trail, stretching my legs and, though I was in a hurry to get to the trail, repeating to myself "Enjoy the journey, enjoy the journey", so that I would pace myself and take time to notice things I might have missed if I had single-mindedly rushed straight to the trail.

Entering the trail on the north side of the county road, I was immediately dwarfed by tall scrub oak and sand pine trees that created a shadowy canopy above my head. This continued for about a mile along the trail (which was marked by rectangles of orange paint on strategic trees) and made for an easy start with the trees blocking most of the late morning sun and a soft bed of pine needles to walk upon. In addition, the ground in some areas next to the trail was covered in pine cones of all sizes. I always try to camp, backpack and hike by the rule of "Take nothing but pictures and leave only footprints", but I knew that my wife would enjoy making some kind of craft creations from the pine cones, so I picked up about a dozen of varying sizes and placed them in zip-lock bags in my backpack. This portion of the trail was also very open, in spite of the density of the forest trees.

The next 2 to 2 1/2 miles of the trail were along a narrow, sandy stretch with 7 to 8 foot high scrub brush pressing in from each side. Walking along the sandy trail was difficult and there was not a lot of color to enjoy. Everything seemed to have a muted, faded green look to it. I had also hoped to see some animal life on my hike. Not a bear, of course (black bears are plentiful in this area), but a deer, rabbit or even a bush hog would have been fun to see. Here is what I saw; 3 small birds on the trail ahead of me (I tried taking a picture of one of them, but it completely blended in to the background), a brown and yellow centipede on the side of the trail ( I DID get a couple of pictures of this little fellow) and a few dozen flies and mosquitos (permanent residents of our Sunshine State).

When I had decided that I had gone about as far as my feet would want to walk back, I sat down on a stump on the side of the trail and ate my lunch. I was enjoying a turkey sandwich and sipping my water when a stocky woman of about 55 to 60 with a full gear backpack came walking up from the same direction I had come. We exchanged "Hello's" and as she got about 15 feet past me, she turned back and asked me if I was from that area. I replied I was not and she asked me if I knew anything about Salt Springs. "Only that it's about 20 miles north of here" I answered. She thanked me and turned back to the trail. I looked at her pack as she walked away and estimated it to weigh about 25 to 30 pounds. That woman has my admiration.

After lunch I began hiking back the same direction I had come, passing 2 more hikers (a middle-aged couple) about halfway back who were heading the opposite direction. They too had full packs. I felt ashamed since I had a very light daypack and my feet were killing me. I need to do this more often.

By the time I returned to the campsite it was mid-afternoon. I took a shower in the nearby bath house and then laid down for an hour nap. My feet hurt until Monday, but getting to hike a portion of the Florida trail was worth it!