Florida Trail - First 30 Miles (Big
Cypress Oasis to I-75 Rest Area)
Hello readers!
First of all, I wanted to wish everyone a Happy New Year!
Yes, I can't believe we are in 2019 already,
it feels like time is flying and there's nothing we can do to stop it.
Anyways, as the beginning of the new year comes around,
I tend to plan out all my hiking and camping trips.
This has been a planning structure I started trying out since 2017.
It has worked for me in a very efficient way,
I try to gather as much information as possible
to make sure I include this on my list of travels.
But, this year I started a bit differently,
I have decided to hike The Florida Trail.
Yes, you heard that right!
If you don't know by now,
The Florida Trail is one of the eleven
National Scenic Trails in the United States,
which runs 1,300 miles long and was established on October 29, 1966.
Starting from the South Terminus: Big Cypress National Preserve all the way
to Fort Pickens at Gulf Islands National Seashore, Pensacola Beach.
The Florida Trail is divided into four regions:
Southern Region, Central Region,
Northern Region, and Panhandle Region.
Less than 250 people have completed the entire trail,
it has been considered a tough and difficult trail to conquer.
Most hikers tend to start on the South Terminus,
because it has been said to be the most difficult zone of the trail,
the Big Cypress can get pretty ugly and muddy,
especially when it rains, which happens all the time in Florida.
How this idea of hiking the Florida Trail even came around?
To this day I still don't know,
I would love to tell you all that I felt inspired by looking at some photos on Instagram
or that I read a hiking article or some sort of blog post.
I just felt like I needed to start somewhere,
I decided to do it this year because it just felt right,
like the perfect moment to do the Florida Trail,
I know myself and what I am capable of doing,
if I didn't start somewhere I don't think I would have done it.
I understand this is not an easy trail,
and that's why I decided to hike with a group,
a group of people that share the same idea and vision.
We started our hike on January 18th around 9:00am precisely,
However, this wasn't the best time
since we wanted to start as early as possible around 7:00 am
to make sure we were ahead of the time and enjoy the cold morning,
During our wait at the Oasis Visitor Center,
we met Miguel a 45-years old Cuban-American,
very charismatic and friendly dude,
he was hiking up to 7-mile camp and back,
pretty much just camping for the night.
By noon we reached to 7-mile camp,
we had lunch and spent some time telling stories
and getting to know each other a bit better,
but it was time to head back on the trail
and keep hiking until we got to 13-mile camp.
Around this time is where we were able to enjoy most of the trail,
there were some beautiful pine trees and the trail was pretty nice,
however, we couldn't find 13-mile camp nowhere in this area.
The Florida Trail provides you with a mile mark for every mile you complete,
even though we passed the 13-mile mark we couldn't find the campsite,
so we decided to set camp on firm ground and close to the trail.
To our surprise, it started raining at 3am non-stop
until 8am when we caught our morning break to head back to the trail.
Sunday morning the weather was perfect, it was in the lows 60s,
and the windy fresh air was hitting us for the most part of the trail.
Around 21-mile we started encountering the muddy and steep trail,
we noticed this was the most challenging part of the trail
and that we needed to make a few stops before drained ourselves out.
Good thing right around this area we came through the Black Lagoon
which we were able to drink water and have some for our supply as well.
The last 2-3 miles of the trail was pretty wide and beautiful,
but since we were very tired and wanted to get to end quickly,
we started to speed up our pace in order to make it on time.
It is a shame though because this part of the trail was beautiful and attractive,
I just wish I would have made a few stops and enjoyed it more.
Anyways, guys, I do feel very proud to have completed such a complicated
and challenging trail, even if it means just the first 30 miles.
We have decided to hike the Florida Trail by sections,
since we can't take off for an entire month.
I will be heading out there on the trail next weekend,
to hike the next 30-40 miles and rest up for the upcoming one,
and head back the following weekend.
Hope you all enjoy the good content and pictures of the trip,
expect more in the next couple of weeks.
See you all next time!
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