Florida Trail - 40 Miles
(Basinger to Kissimmee Prairie State Park)
(200-Miles Total)
(Basinger to Kissimmee Prairie State Park)
(200-Miles Total)
Hello guys,
Hope everyone is doing well.
Still resting up and catching with things at home,
but feeling good after completing another 40-miles hike
from Basinger to Kissimmee Prairie State Park.
This time around we wanted to do something different,
it seems we are getting farther and farther from home and makes it difficult
to find somebody to drop us at a certain location and then pick us up.
This time, we tested ourselves and camped the night before at the local church,
which was our last pick up point from the previous hiking trip.
This past Friday was a dark and rainy night,
we knew it would be difficult to camp for the night and just to get a few hours of sleep.
I mean, waking up at 5 AM to hike 18-miles knowing you did not sleep well the night before, must feel good after all, right?
We started hiking very early in the morning, our first mile was through the pavement,
and even though it was the road we still couldnt see anything because of amount of fog.
Once we started getting back into the forrest, it became a big obstacle for us,
at times we couldn't see the Florida Trail signs and we even got lost twice
in the first couple of miles inside the forest.
Once the sun came up, it was a totally different hike,
the morning breeze and beautiful sunrise on the trail was spectacular,
by that time, we had passed our first 4-miles to encounter another
open section that had a few campgrounds available for regular hikers/campers.
On this section of the trail, we started encountering many muddy and sandy trails,
I guess because it had rained the day before and it started to fill up on the trail,
eventually, this would slow us down until we adjusted to the trail.
From time to time we were able to spot the Kissimmee River,
since we had left Okeechobee a while, we have been able to spot any other rivers.
Once we arrived to Starvation Slough Campsite, it was that feeling of comfort and relief,
seeing the large shed from far away, we knew we have made it to camp for the night.
Out of all the campsites that I have stayed at, this was by far the largest one.
Usually, we do have to improvise here and there to find a nice spot to camp,
but this large shed was everything we wanted, a lot of space to place your tent,
hammock, backpacks and the rest of our supplies.
We both usually plan ahead of time and try to bring as much supply as we can,
I had brought with me Chicken Fried Rice for two people,
my friend Hector had brought an extra meal of Chicken Teriyaki,
by our good friends from Mountain House.
We always shared our meals so we can have more for later in case of any emergencies,
first we prepared and ate the Chicken Fried Rice which it was delicios,
after a couple of hous resting, we got hungry again and prepared
our second meal for the night Chicken Teriyaki for two people.
The next morning we kind of slept in even though we were awake
for some time, we were just waiting until the sun would come up
and the fog would go away so we could start hiking.
As a hiker with a lot of experience, this was a huge mistake,
knowing we had consumed those first of few hours in the morning,
we would pay the price later on, and this is something we should have not done.
Anyways, hiking a bit late and the time wasn't on our side,
we knew we probably would make it 7 or 8 PM the latest.
In the next couple of miles, we would enter these empty campgrounds
that were filled with such beauty and camping vibe that were great for our short breaks,
until we enter Kissimmee State Park territory.
On one of the trees we noticed an sealed envelope that offered maps for Florida Trail hikers,
a map of the state park for those who were willing to explore it or camp for the night,
this was such a cool idea for hikers that are out there into the unkown,
and have no clue where they are located within the trail itself.
We officially saw the Kissimmee Prairie Reserve State Park sign,
which it was part of the continuation of the Florida Trail,
it felt like it was the South entrance of the park when we went in,
there was no posting house or no ranger at the scene.
As soon as we started hiking this section we spotted several animals,
deers, rabbits, etc. it just felt like the wildlife we needed to encounter.
Around this time it was 2 or 3 PM so we started feeling the humidity and heat,
after all, summer is just around the corner and I know it'll worse than this.
We were slowing down our pace and had stop several times due to this,
also, we were getting pretty tired of walking through the sandy trail.
The last 4-5 miles were the worst, it was long and direct trail,
and even though we couldn't see the visitor center of Kissimmee State Park,
we knew we had to keep going because the night would catch us.
Don't worry we made it on time and were happy about it.
The great accomplishment is that on this trip we surpassed our 200-miles mark of the Florida Trail and we are currently at 225-miles until we hike the next 40-miles.
It feels freaking amazing, not going to lie, every time we head out there,
we have an amazing time and enjoy ourselves during the trail,
it's not easy to take in all these miles for a weekend,
most people thing we are crazy but this is goal we have to complete,
and nothing will stop us until we get there.
Like I always mention, what started as a simple
camping weekend is now a thrilling long adventure.
Well, I hope really like this post, remember you can always comment
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I'll see you on the next post!
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