Florida Trail - 40 Miles
(Kissimmee Prairie State Park to Three Lakes Wildlife Management Area)
(Kissimmee Prairie State Park to Three Lakes Wildlife Management Area)
Hello fellas!
Hope everyone is having a great week,
I know mine has been tough these past couple of days but I always make the best of them.
I'm back from another successful hiking trip on the Florida Trail.
This past weekend we hiked another 40-miles from Kissimmee Prairie
State Park to Three Lakes Wildlife Management Area.
Honestly, we were going for the 40-45 miles range,
but ended up doing the full 40-miles as always.
As I explained on my last blog post,
it is getting harder and harder to find someone who can take us
and drop us at our starting point of the hike.
This time around, we had a friend that volunteer and thank him for it,
because it is not easy for anyone to drive up 2+ hours and back.
We arrived to Kissimmee State Park very late night,
to find the gates of the park closed at that time,
which it was expected after all, however,
a ranger came passing by and talked to us about the certain rules
of not camping or walking through the park while being closed,
since we had to hike at least another 5-miles to get to the visitor center,
which it was actually where we needed to start in the early morning,
we offered the ranger to take us there as good leap of faith,
but unfortunately she refused several times until we decided maybe it was time
sleep outside the park and hike pretty early in the morning,
meaning, we wouldn't have got any sleep whatsoever.
After waiting several minutes, there was a couple of elders driving by
and they had access to the gate while the park being completely closed,
these people had exclusively access to the entrance of the park,
from that moment on we knew we had a chance to ride with them,
we beg and urge them to take us and these people were so generous
that they didn't hesitate for a single minute,we sat back on their pick up truck
and it felt like the best 30 minutes ride ever, no joke!
After stopping at the visitor center, we said our goodbyes to the elderly couple
and told them to find us somewhere on Facebook, Instagram or any other platform.
It was time to sleep! We set camp right next to the trail
and thought that the amazing ride we just got from these people,
and the fact that it was our first hitchhike on the Florida Trail.
The next morning it was time to hit the trail,
usually I start at a good pace, however, it felt a bit different,
I started pretty slow and my legs were pretty tired and I just couldn't understand why,
the first morning is when we usually wake up with more energy than ever,
and we are always ready to take on the hardest part of the trail.
After several hours, it started to better and better,
I adjusted to the sandy trail and my legs were feeling better than expected,
I was making the progress I needed to hike this section of the trail.
We hit the 10-miles range in just 4 hours,
which it was pretty freaking fast and good for us,
we had enough time to rest and enjoy our lunch by the Water Management Area,
but we weren't done we needed to hike another 10 more miles.
After getting back to the trail, we were able to encounter many other campsites around,
meaning, we were really close to finding Long Hammock Campsite.
After
several hiking trips and improvise camp nights, we can finally
say we
camped at an official campsite on the Florida Trail.
Long Hammock
Campsite was located exactly at the 20-miles mark of our hike,
a subtle and beautiful campground for anyone hiking this section of the trail.
This campsite offered two picnic tables, a fire ring, and a beautiful view of the forest.
As always, we prepared everything on time, set my tent and Hector's hammock,
started the fire to keep the mosquitoes away and get into the real camping vibe,
it was time to relax and enjoy the rest of the afternoon.
The next day we found ourselves short on water,
which it was actually the first time we have not found water
throughout this section of the trail.
After several hours, we got to experience our first hike under the rain,
which it was kind of refreshing due to the high temperatures,
it was cold for sure, but also a great time under the rain.
We decided to stop at the 40-miles mark,
even though we could have hike the next 4-5 miles,
we didn’t have enough water to keep going.
I felt a little bit disappointed about it, but after all it was the right move to make,
it is a pretty serious situation when you don't have any supply or water available,
and to continue hiking like that is not a good idea at all.
We waited a couple of hours until our ride arrived,
and we headed home for another good 3+ drive back to Miami.
Still pretty excited about our next couple of trips,
we have Orlando coming up in next 40-60 miles,
and it feels like we are just getting farther and farther every time.
Enjoy this post guys, see you next time!
and to continue hiking like that is not a good idea at all.
We waited a couple of hours until our ride arrived,
and we headed home for another good 3+ drive back to Miami.
Still pretty excited about our next couple of trips,
we have Orlando coming up in next 40-60 miles,
and it feels like we are just getting farther and farther every time.
Enjoy this post guys, see you next time!
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