Florida Trail - 42 Miles
(Bull Creek WMA to Tosohatchee WMA)
Hi there readers.
Hope everyone had a great weekend I know I did.
We just came back from our second weekend on the Florida Trail and it was spectacular!
This past weekend we continued our next section which consisted from
Bull Creek Wildlife Management Area to Tosohatchee Wildlife Management Area.
After completing the 45-mile mark on our first hike of the year,
we wanted to reach the same amount of miles or close to 40-miles,
so we ended up hiking only 42-miles on this weekend.
On this section we spent most our our time hiking
through long roads and highways all around.
We encountered several group of bikers riding up and down through these roads,
especially on Deer Park Road and Nova Road which
it was famous for hikers and angel trails.
For this these long roads we wore our athletic shoes and not our usual hiking boots
due to the steep pavement and that our hiking boots are not the most
comfortable shoes to wear for these kind of sections.
Speaking of Nova Road, I would say this is a very dangerous road because
a lot of cars passed by at high speed which makes it difficult for hikers
to hike on the sidewalk as there isn't trail path assigned.
On a better note, we have finally reached Orlando and we can
definitely say that we have hiked from Miami to Orlando,
which if you'd ask me it is very far from home.
Seems like a crazy milestone!
Still, we cannot wait to explore more on these next sections
and it just feels like we are only getting started.
In case you have been following my InstaStories on my Instagram
this past weekend I posted about a "trespassing" incident that occurred on the Florida Trail.
I have decided to address this so-called incident here on my blog to go in full details.
As many of you know we always try to hike at least 20-miles the first day of our weekend,
and we trace on the map where are we supposed to camp out for the night.
Mind you this, we never and I mean never have the chance to camp at a real campsite
basically the Florida Trail doesn't offer many options (as far as I know)
and we always try to find a quiet and secure spot to camp for the night.
This time around, we actually found a spot on Nova Road that apparently
was a construction site and a private property.
Our idea was to camp out here and just spend the night and wake up
really to start hiking the next early morning.
We arrived to this spot around 3:30pm which it was pretty early for us
considering after walking for more than 8 hours.
The first thing we do after arriving at a campsite is to set up our tents
get comfortable and have everything set up and ready so we can relax for the night.
After a few hours of us arriving to this site a truck pulled up and a local man
came out of the car shouting at us as to why we where
trespassing this fence and camping at this spot.
Now before you come out judging us we knew we were trespassing and
that according to the law it is fairly to say it is illegal we are not stupid, we get it.
However, it was the way this man approached us.
We explained several times that we were hiking the Florida Trail for the weekend
and that we couldn't find any campsite close by on this section of the trail,
we even asked for help or if it was possible to camp there or on the other side of the fence.
Again, he insisted in such a mean and arrogant way that we needed to leave and
that he refused to provide any guidance or to help us for that matter,
not only he was being an asshole about the whole situation he
couldn't even be somewhat have a little bit of compassion,
we just couldn't with it and left the spot without hesitation
but, you know this shit happens right?
On a good note, we had to walked back about 5 to 10 minutes and find
a new spot by Nova Road and it was actually better than expected.
Minutes later guess what? The Sheriff Patrol arrived!
Apparently the other guy had called the cops and advise them that
we were out there "trespassing" or doing something illegal.
Again, the sheriff was the best part of this whole situation,
surprisingly enough he came around in a such a nice and polite way doing his duty
and asking us if we needed any help, guidance, food, or water.
He didn't asked a lot about the whole trespassing incident but wanted to let us know
that we were fine in the new campsite spot and not to cross any fence again.
The good thing about is that we has a very nice Sheriff and actually care
for us rather than being an arrogant and mean person.
We spent the rest of the night eating and having a great time talking
through our day experience out here in the Florida Trail.
The next morning we headed out into the next 4-5 miles of pavement road
and then we reached the section of getting back into the wild.
Now, here is the best part of our trip and I will try to give a sense as to why
I believe I learned something valuable on this Florida Trail trip.
As most of you know this past weekend we didn’t have anyone available
or were counting on anyone to pick us up at our ending point of this hiking section.
Here is where you'll meet Dan, he is an ex-Navy Seal,
car racer entrepreneur, and fellow hiker.
Dan was kindly enough to reply to our Florida Trail Hikers post on Facebook
and contact us via direct message for further details of a pick-up plan.
Once Sunday came around and we had arrived at our pick-up location,
Dan was there before us with a pack of beer, sandwiches and cookies.
I mean, how awesome can you be!
We were so happy and relieved that somebody was actually there
waiting for us and most importantly to provide us with a ride.
On our ride back to my car, we all introduced ourselves and spent
a few moments sharing stories, laughs, hiking experiences
and got to know each other a little bit better.
All I can say is that we all share a great passion for the outdoors and hiking adventures,
and that we’ll definitely do these activities for the rest of our lives.
As soon as we arrived at Bull Creek’s location, we knew we had made it
safely to our car and that our weekend couldn’t have been better.
We were so fortunate and grateful that we couldn’t stop thanking Dan
for the way he treated us and for helping us out with this ride.
Again, this is one more reason to show how amazing is the hiking community,
and that there’s still good and kind people in this world.
Without any doubts, this was by far the best part of our hiking
experience and we will be forever in his debt.
So there it goes did I learned something? Yes, I did.
I learned that we have to be kind and generous with people
and that everything in the end actually works out.
We go through so many experiences out there in the Florida Trail
and we can always learn something each experience.
We need more people like Dan, I felt like this man actually restored my
faith in humanity and on this world more than I thought I would.
So this is one great weekend on the Florida Trail that I will never forget!
Well guys I leave you all with this great blog post,
I really hope everyone enjoys the photography and content on this post.
See you on the next section of the Florida Trail!
Hope everyone had a great weekend I know I did.
We just came back from our second weekend on the Florida Trail and it was spectacular!
This past weekend we continued our next section which consisted from
Bull Creek Wildlife Management Area to Tosohatchee Wildlife Management Area.
After completing the 45-mile mark on our first hike of the year,
we wanted to reach the same amount of miles or close to 40-miles,
so we ended up hiking only 42-miles on this weekend.
On this section we spent most our our time hiking
through long roads and highways all around.
We encountered several group of bikers riding up and down through these roads,
especially on Deer Park Road and Nova Road which
it was famous for hikers and angel trails.
For this these long roads we wore our athletic shoes and not our usual hiking boots
due to the steep pavement and that our hiking boots are not the most
comfortable shoes to wear for these kind of sections.
Speaking of Nova Road, I would say this is a very dangerous road because
a lot of cars passed by at high speed which makes it difficult for hikers
to hike on the sidewalk as there isn't trail path assigned.
On a better note, we have finally reached Orlando and we can
definitely say that we have hiked from Miami to Orlando,
which if you'd ask me it is very far from home.
Seems like a crazy milestone!
Still, we cannot wait to explore more on these next sections
and it just feels like we are only getting started.
In case you have been following my InstaStories on my Instagram
this past weekend I posted about a "trespassing" incident that occurred on the Florida Trail.
I have decided to address this so-called incident here on my blog to go in full details.
As many of you know we always try to hike at least 20-miles the first day of our weekend,
and we trace on the map where are we supposed to camp out for the night.
Mind you this, we never and I mean never have the chance to camp at a real campsite
basically the Florida Trail doesn't offer many options (as far as I know)
and we always try to find a quiet and secure spot to camp for the night.
This time around, we actually found a spot on Nova Road that apparently
was a construction site and a private property.
Our idea was to camp out here and just spend the night and wake up
really to start hiking the next early morning.
We arrived to this spot around 3:30pm which it was pretty early for us
considering after walking for more than 8 hours.
The first thing we do after arriving at a campsite is to set up our tents
get comfortable and have everything set up and ready so we can relax for the night.
After a few hours of us arriving to this site a truck pulled up and a local man
came out of the car shouting at us as to why we where
trespassing this fence and camping at this spot.
Now before you come out judging us we knew we were trespassing and
that according to the law it is fairly to say it is illegal we are not stupid, we get it.
However, it was the way this man approached us.
We explained several times that we were hiking the Florida Trail for the weekend
and that we couldn't find any campsite close by on this section of the trail,
we even asked for help or if it was possible to camp there or on the other side of the fence.
Again, he insisted in such a mean and arrogant way that we needed to leave and
that he refused to provide any guidance or to help us for that matter,
not only he was being an asshole about the whole situation he
couldn't even be somewhat have a little bit of compassion,
we just couldn't with it and left the spot without hesitation
but, you know this shit happens right?
On a good note, we had to walked back about 5 to 10 minutes and find
a new spot by Nova Road and it was actually better than expected.
Minutes later guess what? The Sheriff Patrol arrived!
Apparently the other guy had called the cops and advise them that
we were out there "trespassing" or doing something illegal.
Again, the sheriff was the best part of this whole situation,
surprisingly enough he came around in a such a nice and polite way doing his duty
and asking us if we needed any help, guidance, food, or water.
He didn't asked a lot about the whole trespassing incident but wanted to let us know
that we were fine in the new campsite spot and not to cross any fence again.
The good thing about is that we has a very nice Sheriff and actually care
for us rather than being an arrogant and mean person.
We spent the rest of the night eating and having a great time talking
through our day experience out here in the Florida Trail.
The next morning we headed out into the next 4-5 miles of pavement road
and then we reached the section of getting back into the wild.
Now, here is the best part of our trip and I will try to give a sense as to why
I believe I learned something valuable on this Florida Trail trip.
As most of you know this past weekend we didn’t have anyone available
or were counting on anyone to pick us up at our ending point of this hiking section.
Here is where you'll meet Dan, he is an ex-Navy Seal,
car racer entrepreneur, and fellow hiker.
Dan was kindly enough to reply to our Florida Trail Hikers post on Facebook
and contact us via direct message for further details of a pick-up plan.
Once Sunday came around and we had arrived at our pick-up location,
Dan was there before us with a pack of beer, sandwiches and cookies.
I mean, how awesome can you be!
We were so happy and relieved that somebody was actually there
waiting for us and most importantly to provide us with a ride.
On our ride back to my car, we all introduced ourselves and spent
a few moments sharing stories, laughs, hiking experiences
and got to know each other a little bit better.
All I can say is that we all share a great passion for the outdoors and hiking adventures,
and that we’ll definitely do these activities for the rest of our lives.
As soon as we arrived at Bull Creek’s location, we knew we had made it
safely to our car and that our weekend couldn’t have been better.
We were so fortunate and grateful that we couldn’t stop thanking Dan
for the way he treated us and for helping us out with this ride.
Again, this is one more reason to show how amazing is the hiking community,
and that there’s still good and kind people in this world.
Without any doubts, this was by far the best part of our hiking
experience and we will be forever in his debt.
So there it goes did I learned something? Yes, I did.
I learned that we have to be kind and generous with people
and that everything in the end actually works out.
We go through so many experiences out there in the Florida Trail
and we can always learn something each experience.
We need more people like Dan, I felt like this man actually restored my
faith in humanity and on this world more than I thought I would.
So this is one great weekend on the Florida Trail that I will never forget!
Well guys I leave you all with this great blog post,
I really hope everyone enjoys the photography and content on this post.
See you on the next section of the Florida Trail!
Follow me:
IG: hectorgrass_
FB: Hector Grass
Twitter: hectorgrass_
IG: hectorgrass_
FB: Hector Grass
Twitter: hectorgrass_
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