See other hikers on the Florida Trail

This morning we woke up very early in the room. But probably not as soon as we should have done it. However, arriving so late last night, it was difficult to avoid it. I really felt it this morning. However, we were hoping to grab Waffle House on our way out of town. So we couldn’t sit in the hotel for long. Once we were all packed, we walked next door to have breakfast. We would then return to the trail for another full day.

I was very excited to go to Waffle House for breakfast. Reminds me of earlier this year when we were here in Florida. Punisher, Fresh Ground and I went to some waffle houses together. They were good times. It’s very strange to be here in Florida again. I could never have seen it coming! If someone had told me at the beginning of the year that I would be hiking the Florida Trail again towards the end of the year, I would have thought they were crazy. If someone had suggested it, I think it would have made me laugh out loud. Many people originally suggested that I finish the year by hiking the Arizona Trail. And even that made me laugh! Only because I still had a lot to do on the original mission. But here I am.

Slide and I had breakfast at Waffle House, which was wonderful. I always have the classic breakfast with cheese and onion in my hash browns and eggs with ease. Everything was delicious. I even added one of my hot chocolate packets to the coffee, which made it even more delicious. We were in and out of Waffle House pretty quickly. Then we would have to walk a couple of miles to get back to the Florida trail.

Waffle House Breakfast with Slide.

After that, we would be back on the trail for the rest of the day! Unless we were doing some kind of side quest, we wouldn’t pass by any other towns or shops during the course of the day. Even with our slightly later start to the day, it still felt like we were back on the road bright and early. The next section was also really beautiful and continued through a pine forest covered in fluffy green moss. Moss actually has the texture of a sponge if you pick it up and feel it. It moves between your fingers and then returns to its place. Sometimes when I walk I like to hold on to something like that and entertain myself for a while.

This morning we crossed the nice, flat pine forest. I’m definitely glad to be off the road today.

Throughout the morning we walked on different wooden bridges. And the trail also passed by a couple of benches. That meant that every time we took a break, it was incredibly comfortable. We’ve already stopped to stretch pretty consistently. That’s a trend that will probably serve me well as we get through these last 1500 miles. Physical therapy has been part of my routine all year. Especially after I got injured at the end of May. But I certainly haven’t stretched as much as I could. Slide seems to have a solid routine though, so that has helped me.

Just before noon, the trail passed another lovely little picnic area. This one had a bright blue/green bench with a footrest. It took us a minute to notice the sign indicating that this was the highest point on the Florida trail! Resting just above 250 feet, the trail will never climb higher than this again. And the highest point on the Florida Trail is certainly not a climb. If there wasn’t a sign, I would hardly have noticed that we were especially higher than any other point on the trail.

The charming little bench at the highest point on the Florida Trail.

We sat there for a while and enjoyed a short rest. Shortly after we passed another really nice campsite. This one had a plastic mailbox in front of it. On the Florida and Pinhoti trails, these mailboxes commonly contain the trail log. It was nice to meet one and be able to sign it. After that we just continued along the trail. The weather was great and time seemed to pass quickly.

At one point, Slide had thought of a possible plan for those days. I love that the plan can always be constantly changing. Sure, you may have an end point in mind for a particular day and know it well in advance. But that doesn’t always have to be the case. And since we have the ability to add mileage by doing round trips and random side quests, our plan is even more flexible. Apparently he saw a town ahead that was off the Florida Trail. Alice thought the mileage might be enough for us to finish the day there. Which was kind of exciting as a prospect. Especially since I wasn’t expecting it at all.

The highest point on the Florida Trail.

So far on the Florida trail, I’ve been checking the map as infrequently as possible. This section of the trail is the least familiar to me. I hiked the entire Florida Trail south in 2023. Then this year I hiked the Florida Trail to connect Key West to Springer Mountain. But when we got close to the Orlando area, we continued north toward Tallahassee. Instead head west towards the St Marks area. So we bypassed this entire part of the trail in January. Which means the route isn’t exactly fresh in my mind. I’ve kept the fun and excitement alive by not checking the map beforehand if I don’t have to. It’s been fun to unplug my brain a little and enjoy someone else’s journey. Although I suppose this chapter is the one about our travels.

The trail ran briefly along this clay dirt road.

The afternoon passed quickly and the pine forest provided the perfect temperature and shade. I couldn’t have asked for anything more. We made an occasional stop to rest or refill water. But in general the path no longer passed through any reference point. However, at some point during the day we went through something surprising. Four northbound hikers passed us! I didn’t expect to see that. And the best part was that I actually knew one of them. I met one of the ladies in Florida in January. When Punisher and I arrived at the Kissimmee Prairie Reservation, this nice lady recognized me and stopped. She offered us the most delicious brownies! And today, when he started remembering our meeting, I managed to remember the whole story immediately. It’s crazy how some events stick so well in your brain. Before this year I felt like this most of the time. If I saw someone, I could usually recognize them quickly and remember how and where we met. I’m still pretty good at it. But after this year things have become chaos. Now I have to differentiate between so many different memories.

A pleasant little walk through an area that is often swampy and flooded.

You may know that I met someone on the Florida Trail, AT, PCT, or CDT, but what year was it? Or maybe you remember that I met someone this year, but not what path they were on. I had to swallow my pride a couple of times this year and just ask someone what their name is. People usually understand how many interactions I’ve had this year, but I still feel bad. I still have my moment where I absolutely nail it and remember the most notably brief encounters. But I also fail quite regularly. Today I felt pleased with myself for the quick retirement. And I’m also happy to meet someone I met at the beginning of the trip! She congratulated me on my completion and we chatted briefly. Then Slide and I continued.

After that we only had a few more hours of light. We crossed a couple of nicer bridges. One was a large suspension bridge called Demon Bridge, which I thought was fun. The rest of the day really flew by. I think it helped that I also had my sights set on the city. Although as we approached the road it was unclear what we were actually going to do that night.

Sliding across a suspension bridge.

The trail ended up reaching a road and he walked along it for a while just before nightfall. I was glad to get off the road before the sun set. That was a busy road. Then, when we reached the trailhead and reconnected with an actual dirt trail, we decided to make a final stop for one last rest. Here we also had the option of continuing along the road and entering the next town. But we would have to make a pretty long day to finish there. So Slide was inclined to simply continue towards the forest. Personally I didn’t mind going out at night on the road. But I was a little discouraged because I had been thinking about the city. I’m just the kind of person who would rather not get excited about something if it’s not going to happen. These are the fun things that come up when you start walking with another person. We still have to understand each other as hikers, so at the end of the day I didn’t care. Plus, this also meant that we really only had to go another 6 miles. Which sounded much better.

The Demon Bridge.

As we sat there and enjoyed one last rest, the sun began to set. Soon we had to turn on the lights to continue towards the forest. There were no marked campsites in the area we were looking at. So we thought we would walk for about 2 hours and try to find a place to stop. We ended up walking for a little over an hour when we saw an unlit lighthouse in the distance. There are no hikers here, so I was quite surprised. Although Slide had met a hiker in Alabama who was now ahead because Slide added a bunch of bonus miles in Florida. And it ended up being the same guy!

The sun was setting as we walked down the road.

The hiker’s name was Turbo and he was taking a break there in the dark. It must have been great for Slide to run into someone he met just a week ago. That certainly doesn’t happen often here. We ended up talking to Turbo for a while before continuing. The plan was still to walk a couple more miles to reach our quota.

Turbo, Slide and me.

The camping options weren’t amazing on the next stretch. And we had to find something before we continued into an area that could potentially be swampy. But we ended up finding a spot right next to the trail that worked well. It wasn’t the best but it certainly wasn’t the worst. I was tired and glad to be done with the day. Once I had my tent set up, I did my stretches inside. Then he very quickly ate something and called it a night. I think it was definitely a better idea for us to stay on the road tonight. Tomorrow morning we can start very early. It’s almost impossible to get up and out of a room at 5am when you’re in the city.

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