Hike through a deep swamp to the ocean in 1 day

This morning we packed up early at our tent site in the woods. It was raining lightly, which is always a bad way to start the day. But we were able to keep our tents mostly dry and pack up quickly. And it was the kind of rain you could walk through without having to put on your raincoat. I just hoped it wouldn’t persist too much throughout the day. When the sun came up, time started to pass and it was a really beautiful morning. The sky had huge smoky colored clouds and the sunrise was really beautiful through them. We were walking through a pine forest in a field of tall grass. I was grateful that it ended up being a really lovely morning after all.

We were able to see a beautiful sunrise over this canal before heading into the swamp.

The trail was really nice at the beginning of the day and then as we continued we ended up entering another swampy section. This area reminded me a lot of Bradwell Bay on the Florida Trail. The swamp was very deep and much more time consuming than other sections of the trail. One of the main things I was thinking about while walking through the swamp was the fact that we were going to have to go back and do this a second time. I feel like that was almost worse than doing it once! The anticipation of knowing we would have to return here was difficult. As we walked through the deepest section of the swamp, it started to rain on us. And it was raining quite a bit! He was using an umbrella in one hand and a trekking pole in the other to avoid falling into deep water. There were so many rocks, roots and holes that you had to avoid.

The trail followed this boardwalk for a while and even had a nice little bench along it.

Trudging through the swamp this morning.

At one point the trail took us to this really manicured watchtower in the middle of a huge field. We could see the tower in the distance for a long time and I was very excited to get there and enjoy a short break. It would have been a really great place to camp! But the mosquitoes were very bad last night and this morning. You just can’t trust them in this area, so I wouldn’t have risked sleeping outdoors at the top of the tower anyway. Although last night we made the classic hiker’s rookie mistake. We arrived at a really nice covered pavilion area and there weren’t many bugs. We were both so tired that we decided to set up under the pavilion without our tents. It took a couple of hours for the mosquitoes to find us, but they finally did. Then they drove us crazy for an hour or two before I couldn’t take it anymore. Around 10pm I had to set up my tent because they were driving me crazy and I was covered in mosquito bites. After that I ended up sleeping like a baby.

We enjoyed a pleasant rest in this watchtower. Lihat juga bvhfgg14. Could have been a great place to camp last night. But you can’t trust these South Florida mosquitoes!

Views from the viewing tower.

So, in theory, it seemed like camping in this tower would have been a great choice. We probably would have made the same mistake and set up outside at the top of the tower. But I’ve been reminded that you can’t cowboy camp in South Florida even if the mosquitoes don’t seem bad. Because after an hour or two they will find you and they will be terrible. There we enjoyed a long rest and then continued the journey. We generally headed in the direction of a gas station that was just off the road. I knew that once we had crossed the long swampy stretch, we would emerge onto a dirt road. Then we would pass this gas station just in time for lunch. However, all of that took much longer than expected because the swamp was so deep. It really slowed our pace for a while.

Crossing the swamp in front of Slide, in the rain.

It was a pleasure to get out onto the dirt road off the highway. We wouldn’t have wet feet for the rest of the day, which I was excited about. It was also sunny and pleasant, so we would be dry off in no time. The trail went right through Riverbend Park, a really beautiful park. They had all kinds of covered seating areas and they also rented bikes. The entire area was accessible via these wide mountain bike trails which were really nice and well managed. It was around here that we turned off and went down the road to go to a nearby gas station. Where we had pizza and some drinks. We then sat outside and stuffed our faces before heading back to the park once again. It was a great break and I felt fantastic afterwards.

Once we hit the dirt roads, we made our way through the adorable little park, with excellent signage.

After returning to the trail we continued through the forest for the rest of the afternoon. The forest was really beautiful and lush like a rainforest. There were some large wooden walkways that we walked along. We were heading through Jonathan Dickinson State Park, which was lovely. Then we walked around the Jupiter, Florida area. Hikers have the option of hitchhiking to Jupiter City. We passed by and continued toward the east end of the Ocean to Lake Trail. Around 5:00 pm we went out to a sandy area. There were hills all the way to the next town and finally to the beach. I swear we did more elevation gain in the next hour than we did on the entire Florida Trail. In fact, it was very nice walking up and down the sandy hills, heading towards the beach. The sun was also starting to set and the views were beautiful.

The good Ocean to Lake trail. I can’t believe we’re about to finish it for the first time today.

This section of the forest was truly incredible with its palms and trees, and the canopy of oaks and Spanish moss.

We had covered a little over 28 miles by 5:00 pm, which was really solid. That meant we only had about 10 miles left to go during the day. If we’re lucky, it’ll be pretty early! We’ll probably have to add some mileage somewhere, but we haven’t fully decided where yet. The Ocean to Lake trail passed right through the town of Hobe Sound. That’s where the eastern end of the Ocean to Lake trail is located. When we walked through the town we decided to go down the road and have something to eat. That would also kill some of the time we needed to do. We had to add mileage if we wanted to be able to finish the day here. After grabbing some dinner along the way, we continued along the Ocean to Lake trail and walked to the beach. We then decided to walk along the beach for a bit to build up the remaining mileage for the day.

Walking along the sandy path as the sun began to set.

I couldn’t have asked for a better way to finish the Ocean to Lake Trail. It was already completely dark when we walked barefoot on the sandy beach. We both had our red lights on and I was walking along the shore behind Slide. It felt so nice to have the waves crashing over our feet as we walked along the beach. We walked about a mile along the shore and then turned around to head to the trailhead. When we returned to the covered picnic area and beachside trailhead, we saw another red lantern. I knew it had to be another hiker doing the Ocean to Lake trail. We ended up going there and chatting with the man whose route name was Badass and Blind. I’d never heard of it before, but apparently it’s pretty well known on the Appalachian Trail. In recent years, he has regained some of his vision, but he previously hiked the Appalachian Trail with very little vision. Obviously, I don’t know how much he can see, but he has far exceeded the standard for legal blindness.

It was truly something special to be able to finish the Ocean to Lake trail walking along the beach, in the dark, illuminated by our red lights.

It was really great to talk to him and his story was very inspiring. He was telling us about his experience further west on the Ocean to Lake trail. I can’t even imagine how scary it would be to go through swampy areas with poor vision. It’s scary enough to have all your senses working at full capacity. I imagine your mind would play so many tricks on you and it would be very disconcerting. Also, you won’t be able to see things like snakes, which everyone else can stay away from. His whole story was just amazing and hard to imagine. He ended up skipping a portion of the swamp, so I don’t blame him at all. It sounds so scary. And now it seems that tomorrow he will hit the road again. So there’s a good chance we’ll meet him again tomorrow. That would be great.

We chatted with him for a few minutes and then continued backtracking from the beach to Hobe Sound. We were doing the last mileage we had to do for the day. And we planned to just walk to a gas station or some other destination to end the day. Hobe Sound has no hotels or motels, but there are many in Jupiter. We actually walked down the street to a Publix and restocked a bit, then ended up calling an Uber to take us to the Jupiter Oceanfront Inn. That’s where Slide booked a room for the night. I was excited to be able to come in, wash my socks, do my laundry, and spend a comfortable night indoors. Plus, I’ve never stayed in Jupiter City before!

We stayed at the Jupiter Waterfront Inn tonight.

Fortunately, it was nice and easy for us to call an Uber and get to the hotel. We checked into a room that was actually very nice. This is one of those hotels that I wish we had more time to spend at. They had a very nice outdoor pool and a very nice shared indoor space for guests. It would have just been a nice place to wander around and wait for breakfast in the morning. But instead, we’ll have to get out of here first thing tomorrow morning. After checking into our room, we gathered things to do laundry. I washed my socks in the sink a bunch before putting them in the washing machine. And then I ended up eating some snacks and preparing my food after that. After doing all those things, I got into bed to do my stretches and call it a night. Tomorrow morning, we’ll just pack our things and then take an Uber back to the same place they picked us up. Then we will start the Ocean to Lake Trail for the second time, this time heading west.

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