Sleeping in on Christmas Eve on the Florida Trail

This morning we got some sleep in the room! I knew we should probably start the day nice and early. But I also knew that Slide probably wouldn’t get me started early considering the math error that occurred yesterday. In a way I feel like I missed my Christmas celebration, so the only compensation I could think of was that at least I got a little more sleep today. The original plan was for us to tour Clewiston today and return to spend the night at the Clewiston Inn. But after recalculating our math, we realized that our original math was off by an entire day. So this morning we had to pack everything up so we could continue south on the Florida Trail. That means tomorrow we will celebrate Christmas in the great Cypress Swamp!

The good thing about this next section of the trail is that we did a lot of walking on the road and along the levees. That was pretty much all we would do throughout the day. Leaving Clewiston, we stopped at a Colombian bakery for breakfast and coffee. Then I had to go to a gas station to get some last minute refills. Yesterday, Slide called the Seminole Reservation store and they told us they were going to be closed on Christmas Day. That would have been our next resupply location, but it is no longer an option. So, we’re going to have to carry food from Clewiston to the end of the Florida Trail. So our next chance to resupply won’t be until we’re near the Miccosukee Casino, just past the south end of the Florida Trail. It is not the longest resupply transport in the world, but it lasts a few days.

We grabbed what we needed at the gas station and then continued walking along the road out of town. Then we walked along the shoulder during the early hours of the day. We walked through fields of corn and sugar cane leaving Clewiston. In fact, I found a whole leaf of corn on the side of the road. I opened it just for fun and the corn inside was very fresh and ripe. I actually ate that piece of raw corn on the cob while we were walking from the road, and it was delicious.

I found this ear of corn on the side of the road and ate it.

I have many memories of this stretch of the Florida Trail. So I knew we were going to pass by different water storage sites and some covered picnic areas. When I was here earlier this year, Fresh Ground met Punisher, Longshot and I at a picnic table and served us spaghetti. I knew that table was only about 16-18 miles from Clewiston. But it ended up being a little further from the city than I remembered. Before that we had climbed a dirt dam, so at least we were off the paved road. It was much quieter and we didn’t have to worry about cars. We ended up passing by one of the water tank locations and were able to fill up. There isn’t a ton of water south of here, so be sure to check your maps and fill in as needed. This was actually the second water tank we passed over the course of the day thanks to the kindness and generosity of the people who work for the Florida Trail Association.

Glide walking along the path before me.

Then, around 1:00 p.m., we reached a point on the road where we could detour slightly and go to the covered picnic area. It must be a popular fishing spot because there is access to the river just past the tables. But there are very nice stone picnic tables there, so we decided to stay a while and enjoy a rest. In fact, we had already covered quite a bit of mileage during the day. So, it seemed like a good opportunity to enjoy a short break. And from there we would return to the dam more or less for the rest of the day. After leaving our break at the covered picnic area, I tried to keep my head down and pass the time by watching some videos and listening to podcasts. I was also trying to keep in mind that my mom wanted me to call her later that night. She has a Christmas tradition: every year on Christmas Eve, she reads the book “It Was the Night Before Christmas” to my brother and me. I knew I was going to have service today and I didn’t want to miss it.

This is the picnic area next to the road where we took a short break. At the beginning of the year, Fresh Ground welcomed me here and fed me spaghetti!

For the next two hours, we continued walking along the levee right next to a dirt road. There are tons of fields in this area and a lot of buses carrying farm workers passed by. And little by little, we started walking towards the paved section of the dam, which is a little more remote. Along the way we ran into a hiker named Slurpee, who I met twice this year on the Appalachian Trail! Both times were somewhere in Maine, and one time in particular was in the Hundred Mile Wilderness as I was approaching the top of Katahdin. It is now in Florida connecting the miles of the Eastern Continental Trail, which is very exciting!

I covered myself with a towel so as not to get sunburned.

The part of the levee we were on at the time is not accessible to all vehicle traffic. Before this we were on a fairly busy dirt road for most of the afternoon. Over the past few weeks, I’ve missed a few calls from my good friend and tracker Angel Fresh Ground. He called me again today so I finally decided to call him back. The two of us talked for a while as I pulled off the dirt road toward the dam. I was remembering some stories from when I had been in this area earlier in the year. The only thing I could remember was how bad the mosquitoes had been near this part of the dam. I really hoped that had something to do with the time of year he was there. We’ve had pretty good luck with the mosquitoes so far and the last thing I want to do is run away from the hordes of mosquitoes after a 35-40 mile day.

Just as it got dark, I ended up calling my mom who was with my brother. I put her on speaker and she read the book It Was the Night Before Christmas. It’s such a cute thing she does and has done every year since I was a little girl. There have been many Christmases lately when I haven’t been able to be home. Whenever I can I try to call her on Christmas Eve so that it continues to be part of the tradition. The timing of everything was perfect and we talked for a while on the phone. Then Slide and I headed to a camping area that had toilets and a water pump. We definitely needed to fill up on water, so I ended my phone call and we detoured there.

Walking down the dirt road as the sun set. The bugs hadn’t gotten that bad yet.

In the blink of an eye, everything changed and suddenly the area we were in became a mosquito nightmare! We are talking about mosquitoes everywhere. I put on my rain gear and put on my head net. If I hadn’t, there probably would have been mosquitoes on every inch of my body. I wasn’t expecting that and it was pretty crazy. Slide does not have a head net, so mosquitoes attacked him. That would have been sensory overload for me and I wouldn’t have been able to handle them all flying around my ears, nose, mouth and eyes. I was very grateful for the bug network. We sat at the picnic table for a few minutes to fill up on water. Then you just had to get out of there. Luckily, after walking for about 5 or 10 minutes, the mosquitoes calmed down a lot. And as we moved, there was almost no one around. I don’t know where all those came from! But that was crazy.

Another beautiful Florida sunset.

It was already night and we still had a little more mileage left to complete the day. We ended up continuing along the paved seawall for another hour or two. Then we started looking for flat places where we could pitch our tents for the night. We found a place where there was plenty of space to spread out. The mosquitoes weren’t as bad as before, but when we pulled up and were standing, they were quite annoying. I was happy to have all my layers and also have my bug net. We set up our tents pretty quickly and then called it a night. Tomorrow morning is Christmas Day! We will finish our time at the levee and then head to the Seminole Reservation. We will spend most of the day there before continuing to Great Cyprus. Then we can finish our Christmas in the swamp!

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