Florida Trail: Day 19
January 25, 2022
Mile: 35.7 to 57.7 (22.0 miles)
Start: Nobles Camp, Alligator Alley on the old Miccosukee trading route
Finish: Canal camping with the fireflies and alligators
Around two or three in the morning I heard something rustling through the woods around our camp. It might’ve been some wild pigs but we didn’t hear any oinking and it could’ve been what I thought was a bear but we’ll never know. Shannon thought it was our friend Thunder walking around in her flip-flops at 3am but the thing is she doesn’t have flip-flops. A Miccosukee tribal member we met said that the forest near where we were camping are filled with spirits and that it could’ve been a spirit walking around our campsite. He said that if you meet the spirit you have to tell the spirit that it is your time to be here on earth and that the spirit had its time on earth and now it should move on. Spooky stuff but with all the wreaths hanging up around camp maybe it wasn’t too far off.
We packed up and left camp around 8 AM heading out in the cool morning air. It sounded like Thunder was just waking up as we were leaving so we didn’t wanna disturb her and left without saying goodbye. Not far up the trail a huge crashing sound in the woods next to us startled us, breaking branches and running around. We started clacking our hiking poles together and yelling, “Hey Bear! Hey Bear!”
It turns out that there was more than one of the animals and as something large crashed through the woods, we heard something close by that made a little oinking sound or snuffling sound. We kept yelling and the other thing near us finally ran away. We were a little spooked but with the ground freshly dug up and something that looked like a fresh pig turd. Carefully we picked over the ground where the pigs had been searching for grubs and tubers and roots to eat.
We continued through the woods, the jungle becoming denser and darker. I spotted an alligator lying on the banks of the creek and we kept our eyes peeled for water moccasins but luckily didn’t see any snakes this morning. However, as we neared the Seminole Reservation gate we saw old homestead remains. One of the Miccosukee tribal members we met today told us that the homestead used to be home to one of his grandparents and they would follow a trading route out that way where the oxen would pull up with carts. This place has some history, that’s for sure.
Not even 10 feet from the gate to the Seminole reservation we stumbled on some very fresh big cat prints, poo and scrape marks on the ground for where the cat kicked sand over the poo. I guess all kitties need to use the litter box no matter how big they are! It was kind of freaky to see the big cat tracks because a lot of people had commented in the navigation app that they’d seen panther tracks or even a few days ago panther sightings out here. These cat tracks looked too small to be a panther unless it was a baby panther but more likely it was a bobcat. Hey all you cool cats and kittens!!
As we walked the jungle got denser and we caught a glimpse of a few more alligators nestled on the banks trying to catch some rays in the dappled shade of the palmettos and thick foliage. The swamp is super dense here interspersed with savannas filled with palmettos and the wild terrain seemed to be the perfect hunting grounds for a bear or a Florida panther. As we were walking, Shannon turned to his left to look down a side trail when he caught a glimpse of something tawny with a white tail that was kind of small bounding away. He thinks it might’ve been a bobcat which would explain the fresh paw prints and litter box offerings just a half mile south. Pretty cool!
We left the dirt road with our senses on high alert as it felt like there were tons of animals hiding back in the dense brush. Surprisingly we weren’t that scared of running into a panther or a black bear but we were watching out just in case we caught a glimpse of something cool. The trail spilled onto a farm road that cut through the Seminole Reservation and the only people we saw were a couple of Seminole tribal members cutting firewood with a huge truckful of wood from the forest. I saw another guy cutting down Cabbage Palm fronds which are used to make the roofs of the traditional chickee huts which are thatched with palm fronds to shed the rain.
On one side of the canal next to the trail I saw an enormous alligator maybe 11 or 12 feet long who we named the “King of Alligators” basking in the sunshine without a care in the world. We trekked along the dirt road and immediately spotted some absolutely enormous black bear tracks on the side of the road. The bear must’ve ambled through the area in the last day or two because the paw prints were pretty crisp. We also saw what looked like big cat prints from a panther which was crazy! Even someone on our hiking navigation app had said they had seen a panther on the road near here only the day before so it was very likely panther prints.
The Seminole Reservation has closed most of its museums, non-essential buildings and restaurants due to Covid hitting the tribe pretty hard. Unfortunately this meant that the museum we wanted to see was closed and so we headed straight to the Big Cypress RV Resort where we had sent a couple of resupply packages. On our way to the campground there was a section of trail that people said had aggressive dog issues in the past. We took out our headphones and got our pepper spray ready just in case there were any angry dogs. Luckily the only dog we saw was a small 10lb ankle biter who barked at us from its driveway but didn’t cross the road to get us which was great. I didn’t want to have to use my pepper spray so early in the trail or have to kick an aggressive dog which unfortunately has been the case on some other trails in the past.
We traversed next to a ranch filled with cows, horses and some donkeys who were braying loudly as we walked by. Donkeys help guard the livestock, especially if there’s a predator like a panther or a coyote in the area. The donkeys are super aggressive with predators and there are some crazy videos out there of donkeys seizing a coyote by its neck and shaking it like a ragdoll until the coyotes died. Pretty crazy!
By lunchtime we made it to the RV Resort where we ran into Misha who was the campground host who we called on the phone a couple times before just to make sure they would take resupply packages. At the resort we had a ton of packages and spent the next hour going through our new gear. I was so excited to finally have a new water bladder since mine had popped the very first day on the Florida Trail. I also had new shorts and shoes since mine were falling apart after about 600 miles or so on them between adventures on the Pacific Crest Trail, running and Florida Trail. We shared a food resupply and Shannon got a new silicone wedding ring that actually fit. We repacked under the chickee hut and used the bathroom to fill up our water bottles with water so we won’t have to brave the dark water of the canals that’s filled with not only alligators but pesticides from the field and agricultural runoff from cattle ranches.
After Big Cypress RV Resort, we were pretty hungry and had been talking about Sweet Tooth Café which was located right next to the campground. We’d been talking about it all morning but we’re devastated when we found out that it was closed and probably has been closed for a long time. No wonder they didn’t pick up the phone… We were disappointed but continued on our way, waving to people as we walked down through the town in the Seminole Reservation. Only 30 minutes later we came across Big Cypress Landing which was a convenience store that had your basic fast food like burgers, sandwiches, chicken nuggets, fries, etc. I ordered a yummy rice bowl with pork, beans, lettuce and tomato with a side of tater tot’s and Shannon had chicken nuggets, a quesadilla and a big slice of chocolate cake per the recommendation of a Seminole girl in the shop. She had told us about all the good stuff at the little restaurant so we grabbed some food and chilled out.
We were reading books on our phones and just enjoying the peace of sitting instead of hiking when school must’ve gotten out and everything started to get busy and crazy in the convenience store. In the booth behind us a family sat eating after school snacks and the dad started chatting with us and introduced himself as Billy Walker who is many things – an alligator wrestler, ecologist, educator, TV star, Miccosukee tribal member, father to 3 grown up kids and now adopted father to 3 additional kids sitting with him now.
Billy started telling us about his family history and how his grandparents used to live deep in what is now Big Cypress National Preserve and the Seminole Reservation. His grandparents lived in the swamps and prairies near Alligator Alley which we had passed yesterday on what is now the Florida Trail but used to be an old trading route. They lived according to traditional ways of their tribe and would hunt alligator and deer, trading meat and hides in exchange for basics like flour, lard, pots, pans and metal tools. It would take a 2 to 3 day trip through the swamp to reach the trading post by hollowed out cypress tree canoes and foot. They would also trade beads and other homemade crafts. Billy Walker said his grandparents remembered when the first ox wagons, roads and trains started coming through the swamp. They lived in chickee huts and they were “the real deal” he told us. It was wild to hear the stories of Billy’s Miccosukee grandparents and to be walking on the same trails and seeing the same places (like the remnants of an old homestead we saw this morning) that he was describing to us. It was also sad that their ancestral land was taken by European Americans and to learn about the often dark history and injustices that the Seminole, Miccosukee and tribal members had gone through to preserve their culture.
I agreed with Billy when he said it was so important to preserve your history. Billy Walker said he’s raising these 3 kids which he’s adopted after he raised his own 3 adult children and he tries his best to teach them what his parents and grandpa taught him. The kids were all excited to be eating snacks after school with their adopted dad and were bubbly but respectful. Billy’s adopted son who was maybe 8-years-old kept asking Shannon if he was a surfer because Shannon’s sun-bleached hair was standing up since we haven’t showered in a week and it was really greasy. His other kids asked his questions about drinking water and where we stayed at night. His son said that he has a LifeStraw and he can drink water from anywhere with it. It was pretty cool because Billy said he still keeps with tradition and the other morning before school all 4 of them woke up early, went to a lake on the reservation and jumped in 4 times saying prayers to the forest spirits before going to school. It was really cool that they are trying so hard to keep their culture alive. It was also really cool that the kids were so respectful and mature for their age – Billy Walker was doing it right.
Billy told us about his educational alligator show and how even though the tribal members receive a payout from the Hard Rock Cafe Casino proceeds, he wants to continue to work to teach people who aren’t familiar with the Miccosukee and Seminole tribes about their culture and help people learn about his parents and his grandparents and great-grandparents history. He told us about the famous Seminole Chief Osceola who when Andrew Jackson was forcing the Indians out of their homelands in the southeast and walk thousands of miles to Oklahoma on the absolutely inhumane Trail of Tears, Osceola gathered a band of Creeks and a dozen other tribes from what is now Alabama, Georgia, Florida and the Carolinas. The tribes banded together to fight Andrew Jackson’s soldiers. It was wild and the Seminole Wars are legendary how the tribes evaded and defeated the US soldiers, using their combined skills and knowledge of the land. To this day, the Seminole have never signed a peace treaty with the United States. The Seminole have still carried their traditions with them throughout all of this.
Billy shared with us that he’s also been on a bunch of TV shows like Jack Hanna’s nature show, “Finding Bigfoot” where he took the Bigfoot Research Operation though the Everglades in search of the Swamp Ape, “Swamp People” as well as a bunch of other shows from countries around the world. It was pretty cool to meet Billy Walker and hear his stories. When the Seminole Reservation lets the tours open back up to the public, we definitely want to check out Billy’s show.
Billy and another lady from the Reservation started talking to us about the spirits in the forest and what to do if you encounter a spirit. You have to tell the spirit that it is your turn to be alive and that the spirit had their turn and needs to move onto the other world. They said sometimes the spirit will hang out and linger because nobody has ever told them to move on to the afterlife and you have to give them permission to go. It was pretty cool to hear about the forest spirits out here. The two of them were a little hesitant to tell the stories about the spirits lingering in the forest since they didn’t want to freak us out. With us camping in the woods and being immersed in the forest 24/7, we are living so close to the spirits that they told us to be careful and safe.
We left the convenience store after thanking Billy Walker and his family for their time and their stories. After road walking we traversed up a canal watching a controlled burn in the distance grow thicker and thicker with smoke. I think that they are farming sugarcane which, to keep costs down at the expense of the environment and the respiratory health of local residents, they burn the leaves instead of removing them in the field or at the processing plant. Besides the huge fire in the distance we also spotted a few gators as we hiked on and of course lots of birds. At one point we hiked past an enormous cattle ranch with maybe 400 or 500 head of cattle grazing in the field and eating from their troughs. They were so puzzled by us so we started singing which the cows seemed to like and the whole herd started following us. We had 400 cows following us at one point and the numbers trickled off as we walked on. The cows stopped at a creek and really didn’t want to swim through the water but as the line of bovines backed up pushing each other until a few cows were shoved in the water and continued to follow us as we were hiking. The number of cattle companions hiking with us in the Res dwindled to about 100. “Come boys, come boys, come boys!“ Shannon cried. We had such fun herding the cattle to the other side of the pen with nothing but our beautiful singing and backpacks.
As the daylight dwindled, we finally left the main road of the Seminole Reservation and onto a side canal where we recounted stupid childhood crushes and talked about all the crazy stuff growing up. It’s funny because even though we’ve known each other for 8 years there’s still so much hilarious stuff that we’re finding out about each other. The rest of the afternoon was pretty chill with some cool birds and a few gator sightings. Earlier in the day we had seen a very happy osprey carrying a 3-foot-long black snake in its talons.
As the sun started to set we knew we were getting pretty close to the boundary of the Seminole Reservation where we could legally find a place to camp after a 22 mile day. You’re not allowed to camp on the reservation at all or be on the Seminole land after sunset so we had to hurry up to the northern boundary gate. We crossed some bridges and talked to Shannon’s mama Joan about how her trip was going in Arizona and showed her over FaceTime one of the alligators basking in the sunshine.
Soon we ran out of cell service and daylight and as other hikers had mentioned in our hiking app how when you’re on the canals you want to be inside as the sun is setting because the mosquitoes are so terrible. We remembered this not-so-fun fact from canal camping the other night by the Everglades as our butts and legs were chewed to pieces by the mosquitoes which are the worst the first hour after sunset. A few hundred yards north of the Seminole Res gate, we hurriedly set up our tent on the canal grass, throwing all our gear inside and jumping in the tent just before sunset. It wasn’t a moment too soon. 10 mosquitoes turned into 50 which turned into multiple hundreds trying to get in from all sides of the tent – the top, the bottom, underneath the mesh. A few bloodsuckers snuck in when we’d unzippered the tent and then now there were blood streaks all over the tent from us smushing the insects. The dyneema fabric doors and ceiling looked halfway between Passover and a Jackson Pollock painting. You couldn’t rest your hands or feet too close to the mesh panels because the mosquitoes were so thick they’d stick their needles through the mesh holes to suck your blood while the deafening shrill whine of their wings beat outside the tent.
As dusk faded and the light dwindled, fireflies erupted from the grass in the hundreds, their green-gold light casting an eerie glow amongst the sawgrass and canal water. The lightning bugs liked our tent so much that they crawled all over it creating a little light show for us as the darkness settled. The mosquitoes finally died down and I walked over to the canal lock buildings where I attempted to shoot some night photos. I was extra careful with my footing, watching my surroundings for any stray snakes or alligators who might decide to come up on me. We camped off the main dirt road right next to a couple of locks and I’m sure the engines controlling the waterways will go on and off during the night but we were out of the main canal road and that’s all that matters. No getting squashed by Burmese python hunter trucks tonight! A soft rain in the distance rolled in and lulled us to sleep as the twinkling of the fireflies glowed against the grasses.