Florida Trail: Day 20
January 26, 2022
Mile: 57.7 to 81.7 (24.0 miles)
Start: Canal camping with the fireflies and alligators outside Seminole Res
Finish: Two Palms dumpy campsite next to gator ditch and sugarcane field
Last night just before bed around 9pm we saw a headlamp flash around our tent. I thought it was most likely Thunder and expected her to set up her tent on the same side of the levee where we were since there are some nice flat spots in the grass but to our great surprise when we woke up she wasn’t there. Shannon and I walked this morning early after hearing a couple of trucks go back-and-forth on the canal. Last night we had to make sure our camp was the off of the main canal road since cars and trucks come by all hours of the day and night whether it’s for construction of the levee or hunting Burmese python you just never knew. All we knew was that we didn’t want to be run over like a flattened iguana on the canal road.
It was pretty warm and muggy this morning with a sooty gray sky. There was really no reason to linger at our camp spot since we needed water and 8 miles ahead was a water pump. We’d rather filter ground water instead of drinking from the alligator infested canal that had tons of chemicals and pesticides running off from the nearby farms. We’ve heard of people who’d hiked here before saying they got sick drinking the canal water and we really didn’t want to partake in that delightful mess.
Shannon and I had to step off the canal for a couple of trucks rumbling by on the dusty levee. Today was supposed to hiking entirely on canal roads. As we rounded a corner we ran into Thunder who is a writer out on her first thru-hike. The Florida Trail is a pretty challenging trail in terms of logistics and starting off with 3 days in the swamps it is no small feat. We were surprised she’d chosen this for her first thru-hike since there were few people hiking it, there wasn’t a lot of community support and it was challenging in its own way. Her feet were hurting pretty bad and we felt sorry for her because she’s in her first week only having started maybe 60 miles back. She hadn’t realized that the campground on the Seminole Reservation isn’t allowing tent campers and had to hike 22 miles which is probably the most she’s ever done in a day. Lots of other hikers have been turned away and if you call the place or talk to them they were very upfront about saying no to tent campers. Even in the comments on our navigation app if you even looked at them said you’re not allowed to tent camp there. Poor Thunder hadn’t downloaded any of the comments or any offline maps on the navigation app as I think this was her first time using it. We showed her what to do when she got cell service so she could see the latest and greatest comments on where to go next, updates to help you with water sources, navigation tips and tricks, what towns to avoid or to go to, etc. The app is very helpful but it’s always good to carry paper maps too in case your phone dies which we also have and know how to navigate from there. She said she just had her Florida Trail book which was good and her app but didn’t really know how to use her app. And then she told us she didn’t have cell service since she got off the plane in Miami and had some weird provider that we had never heard of. Hopefully she gets cell service up ahead in the Lake Okeechobee region with birds surrounding communities circumnavigating the lake.
She was also headed to the town of Clewiston which is the town on the west side of the lake which was pretty clear on Florida trail website and from the comments in the FarOut navigation app that the west side of the lake is closed to hikers this year. The levee is failing and the rebuilding project is supposed to be done in late 2022 maybe even 2023. I had no idea that she didn’t know about the trail closure or how to use the navigation app. It was kind of a big deal because she had expected to keep hiking west for another 50-65 miles instead of east which is the only option you can do this year. I guess she could road walk around the entire lake construction too. She also had sent supplies to Clewiston but maybe she could catch an Uber or hitchhike with the construction workers or catch an Uber or a taxi into town around the road construction.
Poor Thunder also had been limping with terrible blisters and she was going very, very slow on the hike. We stopped and checked out her feet and gave her some medical advice, the rest of my blister bandaids, a bunch of baby wipes to keep her feet clean at night and Shannon gave her the rest of his hand sanitizer to keep her blisters clean. We told her that at night to make sure you pop the blisters every night and dry them to help build a callous and toughen your feet. She was also using some of those barefoot minimalist type shoes that were great for bike trips in the past but didn’t have enough support for road walking. There’s going to be a lot more road walking so maybe in Clewiston she can get another pair of shoes.
We stayed with her helping her fix up her blisters and give her positive words of encouragement telling her about how we didn’t know what we were doing when we first started hiking and how we still do silly stuff. She was thankful for the first aid help and as we were leaving you could tell she was trying not to tear up from how overwhelming everything was. We reassured her that the first week is the hardest because your feet and your body are adjusting and it’s very painful, especially as your feet get adjusted to walking for 10-12 hours a day with a 30lb pack. With her blisters being so painful, we suggested that it would be a good idea for her to get off her feet for a few days to rest so she isn’t in excruciating pain when she gets back on the trail. Maybe a local Trail Angel would let her crash at their house to rest up her feet.
As we said goodbye to our new friend, she had tears in her eyes and we gave her some privacy because it can be very overwhelming, especially choosing this mess of a trail as your first thru-hike. You’re better off starting off on something like the Appalachian Trail where there’s so many freaking people on it, the community support is huge, the trail is well-maintained with so many shelters, water sources and options for bailing out that you really don’t even need to think about much. On the AT only ~30 miles in was Neals Gap, GA where hikers could get a free gear shakedown where experienced employees take everything out of your backpack and review every item, helping you mail extraneous items home. On the Pacific Crest Trail you ran into the town of Julian, CA 77 miles in where several backpacker gear stores catered to thru-hikers. The Florida Trail wasn’t so forgiving with the first 40-45 miles trekking knee-deep through swamps and no way to bail out until you get to the random rest stops at the I-75 underpass. Next is the Seminole Reservation and canal walking until 104 miles north that you can even reach to your first small town but this year you can’t even hike to the town via trail because of construction. So yeah, the Florida Trail is challenging especially for your first thru-hike.
We hiked on along the canal, stepping aside for massive dump trucks carrying loads of dark brown dirt that they were using to rebuild the sides of the canal slowly eroding away. The canals crisscross southern Florida as humans try to control the massive amounts of water that used to be part of the enormous river of grass (aka the Everglades) before it was legally protected and developed into farmland and housing. A couple of the truck drivers leaned out of their windows to talk to us, informing us that there was going to be a lot of construction going on and suggested that up ahead when we reached a bulldozer that we take the low road closest to the water so we wouldn’t be a safety risk for them and it will make their jobs a lot easier. Plus we didn’t want to get run over by a giant dump truck in the Florida swamps so that was cool.
We spent the rest of the morning waving to our new construction friends who we thought liked the little distraction from driving the 8 or so miles one way with their truckloads of dirt from the construction site all the way down to where the levee was being reconstructed. This morning we searched for alligators from the flat rolled sandy road on the canal. It was a little cooler today so we only saw a few small ones with the biggest one being maybe only 6 or 7 feet long so nothing too crazy. Lots of water birds had found a corner of the canal where the bulldozers and the front end loaders were scooping dirt to round the canal. An enormous flock of hook beaked ibises clustered around the heavy machinery, not even caring that they were inches from getting whacked with the bucket or run over with the treads. I think they were just happy the dirt was being turned over so they could get at the insects and all sorts of goodies that had been turned up from the construction.
Soon we arrived to the water source 8 miles in and headed off .3mi to a trailhead that’s pretty rural with public access open only a few days a week. We unpacked our stuff under a covered pavilion with picnic tables and went over to the water pump where clear, slightly yellow tannin water was pumped from the ground. We treated the water with Aquamira drops since our filter was broken and it was pretty sulfury smelling but still tasted decent. It was good, especially with electrolytes mixed in. One of the guys in the FarOut app comments said that this water was so disgusting he dry-heaved. Some of these people sound like freaking pansies and it seems that they’ve never had sulfur water in their lives before. Also this pump water was exponentially better than the water we’ve been drinking from in the swamp. Shannon and I had filtered water from a freaking mud puddle in the swamp where jeeps and buggies had churned it up to the color and consistency of a thick dark espresso. Yesterday we had electric yellow green water from an alligator infested pond with freaking fish swimming in it. Like you don’t get much grosser than that.
As I was drinking the cold pumped water it was drinkable but covered my mouth with a nice silty texture. We cursed the Aquamira water filters for not working and thanked the Aquamira chlorine dioxide drops for working so we could have safe drinking water even though our tongues felt fuzzy after. Our water filter that we had purchased for $50 is supposed to be one of the best for filtering canal water which has runoff from human settlements, livestock waste and chemical pesticides. However this filter which was advertised to filter 1.75L/minute but even when we ran sink water through it, the filter would barely pull .1L/min. However we’ve only used it twice more and it barely filtered 2 L of water overnight for 10 hours. This filter was not going to work for us and we definitely need to return it and buy a new brand.
In the meantime, we had the experience (read: we’d messed up before in the backcountry) to know to bring back-up water treatment. Mechanical devices like filters fail or clog, chemicals leak out and electronic devices like UV light pens short out. You do not want to drink some of these waterborne bacterial diseases, gnarly viruses and gut-cleansing amoebae from the backcountry water. We had been filtering water through our bandannas to remove the larger grit, sea monkeys, silvery fish and shit and then treating it with Aquamira chlorine dioxide drops. It worked but you still would still get the texture and then sometimes greasy mouthfeel from the swamp. That’s why even though this water was maybe a little sulfur smelling it was clear and some of the best water we had in recent times.
We sat outside under the pavilion using the restroom and eating Right Rice for lunch. Shannon is addicted to the legume-based Right Rice which is healthy and full of protein. He goes on these food benders sometimes with his hiking food where he eats all the same thing for a while and eventually getting sick of it. First it was a certain type of granola bars on the AT and now it was on the PCT it was Cheetos Mac & Cheese which he can’t even think of it now without getting nauseous. Now it’s Right Rice which is the lentil and pea protein-based rice that cooks pretty quick and is delicious. We made electrolyte drinks and rinsed our heads under the water faucet, careful not to get any of the water in our eyes, nose or mouth as one drop can make you poop your brains out for the next week or two.
When Shannon went to the bathroom he called me over to look at this demented lizard thing that looked like its head had been squished in the door. He kicked the dead lizard all the way into the grass so he could get to the bathroom and it kind of twitched but I think maybe it was just rigor mortis or something. We left the little oasis and set off to do 16 more miles to a kind of crappy campsite. However we knew we had to do the miles and figured we just get them all done today so we could reach a campground in South Bay, Florida on the southeast edge of Lake Okeechobee. This will be our first time having a real shower and doing laundry in about a week and we were freaking pumped to get clean!
As we left the shaded oasis to connect back up with the FT, we saw Thunder slowly trudging along and waited a few minutes in the shade of a canal lock building for her to reach the bridge where we could check in with her to make sure she’s doing okay. She was still sort of smiling so we hoped she could enjoy the water, take a little bird bath in the pump and hang out in the shade. She said she’s probably gonna take a zero on the trail on the canal which sounded sort of miserable since there’s absolutely zero shade, the grass is full of snakes, spiders, chiggers and slugs and the canal water is tainted with chemicals but hey if that’s what she needs, that’s what she needs. She said we could call her “Canal Girl” and we said that’s probably gonna be her new trail name. She laughed and headed over to the oasis where we wished her luck and said goodbye to her.
The afternoon we hiked fast and furiously, switching between the flat sand and gravel farm road below the levee and on top of it. We plugged in some podcasts and audiobooks which helped us cover the miles. Shannon and I didn’t stop and take a break until maybe 12 or 13 miles in since there wasn’t a whole lot to see or many reasons to stop. Despite being on a rural road, every 15-20 minutes we had to duck out of the way for rural school buses, trucks and farm equipment. There was only one farm right next to the trail where we waved to a farmer who had been eyeing us suspiciously. Thankfully he waved back and grabbed his dog who was barking at us instead of sicking him on us.
The afternoon was a little less muggy but still pretty sticky and it only sprinkled once which was actually a relief. We had pulled over to the side of a sugarcane field that had been burned and plowed recently. Shannon and I made our special caffeine electrolyte drink mix called “The Hiker Trash Special” which consists of 1 liter filtered water, 1 caffeine drink mix packet, 1 electrolyte drink mix packet and chase it with 400-600mg of ibuprofen. It’s the perfect hiking ratio combining The Uppers (caffeine), The Numb-ers (i-candy aka ibuprofen), The Salters (electrolytes) and The H2O (water) that we’ve found is immensely helpful with covering miles.
As we were chasing our Hiker Trash Special with beef jerky and dried fruit, we noticed an 18-wheeler truck rumbling loudly down the farm road. He seemed to be heading straight for us and we realized he was so focused on dodging potholes that he didn’t see us random hikers sitting down in the field. I jumped up and waved my arms until trucker bro slowed down, stopped and then readjusted course a little bit away from us which was good. It was kind of a close call as we were face deep in Spam and tuna packets, beef jerky and Hiker Trash Drank before we realized we were about to get run over by a sugarcane truck.
After our encounter with nearly being run over by construction vehicles this morning and farm trucks this afternoon, we decided it would be best to leave the low roads and clamber back onto the top of the canal. Instead of the top of the levee being overgrown knee-deep grass, roots and tangled branches hiding snakes and other creepy-crawlies, we now had a nice car-free gravel roadway to follow. Our expectations today grounded us, knowing that today wasn’t going to be the greatest day but listening to audiobooks and podcasts helped. Shannon’s listening to the second “Pillars of the Earth” book which was like 45 hours long and I was catching up on my my favorite comedy-murder podcast “My Favorite Murder” which has helped me get through the boring times in the past couple years. Shannon kept looking over at me as I was dying laughing from the ridiculousness of podcast hosts Karen and Georgia and all this crazy shit that they talked about.
At one point I had tears in my eyes laughing as they told the survival story of this over the top positive Italian ultramarathoner who got lost in a sandstorm in the Moroccan desert running a 6 day race. Instead of staying put, he just ran and ran and ran and the sandstorm lasted for 8 hours of which he ran blindly through and got so lost he ended up 180 miles away in a whole other country. The marathon was 6 days and you had to carry survival gear with you in case you got lost. He was later found by the Tuareg nomadic tribe after 9 days in the desert where at one point he attempted to kill himself by slitting his wrists in order to end his misery but his blood was so thick from him being so dehydrated that he barely bled. I know it’s super twisted but what really got me was how Karen and Georgia were talking about how he had to pee in his water bottle containers to have enough liquid to survive. He had brought dehydrated food like rice with him and he ended up finding himself at one point in a marabout which is like a sacred mausoleum thing in the desert where holy men are buried. In the mausoleum our Italian runner friend had found shelter and was faced with a choice – does he eat rehydrated rice made with his own piss or does he eat homemade bat slurpees where he would twist the flying animal’s heads off, stir up their insides with his knife and drink it like smoothie? Karen asked Georgia what she would do in that situation and she just replied that she would never be in that situation as she would be at home reading. Sounded to me like some Ozzy Osbourne type shit! Regardless, it made drinking muddy puddles and fish swamp water seem like small potatoes and really put into perspective how fortunate we are to even have water.
Anyways it was kind of an uneventful afternoon where we spotted some cool raptors hanging out on the telephone lines and a few rural school buses. The sun started to set and the mosquitoes came out in full force like they do for the hour around sunset and the hour around sunrise. We switched to headlamps, hiking fast to avoid getting bit to pieces by the mosquitoes and made it another 2 miles to this campsite that was excitingly called “Two Palms.” Turned out it was literally two palm trees randomly on the side of the canal where alligators lurked in the drainage ditch just below and snake-filled grass rose up to your knees. We didn’t wanna get too close to the alligator ditch especially in the dark since gators have been known to attack people accidentally mistaking them for deer or other prey.
Like little raccoons, we scurried around in the dark trying to find a flat spot for our tent and ended up succeeding in locating a slightly sloped spot after wandering around in the thick grass for a while. Both of us were still pretty full from our snack time earlier and were too exhausted to cook, especially with all the mosquitoes and spiders and snakes in the grass. We called it a night, threw all our crap in our tent and promptly went to sleep.
It was a little difficult to get quality sleep because you could hear the alligators in the nearby drainage ditch that was only 30 feet from us making Jurassic Park noises all night. Then you would hear the bigger alligators on the other side of the levee in the canal responding back to them. I had watched a TV show once about people camping in northern Australia who had been actually dragged out of their tents by massive saltwater crocodiles. I tried hard not to let my mind stray to the thought of being dragged out of our tent by alligators but it was kind of hard as the giant reptiles were rumbling and making dinosaur sounds all night.