Trail Monsters

Posts Tagged ‘ocala national forest’

   So the test hike went well. We started off by attempting to hike the Crabgrass Creek portion of the Bull Creek trail system but it was pretty flooded and since we started our hike around 6:45am the dew on the grass immediately soaked our shoes to their very soles. So seeing that the trail looked to be flooded for a ways we decided to turn back and hit up another trail in the WMA. So we went down to Billy Lake but that was even more flooded. Finally we went to the registration area and saw a FWC Officer and he busted a map out and showed us what we had already known. Fortunately there was a drunken bubba on a bicycle who directed us to a location where he said we would be able to hike for a ways before encountering a flooded portion of the trail. He was accurate in his description as we had dry ground for about a mile and then hit the flooded portion of the trail he described. On our way we did see the remnants of the observatory that used to be there. Once we got to the flooded portion it was a good 6-8 inches deep for about 50-60 yards and then we were back on dry ground. Jesse saw a snake, possibly a Water Moccasin, as we walked through the water which was not reassuring but we made it without incident. We continued on a little further until the trail we started to encounter more flooding on the trail and decided to turn back. Other than that it was relatively uneventful. I can tell you the weight of my pack was definitely felt on my shoulders but other than that I was feeling good the next day.
   When I returned I broke my pack down again to try and find some items I could remove and decided to remove the slingshot as I do not anticipate that being of much use. I also decided to buy some 5-hour energy shots and will get some GU gels as well. I am not one to take energy drink/shots but when you are planning on hiking around 20 miles a day so I think those might come in handy. Honestly, I kinda wanted it to rain just to see how we would all react. I have a cover for my bag which came with my pack but Mike and Jesse do not have covers so they would have either just let the pack soak in or cover it with a garbage bag. I also purchased some lightweight shorts and a wicking shirt which definitely turned out to be a worthwhile investment considering how soaked Mike and Jesse’s shirts were compared to mine. So the gay look of the shirt was outweighed by its performance. Its not about looks its about what gets the job done.
   I tested the filter at Crab Creek and found that putting a coffee filter over the input valve came in very handy in preventing the filter from clogging due to sediment. The coffee filter clearly did its job. I also made sure to use iodine on the water before filtering due to the fact that the MSR MiniWorks does not filter out viruses. But there was no hint of the taste of iodine in the water and there was still a shade of brown to the water and it tasted just like filtered water should. So far no diarrhea or any nausea so if there was anything nasty in that water the iodine and filter did their job.
The big hike is tomorrow. So we are making the last minute preparations of getting waypoints and the maps ready. We will have two GPSs, Mike’s iPhone and my Garmin Nuvi 350 and two compasses. We are bringing a mask and snorkel in anticipation of Alexander Springs and Hidden Pond so hopefully we wont be let down. Based up on the pictures I have seen of hidden pond it looks to be a pretty sick place; being a remote spring where you can snorkel and then camp right beside the pond. We are also hoping we wont run into any trouble with water. We have iodine tablets and an MSR MiniWorks so as long as we have a source of water it can be made fresh. Even if the filter were to break we could still boil water with relative ease so, again, as long as there is a source of water we are good.
   It was thought that there was a fire ban in effect for Juniper Prairie and possibly other areas. However, I found a I neat site on the DOF website(CLICK HERE) that has an interactive map giving status of every active fire and fire ban in Florida and there are currently no bans that I can see in the entire park. But I have decided not to bring my camp axe as it is about 4-5 lbs and wasnt of too much use during our canoe trip in Econlockhatchee. So it is just going to be the Gerber Gator Machete, which I must say thus far has held up very well and the saw side of it seems to work ok on small tree limbs. If you envision cutting a big tree down with this FORGET IT! Otherwise it is a lot sturdier than the walmart brand machete(figures) which might as well be constructed of aluminum foil.

I will be posting pics after the trip and we may try to blog along the way if we have a good cell signal.