Kyle arrived on the ridge at 2:00pm. We had to drop off his rental car, rent a spot at Juniper Springs, drop the car off at Buck Lake, get dropped off at forest road 10, and hike the 8.8 miles back to Juniper. We had intended on primitive camping, but the tent did not arrive on time, so we had to hike to camp condo. Our goal was to make it to Hidden Pond by sunset. Goal Accomplished.
But then it started getting dark and the last 4.8 were going to have to be done at night.
We had some wild planet light to guide us. Then we lost the blazes. And the pedometer indicated we had gone more then 8.8 miles. Oh shit lost in the forest. We back tracked and found the blazes at the intersection. We had gone the right way, just no blazesvisible at 10pm at night.We arrived at Juniper at 11:00 pm. Set up Camp Condo and crashed. The next day we headed to Buck Lake. We paralleled 40 for a couple more miles, and took these cool shots crossing the road.
We met a guy who claimed he had seen a black cougar. I was not buying the story. We hiked through some nice hardwoods before we emerged into a prarie. "Beautiful hardwood islands surrounded by majestic praries" is what we would have read if we had the trail description.
We met the greenteeth at Farles Lake, and talked to the ranger from Deeland. Found our car and made our way back to Juniper Springs.
What a sunset coming home down 40.
The following day we picked up the Kiz in Paisly and drove to SR19. We made our way to Alexander Springs. The Kiz was complaining about our rigid trail schedule, so we took the back route into Alexander Springs. We had the place to ourselves. What a glorious swim in crystal clear water.
I saw three species of woodpeckers, and an oldtimer helped me identify all three.
We met some people that said they had almost turned around because the trail was so burnt. He was right cause you could see, smell, and feel the recently scorched earth.
Kiz knew we were fighting darkness and went ahead leaving us notes and mints, I screamed for them to wait up for me, but they were gone. I soaked my feet in preperation for the last two miles, and caught up with Kyle just before it got dark.
But then it started getting dark and the last 4.8 were going to have to be done at night.
We had some wild planet light to guide us. Then we lost the blazes. And the pedometer indicated we had gone more then 8.8 miles. Oh shit lost in the forest. We back tracked and found the blazes at the intersection. We had gone the right way, just no blazesvisible at 10pm at night.We arrived at Juniper at 11:00 pm. Set up Camp Condo and crashed. The next day we headed to Buck Lake. We paralleled 40 for a couple more miles, and took these cool shots crossing the road.
We met a guy who claimed he had seen a black cougar. I was not buying the story. We hiked through some nice hardwoods before we emerged into a prarie. "Beautiful hardwood islands surrounded by majestic praries" is what we would have read if we had the trail description.
We met the greenteeth at Farles Lake, and talked to the ranger from Deeland. Found our car and made our way back to Juniper Springs.
What a sunset coming home down 40.
The following day we picked up the Kiz in Paisly and drove to SR19. We made our way to Alexander Springs. The Kiz was complaining about our rigid trail schedule, so we took the back route into Alexander Springs. We had the place to ourselves. What a glorious swim in crystal clear water.
I saw three species of woodpeckers, and an oldtimer helped me identify all three.
We met some people that said they had almost turned around because the trail was so burnt. He was right cause you could see, smell, and feel the recently scorched earth.
Kiz knew we were fighting darkness and went ahead leaving us notes and mints, I screamed for them to wait up for me, but they were gone. I soaked my feet in preperation for the last two miles, and caught up with Kyle just before it got dark.
