JB Starkey Wilderness Area (off the FT)

Got the call from the kiz, Tennis in Tampa postponed cause of the cold and he wants to know what this big chunk of undeveloped land is between 54 and 52. Behold its the JB Starkey Wilderness Area. It was cold and I almost didnt make it, but decided to tough it out. Nelly jumped in my truck just as I was about to leave. I couldnt get her out so she came along.

The hiking trail was a series of three loops, 13 miles in all. There were also some horse trails and a paved bike path which made navigating a little difficult. The trail basically followed an old jeep trail, and was mostly scrub. Kim was a little dissapointed in the management, as there were large cuts in the scrub. There also had been some vehicular traffic on some of the trails.

Nelly was in hog heaven, literaly. There was feces everywhere and Nelly loved it. She even rolled around in it one time and was covered in this smelly disgusting black hog shit. Luckily it had snowed/rained earlier in the day so she was able to wash off. Kim tried to tell Nelly to stay out of the shit, but she listens only when she wants to. She would run back and forth between kim and I and probably turned the 13 miles into 20.

We made good time for the last 5 miles as we were worried that we would not make it back before they closed the gate. We saw a lot of deer with what i thought was unproportionately large white tails. Nelly loved the deer too, but they would not play with her.

We finished the day off with some ribs at sonny's. Kim even saved one for Nelly which she devoured in 10 seconds flat.