Ocala National Forest Trip Report

“This past weekend, Feb 1-3, 2002, ten or so TT'ers got together for a three-day 20 mile hike from Salt Springs to Juniper Springs in Ocala National Forest.

Here is my report, I trust others will add theirs to it, as well as correcting any factual errors in mine....


FRIDAY

My plane landed at Jacksonville airport at 10:20, and I was met by a tall, smiling HumanPackMule with a large-lettered sign, "Fritz."

We stopped at Waffle House for lunch, stopped at Wal-Mart for tent stakes, and headed to the Salt Springs trailhead. We pulled into the Salt Springs Recreation Area, and asked the folks behind the counter about parking, and about the trail.

"What trail?" was the response.

Shortly thereafter, we did find access to the trail from the Salt Springs Marina, just a few hundred yards down the road.

We paid the parking fee, filled our water containers, and hit the trail around 2:45.

The afternoon sun was rather hot, around 80 degrees, and we were keeping a pretty brisk pace, trying to get to camp before dark. (I should say that I was trying to get there before dark. HPM, being much more experienced, was less concerned about hiking and setting up camp in the dark.)

Much of the trail Friday was loose sand, which was a little difficult to walk on. It seemed so uniform in width, and so distinct from the vegetation-covered ground to the sides, that I assumed the sand had been brought there from elsewhere and spread over the trail. HPM said no, Florida is just one big peninsula, under the thin top layer is all sand.

We were probably in sun more than half of the time on Friday. Being fair-skinned and at significant skin-cancer risk, I had to put on sunblock, which I hate doing...but after all I did choose to come to Florida!

On one dirt-road crossing I saw a fist-sized rock, which was to be the only rock I saw the entire weekend...and, at that, it had probably fallen off of a truck! A quite different trail experience than what I have experienced in Pennsylvania and New Hampshire.

I had trouble with blisters, chafing, and (stupidly) one toenail digging into the side of the adjacent toe. Too long since my last pedicure, I guess!

HPM and I were both very sweaty, tired, and sore when we arrived at camp, perhaps a mile north of Hopkins Prairie on the Florida Trail, just before 6:00.

We were greeted there by Big Coop, Gojo/Sarabelle, Om, and Tex, who had arrived, I think, around 4:30.

We put up tents and filtered water from the pond, just as it was getting dark.

We all cooked dinner around the campfire, then sat around talking for a while.

Around 10:00, we were joined by Tammy, who hiked the mile or so from Hopkins Prairie in the dark. She had corresponded with Tex on another board, and she instantly became part of the family. ;-)

SATURDAY

I was the late riser, I didn't crawl out of my tent until almost 8:30. The others were eating breakfast, or cleaning up. Clouds were rolling in, so I tossed down a bagel and began breaking down camp.

Flatlander walked into camp during breakfast, having stayed the night at Hopkins campground, and we all introduced ourselves.

Very soon it began to "mist" a bit, so we all moved a little faster trying to get packed up. Being nearly a beginner at all of this, and not yet having a system as to what goes where in my pack, I am quite intimidated by the prospect of rain, so it was a little stressful to me trying to get everything put away quickly.

The rain never materialized. We walked to Hopkins where we had the pleasure of meeting NowSlimmer and his daughter, Claudia. We took a half-hour or so to visit with them there, since he had decided he could not make the rest of the trip with us.

Ninety minutes down the trail, a nice clearing beneath tall trees invited us for lunch, so we all sat down for a very relaxing and peaceful lunch.

Also invited for lunch was a 2-1/2 foot long coral snake (is it red-and-yellow-kill-a-fellow?), which slithered right through the clearing. We got a few pictures after it got into the brush, those you'll see later.

Saturday's trail was much less "maintained," many blow-downs provided a challenge to us, whether climbing over, or ducking--or crawling--under. As you all know, a 40-lb. pack makes these maneuvers a little tricky!

We arrived at camp around 3:30, a beautiful spot between two ponds. The tents and hammocks went up quickly, several of the braver TT'ers (Om, Tex, Coop, Sarabelle, Gojo?) went for a swim, we gathered and filtered water, and generally went about our evening camp chores.

Four other friends (I'm not sure all of the connections, Tammy knew a couple of them, one of them knew the other two...) joined us and we had a nice, relaxing evening around the fire. Two of the new friends were en route from Key West to Canada, six weeks into their ten-month adventure.

Om's evening gift to us all was a pot full of sugared popcorn, a nice treat!

SUNDAY

Breakfast, break down camp, care for blisters (yes, duct tape belongs in your first-aid kit,) and hit the trail around 9:30.

Alternating between dense vegetation and vast fields of only shrubs and dead trees, we walked without a pack-off break until about 11:45 when we arrived at Juniper Springs.

They have a very nice swimming hole there, a pavilion, bathrooms, and a camp store...we all enjoyed our favorite (non-adult) beverages, and chowed down on potato chips, nachos, ice cream, etc.

After an hour or so, the eight of us plus packs and Sarabelle, piled into Big Coop's pickup truck and headed north where the other cars had been left.

HPM drove me back to his house where I had a few minutes to get a hot bath and visit with his wife treebait. (Stay away from her on the trail. If you must stand near her, wear a construction helmet and keep your ears open for the sound of falling trees!)

Straight from there to the airport...fly to Philly...home around 10:30.

-----------------

I hope someone else will chime in with descriptions of the vegetation and the history of fires, storms, etc. that have led to the various "prairies" and other natural features that we saw.

All in all, as seems to be the universal summary of TT trips, the TT'ers I met were wonderful people, we all had a great time, and I'd love to hike with any of them again.”

“Sounds good, Fritz. I had the same experience trying to clumsily pack up in the rain, on the first half of the WRT. Luckily it wasn't pouring.”

“Apparently, seeing that snake was a unique experience... It was significantly larger than average, and since they are normally nocturnal, slithering past us at lunchtime was rather odd. Wonder if it was rabid? ...or senile??? ;-)”

“Gee, thanks Fritz. ;)”

“TreeBait, you're welcome.

I just realized two things:

1) My trip report is so long, few will read it. (But that's OK.)

2) Due to an awkward sentence construction, the paragraph to which you refer could be badly misinterpreted. ;-)”

“Coral Snakes have "red" and "yellow" together.

Red and Yellow can kill a fellow.
(Is that how it goes?)

Anyway, good trip report. Thanks!”

“Nice report sounds fun”

“Glad your trip home was uneventful Fritz. Stop in anytime.

That's right MDS.

Red on Black is a friend of Jack = King Snake

Red on Yellow will kill a fellow = Coral Snake

Yep, that was the biggest Coral Snake I have ever seen and I have seen plenty of them. Usually they are only 1 to 1.5 feet long and this sucker was easily 2.5 feet.
Corals aren't very aggressive in my experience.

Tammy was just hanging out eating lunch and this big bubba just wanders on past about a couple of feet from her. Didn't even stop to say howdy.

We have rocks in Florida but ya gotta dig for them. Mostly sandstone and coquina stone.

Big Coop used the Target shopping bag as a water bucket trick as per Nigal. It works like a champ.

Hey Bacpac, lay off Nigal, the shopping bag/water bag thing WORKS!! Nigal is Da MAN!

I think almost all of us went for a dip at Hidden Pond. Coop is fearless when it comes to cold spring fed water. Dude just plowed on in. Did the same a Juniper wich is usually colder. Oh yes, Big Coop is one TALL dude, the name fits.”

“'The water's fine once you get used to it' {{{chatter chatter}}}.

Fritz - great trip report. I'm glad it didn't include any photos...

The camping gear 'convention' was great. Got to see all kinds of neat gear from Fritz's vintage clip flashlight to the HPM's space-age tyvek tarp - we could have had a waterproof rave party under that thing.

Other stuff I learned...

-HPM - the scout leader, taught us how to detect spider eyes in the dark
-The Terma-rest is more comfortable than the Z-rest
-Nowslimmer, the martial artist, could probably throw me across a room - don't scrap with him!
-Alcohol stoves are light and quiet
-Hidden pond is a beautiful campsite
-I got a tour of Tammy's lightweight G4 pack
-TexWW's therma-rest in-pack back cushion and her peanut butter in a tube
-Om's trail popcorn and Hennessy Hammock were both cool
-I really missed my Therma-rest
-Flatlander's Kelty Dart is probably just a little too small for me
-Aeresol Cutter can be offensive to other hikers
-Fritz's hot oatmeal from the bag
-Even though he is grossly overweight Gojo can still keep up
-Woofbar's do exist (and they even carry their own gear!)
-I like my Therma-rest

I learned a bunch more but should probably head home now.

Rad, Arclite, Pemsit and others - look forward to meeting you next time.”

“Sounds like you had a great trip. I am new to the sight and live in Central Florida. Sure am sorry I didn't get a chance to ask if I could join you all. Yes that was a VERY large coral snake!”

“Sorry for misspelling I meant 'site'!!”

“Tango the answer would have been come on out and hike. Next time.”

“Whoops make that Limestone not sandstone.”

“Flat, sandy, 80 degrees, sweating when you get into camp. No doubt mosquitos and fire ants greeted you. Whatever turns you on, foaks.”

“Weirdos.”

“Oh! Thanks, Steve! I forgot about the mosquitos!

But it was meeting the TT gang down there that turned me on.”

“-Flatlander's Kelty Dart is probably just a little too small for me
Big Coop
06:12:06 PM
02/04/02

Big Coop you would not fit in two Kelty darts!
Actually I think I am finally getting used to it. Less condensation than any trip so far.
I am going to do a trip report, but need some sleep tonight.”

“Sounds like a fun trip. Did any one get a picture of the snake?
I though Rad was going on that trip? Where was he?”

“i'm in south carolina, paying the dues that come with my promotion.”

“You got a promotion?
What ar you doing now?”

“I'm pretty sure there were 1 or 2 photos of the coral snake.”

“Welcome to TT - I am in Central Florida as well. There are a few other folks here from these parts as well. Look forward to hikin' with ya.”

“Shotgun!

For those of you who know him - you realize I was kidding about Gojo. What I did learn from him is that trail maintenance does not have to be a big ordeal. If we all do a little it really helps out.”

“Sounds like a wonderful trip. I am SO sorry that this stupid freakin', dumb-butt, nasty, worthless infection has hung on as long as it has. I had REALLY been looking forward to this trip for quite some time.

I will look forward to meeting you folks in the future.”

“I really wanted to go on this trip because I new to the group and to trail talk, and also because I love that trail thru the wilderness area. I used to help maintain it when I lived in Branford. re the blow downs etc. in defense of the maintainers we can't use any motorized equipment in the wilderness, so no chain saws. We have to bring in a 2man or woman saw and those are no fun to use or tote. Also the blowdowns keep the illegal trail bikes from having so much fun. re the sand: the first time my soninlaw from Texas came to visit, he asked where all the sand came from. Cracked my daughter and me up! I hope to meet up with this group sometime. You sound like a fun group, if a little too serious!

Gopher”

“When I first saw this trip forming, I knew I had a chance to go on a ECT. It's hard for me to get anytime off work so this trip worked out perfect. It was within driving distance and the second day ended at a place I could meet the group.
Things came together and I was actually getting to go on a TT trip. I did not leave work until 5:00 and was off to the ONF. It was a 4 hour drive. I found Hopkins pretty easily. Good forest service roads and signs. Once I got to the campground I was pretty tired. I decided not to try to hike in and find the group. All the campers at the campground seemed to be car campers so I figured the TTers were on the trail. Set up my tent drank a cold one and hit the sack.
Woke up at daylight and started breaking camp and making coffee. Noticed that there was not a vehicle in the next campsite, so I figured it might be a backpacker. Pretty soon, someone came out of the tent and came over to speak. It was Nowslimmer, we were camped right next to each other. We visited for a while and he told me the other TTers were down the trail about a mile. So I finished breaking camp. The TTers were north of Hopkins heading South, so I grabbed a bottle of water and decided to take a little warm up walk without the pack.
Walked for just a little ways. Saw a deer feeding had a nice walk. Pretty soon, I saw a big white thing, must be the tyvek tarp. So went into camp and met all the TTers still eating breakfast. I recognized most of them from their pictures. Looked like a front moving through so I broke back to the campground for my pack.
Met the TTers at Hopkins and we visited with Nowslimmer for a while. He decided it was too long a trip. As we were standing next to his campsite and mine from the night before we got a good wiff of the outhouse right across the road. Gojo looked at me and asked if I picked out this campsite myself. I knew then, I was part of the group.
Had a great first day. It was my first time hiking with a group, it was fun. Fritz gave you good details of the days, so I just give some of my thoughts.
This trip was really fun for me. First time I have hiked with serious backpackers. All my trips before have been solo or with my son. This was a great learning experiance. It was fun watching people set up camp, cook, etc.
This is the first time I have ever met someone from the internet. It was a great first experiance. This was a good group. I would do another hike with this group, combination or single member of this group. The group was very diverse and each one was great to meet and visit with on this short journey. I had a great time.
The swimming was great each day. It was a little chilly but nice to clean off a little after a long hike. I am definitely going back to the ONF in the near future.
Rode in the back of Big Coop's truck to get back to my vehicle. It was a little chilly after the swim, but Sarabelle was nice enough to lay across my feet and at least keep them warm. I hit the road home to see the Super Bowl. I had to stop on the way. I put a big dent in the first quarter profits of a chinese buffet, then made it home. Got home during the first quarter of the game. Great weekend.
Good Times.”

“I'm sorry I had to miss the hike this weekend. I'm just getting started and it would have been great training for me. I also look foward to meeting the lot of you and doing some group hikes. Glad ya had fun.”

“Gopher -- too serious?

You shoulda been there!

Perhaps my trip report is a little too dry, but the group had a lot of fun!”

“as the greatest TT hike EVER!

(top ten, anyway...) hehe



Belle's leg was bumming a little. She was below her normal pace (mebbe the terrain was too flat? heh), but we managed to keep up. I carried her pack the last mile or so on Sat.

As Coop mentioned, I did my first bit of freelance trail maintenance. I trimmed the limbs from a fallen tree to allow better clearance, and I cut a large limb from another tree that was blocking the path. Om helped me drag it aside. The pruning saw is pretty light, so I hardly knew I was packing it.

There was a stretch of trail N. of Hidden Pond that had dozens of trees laid across it. Belle had some difficulty (bad leg plus pack), but it was passable, so I didn't bother with any of the logs. It was along this stretch that I put Belle's pack on mine.

I've been all over the Sunshine State, but this was my first hike there. It certainly won't be my last, tho.

I had a great time with some great people - lets do it again real soon!”

“I had a seriously grand time meeting and bping with this merry little band of TT'ers in my backyard.
Txwoodswoman, Gojo and Sarabelle spent the eve of the hike at my house where we stayed up till the wee hours unpacking already packed packs, spreading all our stuff out on my living room floor and repacking...:)...
after a bit of barking, growling and territorial negotiating, my dogs settled down and Luna let Gojo and Sarabelle sleep on her futon and Pirate allowed Tex to sleep on his futon.
We got to Juniper Springs Rec. area the next morning to find the tall, Big Coop patiently waiting. Paid ten bucks a day(what a rip) for secure parking for his truck and we all headed to the spur trailhead at the Salt Springs marina. They charge 4 bucks per person to park securely there. And off Big Coop, Txwwdswmn, Gojo, Belle and I were into the florida landscape...it had become a beautiful day, partly cloudy and well, darn hot in the non-shaded and sandy parts of the trail. However, we were grateful it was not cold and rainy.
The forest is mostly tall pine, low shrubs and palmettos and the prairie is well..grassy and wetlands. We passed ponds that were what I called "Monet's" because they were dotted with lily pads and the clouds and sky were reflected in them as well....At one trail junction, we looked into a large pond and viewed an alligator floating across. There were a couple of turkey vultures roosting in a tree close to the trail and Tex did some wildlife photography there. I spotted a great little campsite to the left of the trail just as we entered the Hopkins prairie zone , little alcove with several possible tent sites among the pines looking over a small lily pond, but we opted to move further so that the next days hike would not be so long.(it was hard for me to leave this magical spot, and Big Coop and i thought if we didnt find something better up ahead, we would come back, however, the others were not about to go back and we really wanted to camp together, so, it was left for a future trip to ONF) It was about that time that we met up with Nowslimmer... I recognized him right away by his Publix shirt (that is the ubiquitous grocery store chain in florida).
We were getting tired and hungry and were on the lookout for the next potential spot to camp. We found one just off the trail about a mile from Hopkins campgrnd on a large pond. It was in an area that had had a controlled burn recently and it was sandy and charred in spots ( I was thinking back to the Monet campsite), but after a circumnavigation of the pond, i managed to find two trees that i could attach the Hennessey hammock to and we all set up housekeeping there. This is the first time that I was ever so dirty and smelly on the first day of a trip..:)
Nowslimmer continued to join his daughter at the campground.
Just at sunset, Humanpackmule and Fritz walked in to camp while we were getting supper ready and HPM set up his new tyvek tarp...really spacious... and Fritz set up his tent right by my hammock after announcing that his wife lies about his snoring...:).......but, as it was, I was so tired from staying up so late the previous evening, i would have slept thru a hurricane.
After dark and during supper, we saw a headlamp in the distance coming from Hopkins and Gojo stood up with his headlamp and started twirling around like a human lighthouse. A few minutes later, a friend of Tex's from another hiking board, Tammy, walked in and she just blended right in with the group. She also had a hennessey hammock and showed me how she stakes out her raintarp with hiking poles and i tried it with mine and it was a great idea. She also has a GVP4 backpack that I think I WANT REALLY BAD now!! Very small, light and she had everything in there that I had in my pack!
check it out at Litebackpacking.com, the make your own section...you can order one or he gives the plans in acrobat to make your own....very nice, very light pack...
we noticed the star filled sky for a bit , conversed and hit the sack ..... it was a blustery night, i thought it might rain , but it didnt..we woke up to some threatening clouds moving in and as Fritz mentioned, begrudgingly, I rushed thru breakfast and hurried to pack before everything might get wet, but, it just misted and moved on thru.
flatlander and fritz have mentioned moving thru to Hopkins campsite and saying hello again to Nowslimmer and his daughter and goodbye as well. I think they described most of the rest of the trip pretty well, the swimmin was good at Hidden pond and there was a nice campfire there that evening. The next morning we awoke to another beautiful day in paradise, sunny and clear and the melodious sound of the sandhill cranes in the distance, we walked thru the jungle from Hidden Pond to Juniper springs (my favorite section..i spose) Tammy showed us the side trail that leads to a campsite on the Juniper springs run..which is good info .. for an overnite spot on a backyaking trip.
We got to Juniper springs and everyone bought their favorite junkfood and some went for a dip in the beautiful springs there. I drooled at the folks getting their boats in the water for a paddling....but i can go anytime...
We piled up all the packs into Big Coops truck, he squeezed four in the cab and flatlander, joe and belle and i squeezed in amongst the packs for an open air adventure and off we were after walking in the woods and sleeping in the woods together for a couple of days. It was a really good time for me.
I got three ticks, twelve chigger bites and no skeeters.
not too bad ...
also, realized how many spiders are crawlin around, when you walked around with your headlamp at night, the ground looked like it was dotted with little diamonds...but they were spider eyes! too cool.
Said om shanti om to the out of towners, Fritz. and that texican woman(who drove off in her miata with my purse) , the florida contingent, and drove back to the house , via Sonnys barbeque, with gojo and belle.

To all you creeps from the internet....we gotta quit meeting like this!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~”

“Good to hear from you all...

By the way, no one mentioned ticks. Gojo's primary method of entertainment was burning ticks with his cigarette lighter (or was he lighting his cigarettes with his tick lighter?)

There were lots of ticks, esp. in certain spots. Om was explaining to gojo how to tell one kind of tick from another based on the shape of their anus.

Now guess what, this morning, Wednesday, three full days since I left the trail, I found a tick stuck on the back of my leg, a couple of inches above my knee.

Cute little bugger. (Not!)”

“sheesh fritz!...we told you to do daily tick checks....! now that little bugger has had time to exchange saliva laden with who knows what!!!!
did ya check out its anal groove? LOL!”

“Weirdos.”

“om, should I mail it to you so you can do a full anal-ysis?

Steve, as always, thanks for the input.”

“Fritz - I think I gotta agree with Steve Hiker.... WEIRDOS!! ;o)

Anal-ysis?? Good grief man! What did they do to you down thar? I'm glad you're back safe and sound in good ole Pa but did ya have to bring that pet with you?

Glad you guys had a great trip but will there be pics? I also am waiting to hear Sarabelle's report.”

“My pics will be up as soon as I get GlobalScape to send me my license number for CuteFTP.

...Or as soon as I download and install a different FTP program.”

“They are leetle but stinky.

The stiks I seen had regler stinky butts.


Ever buddy done sayed about ever theeng I gess.

I theenk the rattel sneek was a fun time. It was a BIG sneek! (sneeky to).

No buddy sayed some theeng about the fishes tho. Ther was fishes in the ponds that was fun to sneek up on and jump on. They swimmed good tho, and all ways got a way. Ther was lots of hopper bugs in the grass to. No rats any wher tho.

Ther was a otterat wher the truk was. It was a fun time to see a otterat.


I gess I will go to my dokter so she can stik a theeng in my butt to see if my leg is verry broke. I hope she dont get me no shot tho.
o-8=

I got to get hard werm mennisin to.

It was fun to walk in the woods and sleep in the woods with ever buddy. I hope we can do that some more.

By.”

“Gojo, keep us updated on Belles leg please!”

“I really, really wish i could have been there. You guys sound like too much fun. Fritz, I loved your write up. Not nearly long enough for me. Gopher”

“Thanks for the great report Belle. I hope your leg is all better.

Fritz - I've been using Ipswitch's (www.ipswitch.com) free ftp program for years. I paid for a similiar program once (might have been Cute) but went back to the free one. It's called WS_FTP LE but I don't see it available anymore. I have it uploaded if you want to download and check it out. WS_FTP LE”

“Im glad you all had a great time. I wish we could have been there again. I am just wondering if the two people you met going to Canada was Mother goose!!!!! please let me know someone. now if you ever want a really nice Florida hike again do section 12 the section just south of the one you all just did It is even better .”

“MOM neither of them went by Mother goose. Of that I am sure.

One went by GoGo and I can't remember the others trail name.

Anyone remember?

Section 12 is pretty. Anyone up for Ocala ECT part 2?”

“Section 12 is pretty. Anyone up for Ocala ECT part 2?"
humanpackmule
07:44:42 PM
02/06/02

Yep!!”

“Not me. Flat, 80 degrees, and mosquitos??? You couldn't PAY me to go there again.

WEIRDOS!!!!

;-)”

“I want to say the other thru-hiker's trail name was something like Mallow.

Timing permitting I am all over future ONF ECT hikes. Is section 12 from Juniper to Alexander? Through Buck Lake?”

“I don't believe I've seen Tex post since the trip. Anybody heard from her? Did she take the Miata and run for the hills?”

“Tex made it home fine, talked to her last night on Yahoo.”

“That's it! Mallow.

12 is Juniper on south.”

“Hey Everbuddy!!

Yup, I'm back and have just now unloaded my stuff from the car. Got in Tuesday morning at 3 am, so this week has me playing catch up all over the place..work, home, friends..lol

I have several pitures of wildlife, the coral snake, sandhill cranes, herons, fish, vultures, gators..

Oh..I only have one bite and it's a skeeter bite on my calf! I consider myself lucky!

This was such a great group and it turned into a big time gear convention too..came home with lotsa "wishes" and at the top of my list is that G4 pack and a hennesy hammock..they are too awesome for words!

Y'all did a great job with the reports. One think I liked was the way Belle does dishes..she polished off my spagetti the first night and then licked all the pots clean from Breakfast on Sunday morning too, what a great maid!!”