Ocala Part 3

“DUDE YOU ARE SO PIMP THANK YOU!!!


8)”

“Here is a little taste of the FL landscape I did a little 4 mile hike (lumbar pack no backpack yet) on the Split Oak Trail near my house.

Split Oak Trail”

“Great pics- very Florida. I've never been there before - I'll have to get out there for a quick dayhike this Fall.”

“Beautiful pictures, tango. Thanks.”

“Very nics pics and I looked at youy Hockey ones too very cool it looks like you had very good seats!”

“8)”

“Cool shots.
Yep, those were Coon prints.

I did a 24 mile bike ride Saturday with my Scouts. Gonna have to do that again. It's really nice outside now.”

“Yah, tango has a great seat...”

“Got my map Sat. Coop.

Thanks!

Yep, I concur, tango does have a nice seat. ;)”

“I can't wait to get my map!!!!


8)”

“thread degeneration! and inuendo all in one post! Bitpusher and Stove--cool!

Cmb yep 3rd row near the blue line! Love it!

Coop that trail is 2 miles from my house. I don't utilize it nearly enough.”

“You're welcome Stovestomper. CMB the map is on its way - I promise.

And I refuse to hike with anyone using innuendos.”

“I got the map today, thanks!”

“Make up your mind, Cooper!

I refuse to hike with anyone using innuendos too. Those innuendos are those little Italian motor scooters aren't they? ;)”

“hey!!! ...i am a little italian~!
well 50% anyways”

“Good to see you Om.”

“heya tango....enjoyed your pics....
hope all is well....”

“Yes my map is on its way!!!!!


Very pimp!!!!


8)”

“Glad to see you're on the trip.

I can't even say how much, but I can't wait to see you all again.”

“Weird - don't know why it posted as "Big Coop" - brings back fond memries though.

This trip will be a blast.

Find any swimmin' holes yet HPM?”

“I've been slacking and found work.

Sorry, I'll get my priorities straighened out soon though.”

“Well there go the bag nights! Congrats - I hope it works out well.”

“I'll post over on the Florida Trail site and see if anyone has some thoughts on campsites. It's not the most active board out there though.”

“Thanks. It's not everything I was looking for but has "great potential" and that's about all it has, potential and a pretty good amount of flexibility. We'll see. I've got two other fish on the line too so maybe something more lucrative might get reeled in.

Back to hiking.

I just bought ANOTHER hiking book. Long trails of the Southeast by Malloy. The guy that Nowslimmer met in the Smokies.

It has a pretty good write up on all of Ocala. That should narrow it down quite a bit.”

“Actually now that you mention it I have "The Hiking Trails of Florida's National Forests, Parks and Preserves" which has a detailed write-up of the Florida Trail through the ONF. I'll browse through that tonight as well.

I just quickly read through the descriptions and didn't see anything abouta swimmin' hole - it was neat to read about the trail though.”

“Hi.
I met Malloy again.

I'm now in favor of rockless trails. Hiked from Clinkmans Dome to CS#68 for two nights and then back. It was more difficult than the AT, very steep and mostly rocky. At my pace it took 5 hours down and 8 hours up. Down was the worst part of the hike. I cancelled 69 and 70 from this trip because of danger of rain from the hurricane, but plan to reach them from the bottom.

CS#68 was real pretty. A lot of things, train wheels, wire cables, etc., were left from the logging days. Geological formations were quite interesting. There is small waterfall above the site followed by a long cascade and then a long slab usable as a water slide. Someone there did slide on it several times. However, there was no good place for a tent in case of rain. However, when leaving, I did see an area high above the site that would be OK for 2-3 tents.

HPM - Glad to hear that you are working.”

“Let's hear it for potential! And good luck with the others, I hope you get what you want! Set the hook and start reeling (OK enough fishing metaphors)

Good to hear your trip report NS.”

“Nowslimmer - as you probably know - that is where we hiked - from Clingman's down trhough 68 to 69 and then to 70. 69 was my favorite campsite. 68 had a lot of potential but it was really trashed when we were there. Actually there is a bit of confusion about exactly where 68 is - were you at the cascade? Anyway - yes that hike is very rocky and steep and I was a tad fearful that our entire hike would be that way - it was a real ankle test. My legs were very sore for the rest of the trip after that downhill - my legs were not used to the steep decline. We'll have to compare notes on the Ocala trip.”

“Coop - Glad to hear that you liked CS#69. Most people do not care for it, but love CS#70. I plan to hike to hike to both, soon, from the bottom. I can complete the round trip without leaving my car on the Road To Nowhere on a Friday High School Football Night! I have seen windows broken. And each year there is a new group of students starting to drink beer and anxious to impress their friends. Including CS#70 on a hike from the bottom would require leaving the car there on a dangerous night.

CS#68 does have an identifying post along the trail. I guess that the site is wherever you can locate a place to set up your tent. Usually the site is located around the wire hangers. At CS#68 near the wires is a big trash pile. There are batteries, a lot of plastic sheeting, a sleeping bag, some food bags, etc. I wondered why! It was probably due to rain getting everything wet, but a bear could have gotten into things, or someone could have been injured. I added two bags of trash that I found discarded a little ways downtrail, plus two socks that were near my tentsite. There was way too much junk for me to haul out and I knew that I was going to have a difficult time going uphill.

My site was positioned close to the cascade and the slide.”

“That sounds like the same junk we saw. It looked to me like people had used the sleeping bag and a blue foam sleeping mat to slide down the cascade. All that junk was in the pool at the bottom when we got there. I pulled as much of it out of the water and put it over near the fire ring. Like you said - it was simply too much to pack out - paticularly for us since it was day one of a 4 day trip. I was hoping someone might burn some of the plastic off.”

“I got my map!!!!!!



8)”

“Hey guys are doing a shakedown hike or what? I was looking at my schedule and Nov 8 and 9 are good for me, any comment? Or other suggestions?”

“I know one!


I wish that I could go!


8)”

“You're still coming to the real one aren't you?”

“YES!


8)”

“Yes.

The only times I have open in Nov. are the 1-2 and the 22-23”

“My vote is for early December.”

“Nov 1-2 good for me!”

“I want to go and play with you guys?


8)”

“Heck of a drive Mikey!”

“That's 3.
4 if Mike is in a driving mood.”

“I am looking at a 17 hour drive for that.

I have to think about it.


How long do I have before I have to let you all know?

8)”

“Whenever. It's not a permitted forest.”

“Just wondering.
Why do yall hike the hike before the actual hike? Why not just hike it and call that the hike?”

“Cause I want to be sure this section is worth the drive for all of y'all who are way out of state.

Last time I changed the plan to pass by some sections that weren't as nice (ie. crappy - small campsites, bad/no water source ect) as the trip we did.

Just want to be sure everyone has as good of an experience as possible. I guess I've been a Scoutmaster too long.”

“Hey HPM! Thanks for this.
I drive a long ways.”

“Yo Coopster!
Look back over the last couple of days and give us your two cents.”

“NP Mr. Stomper.
My Pleasure.”

“Both dates work for me - but Hunting season starts November 8th, and I would really rather not be out there the weekend before Thanksgiving when every Jethro and Bodine will be in the woods with their fathers in sneaking up on us in their glowing orange hats (with actual guns this time). Also, dog training season ends on 10/23 so the woods might be a little quieter for us on Nov 1/2.

Hunting Info ”

“True.
Nov. 1 & 2 it is.”