Ocala Pt4 TR

“Such a jolly time.
It was good to see old friends and meet some new ones. Those who were unable to make it, we missed you.

Friday
We all met at Juniper Springs Rec area. Flatlander Matt and Tango opted to do shorter hikes due to Tango's recent back problems and Matt wanting to do some photography.

So Stovestomper, Trekngirl, Crazy Mike, Spirit Coyote, Cyndee, Surfergirl and myself shuttled up to Grassy pond.

No sooner did we get there and get ready to start hiking than Precision pulled up and joined us.

The first day was overcast, cool and breezy. The hike was nice but a bit on the longish side, some 12 miles according to the map but it certainly felt more like 15 or so. At one point the trail diverged into two directions. We were a bit befuddled but decided to keep to the older trail as one was obviously newly cut. We came to find out that the new trail was a new alternate route of the FT and would have taken us well out of our way. Many were getting blister up pretty good too. About five miles from camp Cyndees knee was pretty much killing her so she and surfergirl hung out by a road crossing untill we could send Matt back to get them. I put on the boogie and before too much longer I came out onto Hopkins Prairie and sure enough Tango and Matt had camp set up and were chilling out. Matt was parked on a forest road very close to camp so he went to go fetch the ladies. A little later the rest of the crew rolled up. By the time we had our tents situated Matt returned with Cyndee and Surfergirl. The usual antics around camp ensued. A bit after dark TrailTalker showed up with Bluegill and they joined the rukus. That night it got cold. like 29 degrees cold. I was not a happy camper as I had brought my 35 degree bag. Ah well I've been colder.”

“What happened to you guys today? We ended up at Square Meal waiting for you guys.”

“Nice report! Cannot wait to see pictures”

“That is too funny.
We went to shellcrackers and saw they were closed and ended up next door at knife fork and spoon.”

“Saturday
We gathered around the fire the next morning and compared notes as to how cold we were last night.

Luckily the morning dawned nice and bright so we were able to warm up and dry off our tents. For some reason we all had really bad condensation in our tents. Due to Cyndees kee being an issue she and surfergirl opted to hang with Matt and Tango and take an alternate shorter route to Hidden Pond.

We had just under ten miles today and the first hale was all along the edge of Hopkins Prairie. It was a beautiful morning for a hike and the water level on the prairie was very high. Unfortunately we didn't see much wildlife. However I did see a nice sized red shoulder hawk.

We stopped for lunch at Hopkins Campground dumped some trash got some water and moved on. It got quite warm today and the tree canopy was much lessend due to hurricane damage.

One thing I do have to say is job well done and thank you to the volunteers and employees of the forest service and the FTA who cleared off the deadfalls after the hurricanes. They did a massive clean up job in a relativelty short period of time. Way to go.

Before too long we ran into Nowslimmer on the trail. He had hiked in via the yearling trail with his nephew and his nephews girlfriend. Nowslimmer looked at Spirit Coyote and said "Hey, you're not naked!"

Yup, that's Nowslimmer. lol.

Before too long we ended up at Hidden Pond. There were several other groups there but for the most part everyone was cool. That night it only got down to 41 degrees and I was much more comfortable.”

“Heard around the campfire Saturday night "PUT YOUR PANTS ON!"”

“Sunday
It was another nice morning and I wanted to get moving before the sun got cooking.

Due to a collection of nasty blisters and such many opted to go out by way of the short route with Matt. CMB, Precision, Spirit Coyote and myself hiked out via the FT and an old jeep road that cuts off a hike through an exposed (bake your brains and dodge rattlers) burn out section. The jeep road had a buch of blowdowns still that gave CMBs hurting knee a workout.

We made short work of the trail and srrived at Juniper Spings. CMB adn Spirit cleaned up a bit for the drive home. The rest of teh crew rolled up and we aranged to get everyone back to their various vehicles. We had made plans to meet for a post-hike lunch at a seafood joint called shellcrakers. Unfortunately they were closed and Trekkingirl, Stovestomper, Precision and I ended up at The Knife, Fork and Spoon in Salt Springs. Interestingly enough Tango and the others ended up at the Square Meal, right next door and we never noticed each other. LOL.

It was fun, I enjoyed it and it was great to see everyone again. Seeing as we have hiked all but 10 miles of Ocala over the last 4 years I'm thinking next year might see a change of venue.

Untill next time y'all.

Oh and Spirit Coyote.....GRITS ROCK!!”

“Nice pics! Thanks for your quick posting of them.”

“Nice shots HPM. Looks like a pretty cool time.”

“Aha, here are the pics.”

“Man...after looking at those pictures I am sooo mad. I so wanted to go and enjoy some nice weather. I still have snow on my driveway back here in Columbus. :-( Nice pics.”

“Sounds like yall had some nice weather. The attendence dropped off a lot from the last two years also I see. Maybe I can make it next year. The hernia surgery thing kinda threw a monkey wrench in my plan this year. Oh well, at least I got to see the Eagles in the Super Bowl.
Nice Pics! I'll be keeping an eye out for more.”

“Nice report. Lokks like a good time was had by all. See you all next time.”

“CMB hikes?”

“Yeah a bunch of folks dropped off.
I would have liked to have seen some more old/new folks but the group size was fine by me.”

“Glad you guys had a good time. 29° eh..I bet quite a few people got cold.”

“Other than hearing about the blisters, this is the first I've heard or read about the trip. Looks like you all had a good time!”

“We missed you. Wished you could've made it.”

“Nice pictures. Thanks for posting them and for the reports. I'll add my TR after I recover. I am really exhausted and beat!”

“Yeah, I caught a doozie of a chest cold. All kinds of (not) pretty colors coughed up. I hope your back is okay, Tango.”

“Thanks, I am on ice as we speak. But I am not worse than I was. Good. I upped the dosage of my meds this weekend so I did ok. Hope you're better.
last edited: 2/07/05 9:11:29 AM”

“FLMatt, how long did you have to wait?”

“

Start.

Endurolytes rock!

Although I made several long trips last year, I failed to do enough serious backpacking and dieting. So I am in bad shape and plan to return to GSMNP in early March to try to rectify things (strengthen my leg muscles and lose weight). So I did not plan to hike all the miles on the Fourth Annual Ocala NF trip. Then my nephew had to work on Friday, so he, his girlfriend and I drove north on Saturday morning to Ocala NF.

The lack of good maps misled me. I thought that Hidden Pond was about a quarter mile below the junction of The Yearling Trail and the Florida Scenic Trail. It was much further. I supplied all the equipment for the other two, but not all of it was the right equipment for backpacking. I was using a Duluth Pack #3, which is made for short portages. I took a number of things to try and make their trip an enjoyable one. They added an excess of heavy things. We began on The Yearling Trail. After an hour or so I realized that I forgot to remove my orthopedic inserts from my shoes and put them in my hiking boots, a definite mistake. After struggling another hour or so, we reached the large sinkhole, where we ate lunch. Sinkhole Pictures are at the last five entries of this site, MKR Society Photograph Album. And just above those is a link to a picture of the nearby cemetery. At the cemetery is the poem:

"Remember friends as you pass by,
As you are now so once was I.
As low as I you once must be,
Prepare yourself and follow me."
-Gravestone from the 1800s

About this time my nephew's girlfriend realized that she could not continue with all her weight. So I received a good addition to hang on my Duluth Pack. This sort of pushed me over my limit with that pack. We continued and finally reached the junction with the Florida Scenic Trail, having learned that it was about another three miles to Hidden Pond. In that last section I had to get over many blowdowns. This was difficult and time consuming with two knees that need replacements. The roughest parts there and later were when I had to get down and crawl under tree trunks and limbs on my hands and knees and then get up again.

Finally, I sent them ahead to locate Hidden Pond and then return to help me. While I was resting, the TT group came gliding along the trail, stopped to visit and hurried along past me. CMP and Spirit Coyote were ahead. Then came Humanpackmule leading the rest of the pack. I continued to struggle and eventually my nephew and his girlfriend reached me and carried the load for me. My speed was still slow, due to my bad knees and one foot, which was now sore because of missing the orthopedic insert. We passed or circled several beautiful ponds and finally reached Hidden Pond about dark.

I got our camp established with two tents. I was too tired to cook or eat. Eventually, the two of them were able to prepare supper for themselves. They spent most of the evening with two men and a small, young girl nearby. It turns out that those people came there after one of them read about the trip on trailtalk. But I did not notice any other cross mingling. I sat down near the fire and enjoyed the evening with a wonderful group. There were so many good people there. The conversations, etc. make joining TT trips worth every effort.

In the morning we broke camp and most of us headed out by a different route, guided (and only once misguided) by Flatlander Matt. We waded across some prairie water. My nephew asked me if I had some trash bags. I gave him two, in which he placed his feet and kept them dry during two water crossings. I sent him ahead with the group. His girlfriend and I were joined by one of the men with whom she had visited the previous evening and his daughter. He insisted on carrying some of the extra weight for me. I was very thankful. We had some good conversations at many rest stops that I needed. He recent returned from Iraq, where he served with the marines. He had had a lot of experiences on ships, so we had some mutual things about which to talk. About a quarter of a mile from the trailhead my nephew returned and relieved me of my load. It was a welcome relief. He had been shuttled, I believe by Flatlander Matt, and returned with my car. We went to visit Hopkins Prairie Campground and the nearby pond, which had probably been a sinkhole. Then we headed home, stopping for a good dinner along the way.

Without

taking Endurolytes before, during and after the hiking, I would definitely have suffered excruciating cramps from the strenuous workout of my old muscles. Numerous times I have had them while driving home, too. But this trip there were none. Hopefully, many years of suffering cramps are now behind me.
Return to start.

What a trip! In the buff PICTURES at Hidden Pond!
last edited: 2/07/05 3:11:21 PM”

“Very nice trip report NS.

FLMatt was an indispensible part of this trip. He shuttled and helped with the injured TT'rs on the short trails. He was great hiking partner. Thank you.”

“Hey, NS - is the Duluth pack you describe what you were using at Yellow River State Forest a few months ago?”

“Flatlander Matt was the designated driver.”

“SlowPack TMac - No. I used my Jansport Alaska 115. BTW, I recently found the items, which I had given up for lost, in the deep bottom of that backpack.”

“I'm back.
What a drive.
The backpack was GREAT!
Thanks so much HPM for setting this up again!”

“Cmb and I are finially home but we are too tired to post our uncut uncensored version of the trip. I will make time in the next day or two to do so. MUHAHAHAHA!”

“Day 1- hitting the road

Crazy Mika and I hit the road pretty early. I mean the sun hadn't even come up yet so I was pretty grumpy but excited to get going. It has bee way too long since I've done any milage hiking so I expected that I would get my butt kicked. Any way we headed towards the scary and uncivilized south. I slept a great deal of the way untill we got into tennesee where for some reason at the gas station we refueled at I found out that I was a yankee even though I had played no part whatsoever in the Civil War. All through tennesse and georgia some guy named bubba must be really getting around since I saw his name mentioned a lot in the bathrooms. That night we stopped in georgia somehwere at a red roof inn for the night which really sucked for the extravagent price we had to pay. They didnt even have shampoo!!! really, that place sucked and it was a waste of 50 buckaroos. We quickly forgot about that though as we checked off another one of the 50 states to do the deed in. Our neighboors for the night probebly hated us for a while. The weather was sucking anyways, what else do you do when it is raining outside?

Day 2- Hitting Florida

We got up around 6 or so and packed everything up again. It was still raining and mike said that if it continued all the way there we would just.....camp...at the campground. I filled the cooler with fresh ice from the ice machine while hte lady at the check out desk gave me the hairy eye-ball. I don't care if her accent was hillarous and made me laugh, I still was creeped out by her. We continued on to the so-called "Civilized South" called Florida. I was thrilled to see the first palm trees since I left CA. I must have pointed every one I saw out to mike as we drove untill he wanted to strangle me. We had made pretty good time since mike never once dropped below 80 mph on the open roads. When we got to juniper springs we were both high strung and ready to explode from the car. We paid the stuppid 30 dollar parking fee and another 8 dollars just to see the springs and use the bathroom which a total gyp as it was supposed to be free for hikers and mike got the wool pulled over his eyes on that one. Anyway I made us some lunch and then explored the springs and the little nature trail in the campground. I learned about cabbage palms, needle palms, black gum, white bay, pond pines, sand pines, live oak and other plants I would quickly forget about because I didn't write the names down in my journal. I got to see a real live coral snake by the consession building. Mike and I then went over to the florida trail (after leaving a note for flatlander matt where we could be found with the ditzy booth attendent) and went about 100-200 feet up the trail and found a small campsite to accomadate us in the burn area. We set up camp and mike relaxed while I scurred about a mile up the trail just to work out all the pent up energy I had from so long a drive. there were hardly any trees that were still standing, they were sand pines and most of their limbs had been stripped away by wind and the trees all seemed to lean in one direction. Scrub oak grew so thick that bushwacking was made impossible so I stuck to the warm sun exposed trail. I was loving it and even stripped down to my bare esensials (just shorts and shoes) and let the sun shine all of me. (Ya missed out NowSlimmer but a dayhiker got a good veiw!) I saw bear tracks, and bear scat about ten minutes from camp on the trail and lots of other animal tracks too in the sand. I went back to camp and mike and I relaxed taking naps. After dark mike and I started to get "Busy" when we heard a whistle. Mike whisled back and it turned out to be Flattlander Matt with a bag of ice and cold beer. By this time it was raining again but we stood outside drinking beer with matt and shooting the breeze. Matt has a really cool "Civilized southern" accent. We went back with him to the parking area and he gave us a lift to check out his campsite in the Fern Hammock Loop which was a pretty area for car camping and was empty except for him. Our visit was short however as the rain really started to pour down and he gave us a lift back to the trailhead . We said good night and thanks for the cold refresshing beer. Since I was soaking wet by then I stripped off and slept naked in the tent which worked out to mikes advantage and we checked off another state in whihc we've done the deed in.

Continued....”

“Hey HPM, why don't you see if matt will link this to the Ocala Trip page so we can find the reports & pics from that page for future use?


...and Free24/Spirit Coyote in real life is just like what I pictured from her posts.


What a great group to hike with.

I did get the biggest baddest blisters I have ever got from this trip. That sand is killer on the feet! I can only hobble today.”

“I read it. I just couldn't see the photo from work.
Web filter and all ya know?”

“Day Three- Hitting the Bottle

Ah friday! Here I would meet all the TTers I had ever dreamed of. Stovestomper, Humanpackmule, Tango, Trekngirl, Cyndee, and Surfergirl all met up with Crazy Mike, flatlander matt and I after we waited forever for them to show up. Tango and flatlander matt decided not to do the trail with us but opted for the short trail into camp. Whle the rest of us stacked ourselves like sardines into gear infested cars to head up to our starting point in the north. Just as we were about to hit the trail, precision drove up with perfect timing to join in the fun. We loaded on heavy packs and started off. First we hiked through a deep sand road but the trail was harder and yes, it was very flat. Even flatter then the midwest if ya can believe it. I don't expect you to believe me but its true, I am just reporting on what I saw. All along the trail I was hoping to see some gators and now and then I would rush over to a pond edge in hopes of scaring one into action, but alas, no aligators I would see this day. It was no wonder, as the weather sucked and there was no sun almost the entire hike. It was a while even before I was warm enough to start removing clothes. We came to a major road and watied for the laggers, wondering if they were ok and if gators had found them. After a while Cyndee and Surfergirl strugged into veiw. Cyndee was having bad knee pain and surfergirl was being hobbled by painful blisters. They opted to just hang out there untill we had compleated the day and send a vehicle to retrieve them. I worried that a bear would eat them. The rest of us continued and it seemed like we hiked another 10 or 15 miles to camp. Many of us were curseing Flatlander Matt with each step but once the sun came out I was having a blast. Camp at Hopkins prairy was a good sight to see as most of my remaining companion hikers where limping. we set up camp and went over to enjoy the blaze that Tango had waiting for us in camp. In the pand In the pond waters we saw two humungous sandhill cranes. They were mutants, I swear. There must of been a radiation leak nearby. Mike ordered me not to go near them (some how he knew I would try) because he said they would probebly maul me if i did. TrailTalker and Bluegill arrived to join the party. That night a lot of liqure flowed and Crazy Mike Got a little silly. I wouldnt let him sit next to that vixen Tango though as she really is a trouble maker. :P.
last edited: 2/07/05 6:18:31 PM”

“These allegations are false.”

“My nephew did see one alligator.”

“Oh how you treat the woman who got you the ahem sip of Mikey's liquor!!! Oh it's a sad sad day. I am nothing but sweetness!!!”

“....That night a lot of liqure flowed and Crazy Mike Got a little silly. I wouldnt let him sit next to that vixen Tango....

This part was true, except replace 'Crazy Mike' with 'Spirit Coyote'. ;-)”

“Day 4- I'm a trail pureist damnit!

Most everyone woke up a little damp from condensation except for Mike and I who's tent rocks in that department. We did however have some frost on the rainfly. I had slept like a baby all night long..in fact it was the best sleep I have had in many weeks. I was up and ready to go as soon as I got out of the sleeping bag. I had a lot of energy and knew today would be a great day hiking for me. I opted to hike in my tevas instead of trail runners and was one of the first to be packed up and ready to hit the trail. Mike had to keep me reined in to wait for the others to get ready. Cyndee, Surfergirl, Tango and Flatlander Matt would meet us at the nights camp so we left them with a fond farewell. When we came to a campground everyone insisted on skipping a section of hte trail whihc is blasphemy in my book and I wouldnt have been able to live with myself if I had skipped it so I dropped my pack where they were all taking a break and slack packed the little section and returned via the road to them where they were eatting lunch feeling releaved. CMB was in a really bad mood after lunch as his feet were hurting, his knee was hurting and his back was hurting. About seven miles Mike and I were leading the pack and we found nowslimmer planted firmly on a tree trunk waiting. the first thing out of his mouth was "Your not nakid!" We chatted for a few but I was itching to keep going so I pushed mike on. Man those last couple of miles were killer for mike and we ended up in the back of the pack with mike saying he would take the easy out tomorrow. Mike and I were passed by a couple of kids belonging to nowslimmer going the opposite way and assured us it wasnt very far to camp. I got an other wind the last half hour of hiking and zoomed to camp where I put up the tent for mike and went to enjoy the fire. Ok I admit it, I was very stiff. Trekingirl was laughing at me and admited to like seeing a 25 year old in as much pain as her. Hahahahaha. But WHO was skipping acircles round camp in the morning pain free??? HMM? me :D”

“Ok, I\'m back and unpacked.Hat\'s off to HPM for putting together a great trip. How about Tango hiking with pain, a blind man could see.Cyndeee hiking after her knee went out. Most hiker\'s would have packed it in with either one of these. I\'ve done this trip many times, but I never had this much fun. My father once told me, \" Surround yourself with good People and you\'ll have a rich life\". I fell much wealthier today after this weekend.
I\'ll pack with anyone in this group, anytime!”

“Day 5- Day of the Survivors

I woke up refreshed and bounding with energy. Actually I was up before the sun and anyone else. Flatlander matt and mike got up just scant minutes latter and I being a girl, and since girls are much better at starting fires, was able to get the fire going from some smoldering embers...and don't let flatlander matt tell you otherwise!!! Flatlander Matt was nice enough to give me aome oatmeal for the morning since CMB ATE ALL MY FOOD. While several folks had to eat grits which sounds kind of painfull to me. "Ouch I got grits in my eye!" Anyway HPM, CMB and I hit the trail and we zoomed it although I had to slow down at the first pond cause my knee popped out. But while I slowly hiked I tried out some mysterious black berries growing by the ponds. By the time I was at the second pond it was like I was on speed or something. My body moved automatically without me having to think about where I was placeing my feet. I rammed non stoop through the thich undergrowth that was copping feels as I hurried past. I felt no pain, only oneness with the trail as my mind floated somewhere else in thought. I cought up to the boys at a jeep road that cuts off the last mile of hiking (which I don't feel bad about cause I really didnt skip it as I hiked it on the second day of the trip) and we went through a backpackers jungle gym of downed trees. I was having fun actually but mike was cursing as he was in pain. We made it back to Juniper long before anyone else arrived there. We had showered and eatten yummy sandwiches by the time those who took the easy short way out arrived. I don't know hat had come over me those last 5 miles, but I blame the berries for the zen like feeling I was having and the strange speed to my usual snails pace hiking. I can honestly say this has been one if not the best trip i've ever taken. It's just a shame that everyone else was in a lot of pain!!!

Anywho, altogther I saw two snakes, 7 bald eagles, a sharp-shinned hawk dive bombed mike and I, a couple of squirels, some dayhikers, 9 sandhill cranes and lots of other birds but no gators.”

“Nicely written TR Spirit! I am really glad I got to meet and hang out with you.”

“Yep, enjoyed your report.”

“I want more of those berries. Sure they were tart but.......


...what was I saying? I forgot.”

“SC, YOU ROCK!”

“http://community.webshots.com/album/269147559nmZCcp

My pictures are up!”

“surfergirl and i made it home and are recovering from our injuries. we had the best time ever. what a great group of people to hike with. i can't say enough good things about flatlander matt although at one point i re-named him sherpa matt, bauna matt, and he-man matt. what an incrediblely nice man. surfergirl is ready to go again and i think i may have found a new hiking partner in my daughter. we have always been close, and it had been awhile since we did any type of trip together. it was a renewal of our mother-daughter relationship. will do a tr tomorrow and post our pictures.”

“StoveStomper - Enjoyed those pictures. Some of them were outstanding. Thanks for posting them.

cyndeee - Hope you mend quickly. Like the sound of your post. Looking forward to the pictures.

---

I was beat and could hardly walk at all this morning. Feeling better, I went to aikijutsu class tonight, but I only watched as I wanted to rest my knees. Really wanted to participate. They were practicing six different choke holds, some arm bar locks and some arm breaks. I was still able to learn some just by watching closely. Oh, I learned a couple of new, quick take-downs, too.
last edited: 2/07/05 10:14:04 PM”

“Cool Pics StoveStomper!

Also, enjoyed reading the T.R. from yall.”