Ocala 5 trip thread

“Grassy pond to Juniper Springs.
Feb 4,5,6 2011

Mark your calendars and let's go hiking.”

“there like bear scat.”

“This sounds tempting...always wanted to make an Ocala trip...”

“if'n y'll are nice to me I'll let CMB out for this one. :P

P.S. are doggies allowed on this treck?”

“SC, yes they always are.”

“i'm gonna say yes and maybe bring my son along with me. (he's pretty much grown now)”

“Cool. But just a word of warning, he is a one person dog.”

“Also...he loves to herd people. He's great on the trail and will not chase animals. He jsut won't let anyone but me or mike pet him. Treats don't tempt him either LOL He'll just run back and forth keeping an eye on everyone and keeping them in line on trail LOL”

“That's assy pond, fyi, dude.

And don't forget that going through the Juniper that it's still pretty charred from the fire.”

“what kind of daily miles are you looking at?

Also how are the climbs on that part of the trail?

'32oz”

“"My buddy is a butt hed bwt"
~spitin coyota

Do not werry. Me and my hubsand Gizmaeioux will lern him some trale manners.”

“climbs???? WHAT CLIMBS???? That place is flatter then flat land!!”

“LOL.. Yeah THAT question was tongue in cheek... Was however curious about the mileage.... Trying to get info on the FLA trail and cant quite locate the mileage of that hike....

'32oz”

“The Red-ant hills are sometimes a meter high.”

“I'll look up the mileage once I dig out my maps.”

“Thank you HPM. I have talked about organizing an Ocala hike after you moved but have somehow never got around to it.

I should be good to go in 2011. That's one of my favorite sections of Ocala NF. Radagast and I first hiked that section from Salt Springs.

Hopefully, some folks will plan enough time to canoe/kayak the Juniper Springs run either before or after the hike. I'd be up for that too. It takes about five hours so it's an all-day trip. It is a truly unique Florida experience and something not to be missed if you visit the state.”

“Hey guys I'm signing up as a maybe for this trip. February sounds like a great time to visit Florida, it is cool enough to enjoy it. Maybe I can convince my buddy Mississippi Rob or Cajun Hiker to do a road trip.”

“We can plan it out closer to time for the hike, but get to Jackson, MS and we can ride down there together. My truck can handle 5 and gear.”

“I can't pull up the old trip. What is the distance for this section?”

“The terain is like LBL”

“Day 1 - Grassy pond to the start of Hopkins Prairie is slightly over 12 miles

Day 2 - Hopkins to Hidden Pond is 9.7

Day 3 - Hidden pond to Juniper is 5.5

If we wanted a shorter day one we could start at Salt Springs and day one becomes about 5.5 to 7-8 depending on where we stopped along Hopkins Prairie and day two becomes that much shorter.

I really don't have a preference but here are some pros/cons/considerations.

Grassy pond has nothing there, just a pond and may be harder for folks to find since the forest service tore down the campsite and pulled up the well pump. The only real plus is if you had hiked with us on Ocala 3 this starting point allows you to fill in your map.

Salt springs has everything, secure parking (for a fee) potable water and toilets.

Some folks poo-poo Florida hiking and think they can knock down uber miles cause it's relatively flat. Those folks forget about the sand. Blisters can be a real problem here even for folks who don't normally get them.

Ocala is brutal on water filters. In years past folks preferred to camel up at the forest service water pumps rather than pump out of the ponds and prairie.

Weather. I've done this hike on the same weekend in early Feb and had light frost in the wee hours one year and I've hiked it when it's been in the 80's the next year.

I can go with whatever the consensus view is.”

“I say do the long route but I will go with the flow

First day is on Friday, right?”

“Yep, Friday, Sat, Sun”

“I'd say go with the longer route. But, I'm a maybe, and I'll do whatever the larger group decides to do.

Hiking on the sandy trail can be suprisingly stenuous.”

“It's not all sand but there are stretches that are pretty loose.”

“It wasn't nearly the piece of cake I thought it would be last time”

“Hey Chili we may be able to work something out as time gets closer.”

“It was pretty darn HOT last time, and the water from that well was very nice.

HPM's not kidding about the pond water being a filter killer.”

“If memory serves me right you will get your daily dose of iron from the well water”

“No doubt about that.”

“good thing I'm used to hiking on sand around here (nuthin but sand dunes LOL) I say go the long route. It was a piece of cake last time.”

“the water down there is the worst ever. Who was it that made a water run to buy gallons of water the last time.”

“I want to say that was DHutch or maybe Lizs.

I remember one year doing a night hike out to a campground to fill water bags at a campground pump.
last edited: 7/12/10 8:18:11 AM”

“Day 1 - Grassy pond to the start of Hopkins Prairie is slightly over 12 miles

after driving all night I am not even sure I could do 12 miles. If the gf joins the trip I am sure she can't do those miles”

“We could just meet at Juniper and drop off the folks who want a shorter hike at Salt Spring and the folks who want a longer hike go all the way out to Grassy Pond and start.

Ocala has a ton of forest service roads. You really could customize the hike to suite you.”

“That works, hpm.”

“What is the city I should put in for mapquest?”

“Ocala”

“You can say DUH!! I know you want to! I deserve it. DUH!”

“lol
No, it was a legitimate question. Most national forests don't have that obvious of a name.”

“Water caches would be a piece of cake. We could stash them behind the beer coolers.

I would have to customize a more Belle-friendly itenerary.”

“I don't know if this would help, but those gravity filters really did the job in Alaska. Fridge had a silt add on filter when we were where it was silty. Just a thought.”

“I could arrange to meet anyone who wanted to hike from Salt Springs (I live an hour north of ONF). If nobody wants to shorten the hike, I'll join the main group at Grassy Pond.


Please, please, please, you folks from out of state, try to plan an extra day for the Juniper Springs Run. They rent canoes at Juniper Springs and they include a van shuttle back to the Springs as part of the cost. A relaxing trip with stops takes at least five hours. It's best to start in the morning.

It is an experience unique to Florida. I once talked to some folks from Canada who rode back in the van with us after the run. I asked them how they found the place. They said an outdoor site had recommended it as a "must do."

Hot or cold, the water is 72 degrees year round. It makes for great swimming if the weather's hot and it feels like bath water if the weather's cold.


Juniper Springs Recreation Area, one of the oldest and best known national forest recreation areas in the east, was recently named as one of ReserveAmerica's Top 100 Family Campgrounds. The Juniper Canoe Run was also named one of the Top 25 Canoeing Spots.
http://www.fs.fed.us/r8/florida/ocala/attractions/JuniperSpringsRecArea.php”

“Thanks for the info. Do the rental canoes come in Orange with a power T?”

“Heh, one of our fave Florida things is floating down Ichnetucknee springs. We're doing that a little later this summer with Laurel.”

“when i lived down there, the Scout troop my son was in did a river/spring float trip. that was a LOT of fun. I can't recall the name of it, but it had too many syllables adn was somewhere in Central FL.”

“Um, like Ichnetucknee? Around Lake City/ High Springs?”

“that doesn't ring a bell, but it might have been. for the life of me i can't remember any towns, but we camped in an open field type area close to the tube rental place and one night one of the scoutmasters drove in somewhere closeby to get ice cream on account of we'd baked a dutch oven cobbler. :)”

“Sounds about right. O'Leno state park isn't too far away from there, either.”

“ocklawaha?”