another lesson learned

I want to start by thanking Hammock Bliss.... later on that.
 We all planned on doing a 4 day 3 night trip and then life got into the way for Debi and me. Planning was put off probably a few weeks late. The idea was to walk in Ocala at first and I knew the general area we wanted to walk so thought it would be pretty easy to plan. Well there was a big hick up in that plan, Hunting season. I am not complaining, about hunters at all due to me being a hunter ( or ex hunter depending on what you want to call it) . However i will say i dont understand why most of the spots we wanted to go were in areas that are closed for camping due to hunting, just makes me say HMMMM.
 So after i realized i was over my head in this i called in reinforcements, .... My big brothers. The frustration got to me, Ken was there to help and James was there as a lifeline. We looked at going to the Green Swamp area, should have been easy just got there and walk right  LOL .... yea right. We needed permits to camp, should have been easy right ... LOL ... yep you guessed it NOPE. Ken called the rangers to get the proper permits, no answer , he left a voice message , a return call LOL .... NOPE. Now theres a issue. im even more frustrated. I had left the maps with Ken at his house, so my hands are tied.
 James and Ken met up and figured the one and only place to go was Barr street to Joshua Creek. James, Debi, and I have already done that stretch on our fist few hikes, but no worries we were just NEEDING to get out in the woods.
 Great now we have a plan!! We wanted to do a water drop, cuz on the Florida Trail there is little to no water. That just makes no since, but it is what it is. We decide that it would be nice to have someone drop us off so our cars dont get broke into, ( these areas have a lot of foot traffic ). But who, who would be up to this task? Dad. Dad agreed to help us out, and it was a big help. we need drop off 9 gallons of water, thats a lot of weight we wont have to carry ( about 72 lbs. ).
 I really tried hard to keep Debi and my bags as light as possible, i wanted to be at 40 lbs and Debi  about 30. I knew i was pushing the limits but felt like it was doing good. Debis bag wasnt bad at all, mine was heave but not horrible. James and Ken were running late but who cares we were in no hurry. Dad was ready to go the the guys showed up. We loaded the truck and i quickly realized i did real good on my bag. Kens bag was HEAVY, James' bag was 54 lbs if im not mistaking ( hes the numbers guy so he knew LOL ). Mine was close to his but his was heavier. And were off!!
 We make it to the water drop and then to Barr Street, after about 30 minutes of picture taking by dad ( thats another story LOL) we start our epic journey.
 We have been in this area a good bit of times so nothing new to see until Flagler Rd.  We see a handful of day hikers, one with about 5 dogs ones name was Sam ( i think ) . Sam wasnt on a leash and was running all over the place, all you heard was that lady calling that dogs name LOL. Me and Ken have pretty much that same pace, Debi and James were pretty much behind us all weekend. Both James and Debi were having foot issues of different kinds, We thought that we fixed Debis blister problems, but we changed he insoles and.... well lets just say not a great idea again. All im gonna say is i hate when we do things to correct issues and we create other issues.
 So we are starting to get away from the people and getting closer to our camping area, i slow down and start walking with debi and mooing at some cows that didnt appreciate my humor as much as I did. Cows are strange animals and have that blank stare that just gives me the heeby jeebies .
 Yay us we made it to our campsite!! Plenty of wood, plenty of trees to hang from, and plenty of laughs to laugh about. After setting up and drinking coffee, um coffee? After drinking Mississippi mud with a little bit of cream in it its time to eat and just relax!! We sat around laughing about movies and everything else. The hammock was calling my name, i have no bed time out there my body tells me its time to lay down and i answer the call. Yea 8 oclock maybe early but im tired. Well evidently when you drink extra strong coffee it may affect sleep. No i didnt sleep well , and come to find out neither did Debi. No problem theres always the next night.
 We wake up and do out normal thing coffee stories yadda yadda. Then were off again. I really love being in the woods walking and really love camping so im looking forward to that night yea im tired who cares thats just part of it. While were walking and talking its hard to see everything but somethings you should always look out for is snakes on trail, not as bad as snakes on a plane but same idea. Yea you guessed it i was inches from stepping on a snake, im glad Ken said something to me. It was just a guarder snake, but had it been a rattler i could have been bit. I think ill let Ken take point from now on.
 We came across some orange and tangerine trees that had some fruit on them, Ken wanted some and so did Debi so i walked back at a fast pace to get some, i trip and grab the first thing i can grab. Well these trees had thorns on them about 3 feet long and 8 inches around, 1 goes into my hand, OUCH! I check it out and its not too bad, it did however bruise me.
 After passing a really nice campsite we stop so debi can work on her feet and we can take a break. Knowing it was supposed to rain we really needed to get our water and get set up before it hits. We have to get moving we had about 3 miles to go, 2 of them would be on a paved road ( Curryville Rd. ) . We make it to the water drop and decide to go in and find a area to get set up so we can beat the rain.
 We find a decent spot, get some coffee and get set up. There were a few little sprinkles but nothing that would make us put our rain gear on, we already had our rain flies on our hammocks. The conversation turned from movies to BBQ, pizza, and deserts.
  Funny how you have all this food in your bag but its not what you want at that time. I do love how we can all be so sore from walking and whatever but we can all laugh and cut up out there. Like Deb says its the little things out there that keeps us coming back. There is no way that we can say everything we talk about cuz its mostly small talk. Things like food, movies, kids, grandkids, dogs, rain, farting, and of course how much longer to walk, or til were gonna take a break. Its the true reason i Love being out there. Its a true relaxation.
 So we lay down about 930 or so, my hammock is close to the fire area so i talk to Ken and James a little bit more then i fall asleep, i sleep hard til about 1 am, i hear a booger walking in camp, i fumble around looking for my light so i can save the day, and realize it just Debi walking around. I realize its raining a little bit, but no problem. I check on debi and go pee, then back asleep. I wake up to a heavier rain, and then i notice this feeling i havent felt in a very long time, i am very wet. I think to myself, " self did you get up and pee? or did you think you were up and pee? " . Nope its the rain, my rain fly was pouring in rain. This is why i wanted to thank Hammock Bliss for their wonderful design. I can not figure out why the fly is so narrow, and have so few grommets. The water would puddle up and pour into ( not onto ) into the hammock.
 I check on Debi to be sure she is ok cuz she has the same set up and she is wet also, there is no way to get us dry and stop the leaking. We try to sleep but its not happening. I decide to drop my hammock in the ground and sit under   fly. So me and Debi sit on the ground staying dry, drinking coffee, eating cheese, and talking about how to correct this for the next time. Remember this is our first rain and another learning experience for us both. A bigger fly is the best answer, but after about 2 hours of talking i lay on the ground Debi lays next to me and she falls right to sleep. I doz off but get woken by a cricket jumping on my leg. Then i think, She finally is asleep, maybe the best answer is a tent. I can sleep on my belly and she can sleep next to me, win win.
 We also decided that night that we cant go another night, our sleeping bags are soaked and our hammocks are soaked, and there is more rain coming.
 The guys woke up and i told them we are throwing in the towel, i didnt want to ruin their trip, so i let them decide if they wanted to stay. Deb and me can get a ride home then i could come back and pick them up. James got wet also, Kens stuff got soaked so they decided to call it also. I felt bad but after talking to James i think he was wore out and ready to go home also.
 Dad to the rescue again, Debi called Dad, and without hesitation he said he would be there in a hour or so. That gave us time to finish breakfast and break camp.
 This trip may have felt like a failure, but there is always a silver lining. If we had been in the green swamp or Ocala we dont know if it would have been so easy to get home. We were very close to our way out from camp. We found out that our rain flies suck and we need to change the way we think about our sleeping arrangements. We have learned how to deal with the cold and now we are learning how to deal with the rain.
 Rain 1 us 0  
 Ill post pictures as soon as i can..............

http://wewanttoseeflorida2.blogspot.com/ ....... Kens Blog

http://jstmine225.blogspot.com/............. Debis Blog

Joshua Creek to St. Nicholas rd

                                                Waiting on Mike

So we set off on another adventure on the Florida Trail. And to be honest im glad we did for a few reasons. The first reason is to be out there of course, but there is more. We got the chance to meet a couple of Kens friends that are just starting out on the trail. Mike and Gavin ( sorry if i spelled that wrong) . Gavin is 15 i think and his dad ( or step dad im pretty sure ). So there was a "normal" missing from our group. That was James, he had other things to do and was missed out there.
 We planned on meeting at 10 am and drop the car off and start at Joshua creek trail head, well all of that would have happened on time but it didnt LOL. We all got a little late start, but no worries we were alive thanks to my expert nascar driving skills. We did make it in one piece. We met Ken, Mike, and Gavin at about 1030 am at St Nicholas rd , and sat there waiting on Mike to get his gear together, he felt bad but like we always say we are not on a schedule so take your time. We head off to Joshua Creek trail head and get to walking about 1130 or so. We came across a family that appeared to be on a outing of some sorts with some young kids. I thought great for them.
 We get off the blue trail and start heading south, Ken was in charge of the trail book and thank God he was. (It seems that the book was off a lot on this trip). We happened to see a whole bunch of cow poo all along the trail, i am not to keen on cows so this maybe a issue LOL. This has got to be one of the prettiest areas we have be in between the oaks and the palms there were spots of dense ferns.
 As always we had fun, lots of laughing and cutting up. But i think we havent learned all that is needed to learn. I say this for a couple of reasons. First as stated in other blogs Ken is normally on point but he has a habit of looking down while he is walking, i understand you have to see what your stepping on but the ine thing about that is there are some obstacls to keep a eye out for like spider webs and other low hanging things trees. Yep he did it SMACK right into a palm tree! all i could do was laugh, but only after we made sure he wasnt cuncussed.
 The other thing we havent learned is speed, our pace was fast, probably to fast. Debi had a hard time keeping up with us. I dont know what it was but we were moving. I dont know how hard it was for Mike and Gavin, but from the looks i got from Debi i know how hard it was on her. We did slow down, and i would hang back with her, but there were times when Ken and them were waiting on us.
 We had a hard time with the book and where we were. At times i felt very lost. We did get to christmas creek and it was time to eat lunch and take a break. Mike and Gavin seemed to be enjoying themselves so all was good, Deb was wearing down and ready for lunch.

We headed off to get a few more miles in before the next break, all we could do was judge our progress by time because at this point i wasnt sure the book was helping much. We came across some interesting ways to cross barbed wire fencing, but the book didnt mention some of them and we thought we were at a spot that we werent near yet, this is a big let down thinking you are closer than you really are.

After deciding we are in a certain spot we knew it was only a few miles to the blue spur trail then the campsite that we " had " to stay in. Well that all came to a stop when we got there and nope no blue trail, we are all ready to stop and then there is no campsite. I drop my bag and head down the trail to check if its up there, Ken and Gavin head down a dirt road to see is it down there. I walk about a 1/4 mile in, nope no trail but i find a spot that would make a good campsite. Ken and Gavin have the same luck with the spur trail. We make the decision to stay at the place i found and call it home for the night. There are oaks and palms all over so hanging a hammock wouldnt be a problem. Fire wood wasnt a problem either.
 We gather wood after hanging out hammocks, Debi starts the coffee and i see Gavin starting the fire using a flint, all i could think was good for him. Mike hands him some lint ( i think it was dryer lint ) and Gavin goes to town sparking and sparking then POOF flame!! I was proud of him. We all sit around and talk, While drinking coffee and complaining about the book.
 After dinner Mike and Gavin head to bed and Debi heads off shortly after, Ken and me sit up for a little while talking, then we hear a owl hoot pretty loud, then another then another, but this one is different, it was much different. I have heard it before but Debi hasnt. I hear SSSSHHHHAAAWWWNNN!!! what was that??!!! in her concerned voice. I explain it was a owl but i think its a older owl, well evedently that wasnt good enough cuz out of the hammock came Debi . She figured it was safer by the fire. You got to love her!
 It was a cold night, about 50 degrees or so, Debi was cold most of the night, i didnt seem to be near as bad as her. We didnt winterize our hammocks, we both thought it wasnt needed but we were wrong. We wont make that mistake again.
 Debi got up first and tried to make fire but the dew made it hard, Ken came in to save the day. I peeked out of my hammock to see if the fire was started before i got up ( i didnt know Debi was up already ). I rolled out of bed and headed to the fire Ken got it going pretty fast with paper, Debi had coffee started. All was good in camp. Mike was still snoring and Gavin was still asleep, they got up about 8 or 815.
 It was time to start off on our way. My phone was dying so not to many pics this time.
 We had a great time as always but this trip was pretty uneventful. We saw a few armadillos a bunch of birds, and they say some deer. I enjoyed my new backpack and Mike and Gavin.

Debi Ken Gavin and Mike

Then me ( cuz i was cut out of the other one )

Juniper Springs to Alexander Springs

                                                            OUCHCALA



After the last hike we were craving more outdoor fun. It had only been a week, and after realizing we werent going to be able to hike in the Smokey Mountains, we decided to do a 3 day 2 night hike Debis and my first 2 nighter. To be honest i was nervous. My thoughts were how are we going to do it, we almost always carry too much weight. And now we are going further and longer. The other thing that bothered me was im normally the one to look at the maps and figure out were to start and stop for the night and so on.
 I called James who has more experience than i do at this stuff. He confirmed what i thought we should do and he knew some of the are having been out there before. We get Ken on board with us and we thought there would be more people but they had to back out.
 So me and Deb had to get different stuff for dinner and what not, but we had to do it the day before we left so we could get packed up and ready to go. Yea well that didnt happen after a hard day at work and Debi having a headache. So we thought why not just go in the morning on the way up to Ocala. The weather didnt look as good as it was looking all week, with another front coming in. No worries we can handle it. We stop at Gander and get a few things and the grocery store. Then were off, knowing that we have to still pack our stuff for the hike.
 We get to Alexander Springs around 11:45 just ahead of James and Ken, we jump out of the truck and start packing our stuff. James and Ken show up about 15 minutes after us, and now we are only half packed. Now anyone that knows me ( and the rest of us ) we dont like to be the ones that are holding everyone up. But James reminds me that we are on vacation and we have no time frame, just relax. That made me feel better and i needed to be reminded of that. We had plenty of time, but my thought was we have 5.5 miles to walk today LOL.
 Well it all worked out, Debi was carrying more weight and so was I but not more than we could handle ( yea right LOL ). So let the games begins. OF course there are always laughs when we get out there and most of the time before then.
 When we get to Juniper Springs everything looked so familiar ( we have been there before hiking and canoeing ) but this time we were going North to South. There were a few first for me and Debi on this trip. The 2 nights and getting water out there. I was excited about not having to carry all of that water with us ( which is one reason for going south on this trip ).
 We start walking and the conversations start, who really knows everything we talk about we just talk.

Looks like Debis saying good bye to someone

The beginning

There were some interesting areas on this trip but the one thing that i stands out were the hills. I dont care what anyone says there are hills in Florida and i think we found them all on one trip LOL. It seemed that everyone was excited to be out here and that we were looking forward to some of the unknowns. Me i was still a bit nervous about a few things, first thing was Debis feet and blisters, and water. Was really hoping that we werent to far behind in time to be able to get to the campsite that James remembered from years past. He said it was a nice campsite, but the way he kids there was no telling what we were in for LOL.
 As we normmaly do me and Deb were in the back but me and James normally swap places, Kens speed and mine are very close at a normal walk so its not a hard pace but i like to stick with Debi and James likes to keep a eye on her too.

I love being out there for the quiet and for the lack of people. The best part of being out there is the lack of agenda. There is a small agenda like we wanted to do about 5.5 miles Friday and try for 10 on Saturday then finish Sunday. But that was about it, we like to be done with the day no later than 4 pm just to give us time to set everything up and it looked like we were right on time, there were a few little stops, i love looking at the animal tracks and figuring out what they are and where are they going ( which way, but thats not that hard look at the direction the toes are pointing ) . But i think the one thing that keeps me on my toes are the bear signs, i dont think i have seen this many signs on the trail, plenty of scat around and then we started seeing paw prints, not just toes but the whole front paw. They are amazing to me!
 The other thing i love out there are the signs ( some time the lack of signs ). Its like they have been there for ever and they are just put in the middle of no where. We had a hard time when crossing forest roads because there werent any numbers on the roads, so we kind of had to figure ( or guess ) on which one we were at. That made it a little bit frustrating at times, but James is good at distance and time so doing the math we knew we were in a general area so no worries.

first of 3 paved roads we cross ( i think 3 )

just the first day and already worn out LOL

Love this sign

and of course Debis favorites 

notice the lack of hand rail? and the smiles on there faces 

break time

 The one thing we did very well was taking breaks, they were much needed at times and again there was no hurry , we knew we had a long weekend and we just wanted to soak it all in.Breaks were about every hour and they were about 10 mins each just to keep us moving. It seemed that there were aches and pains for all of us but we were still joking around and laughing, Of course at the 3 mile mark Debis hips started to ache, but when she started feeling it she would pop in her head phones and sing to all of us. It was funny to me cuz i would sing the songs in my head with her and it made me giggle.
 We were getting closer to camp and we had been seeing signs of animals all along the trail, but these seemed to be " fresher " to us. Very clear on what they were at times, and some droppings that were lets just say not so easy to identify. We were on high alert due to the freshness of the poo and the bear tracks we had been seeing, and of course it was the conversation like is it a bear cub? if so mama aint to far, then after talking and talking about it there was a loud ruckus in the bush probably about 10 yards from Ken! hearts were pounding people ducking and a few What Thes , and out comes this turkey flying from right to left, i dont know who was more freaked out Us ( mostly Ken ) or the turkey. It was so funny and cool at the same time. Its our first ocala turkey.

bear

bigger than Jamess hand

now thats a print

front and back paws 

We got to the camp sight that at around 4 and i was ready for a great night, and it was more than you could ask for.

The best campsite to date for us

setting up

were reday

sunset

let them feet rest

While Debi set up our hammocks i went to get fire wood then James and Ken came to help after they were done setting up, There was plenty of wood around so that wasnt a problem, They guys started the fire i drank coffee all was great.that nights sleep want great at all but i knew i  got some rest.I am glad we put my rain fly on due to the heavy dew that set in. It was so heavy i thought it had rained a little, but was assured it didnt.
 We sat around camp until 945 am or so then off for the long walk, 10 miles is a long way for us but we knew the rest breaks will help. We had already done about 5.5 miles the day before and now we were entering the unknown for me and Debi on this distance. But we could do this , a break about every 2 miles would do us good.
 We came across a lady that was doing the entire FL Trail at one time, impressive to me. She was going 15 miles that day meeting her husband at Juniper for supplies and rest. She only had a day bag so she was probably moving a good pace. Again i was impressed, but not interested in doing that.
 Our first real stop was water and "lunch" for us.

"a sitting log "

Spur trail to the water hole

fill er up

The water was clean and tasted fresh so no need to filter it or treat it. We had a talk with a retired police man, and saw a couple that missed the other spur trail to Buck Lake about 2 miles back. I felt bad for them but what are you gonna do we couldnt give them a ride.
 We still had a long day but spirits were still high and the laughing continued. I was looking forward to being at camp and resting, after not sleeping the night before and starting to feel the walking everywhere i was ready. We took a coffee break just past a pond that was needed, the coffee was just what the doctor ordered. We still had 1.5 hours of walking left ( about 3 miles ) i know debi was hurting and i was, I think we were all ready.
 Good thing was we were about a half mile a head of where we thought we were. so we all got energized again just by knowing it was almost time to rest for the night. We got to a point were it was time to start looking for a good campsite but there was slim pickings. Pines arent were we wanted to be, but we came to a forest road ( dont know the number due to the lack of signs ) and it didnt seem to be any better on the other side. So we stop there and search for a decent place. Not a problem, Its time to get set up. Knowing its gonna be cold we get the hammocks just right and the fire just right. I had a lot of aches so it was a early night for me after dinner probably close to 8 or so. I think i had the best night of sleep so far in all of my trips this night! but getting out of that sleeping bag was not as fun WOW was it cold. But my aches werent as bad.

 All in all i had a blast, i love being out there with Debi and seeing that relaxing look on her face. Ken and James are great out there, they both bring so much to the enjoyment there. It is so nice to get to camp and everyone knows what to do, between setting up and fire and breaking down camp it just works out great.
 This was probably my favorite trips so far, i dont really know why, but i know it feels like all of the other trips made this one work out so nice. We "fixed" Debis blister problems, we learned that we can do longer distance if needed. We also learned that we can sleep in the cold with no problems. Ill end it with this, Ouchcala is a great place to be even if it hurts!!!!!

Here is Debis Link to here blog http://jstmine225.blogspot.com/

Here is Kens Blog, http://wewanttoseeflorida2.blogspot.com/