February 12
End: St. Marks
Miles: 22.5
Total: 954.7
In the morning I cooked up a lot of hot food for myself, preferring to stay in the warm garage, knowing it was still cold outside. I thanked JR, who offered to let me buy stuff from his store though it was closed. I refilled my water for the first time in a hundred miles and got going.
The cold and wind were a little much. After I got off of the highway I could tell that it had been very windy at night, because tons of palmetto plant parts were strewn everywhere. I enjoyed walking in the St. Marks National Wildlife Refuge, which had a bit of a swampy feel to it.
I knew I was getting closer to St. Marks when I reached the Big Bend area, a big marsh on the coast at which point I turned my back on the peninsula and headed for the panhandle.
Unfortunately there were still a few miles of levees and roads to walk. I got a bit lost as I neared St. Marks, and was extremely frustrated. I was already worried about getting a boat ride over the St. Marks River, and now I was delaying myself. I bushwhacked through a somewhat dry swamp and finally reached the Florida Trail.
I was so exasperated that I ran while yelling almost the whole rest of the way to the river. Finally I was where I had wanted to be, seeing the town on the other side and just needing a ride. JR had said there would not be any boats on the river, but I soon saw one. I yelled and waved my arms, but the men didn’t turn my way. They were clearly ignoring me, and I was very disappointed.
Luckily, another small boat came and I put myself in better position to flag and was able to get a ride. I avoided falling into the river, and landed in St. Marks feeling very lucky but also tired.
I talked briefly to a girl who had been sitting on the opposite bank, and felt fortunate not to be living permanently in St. Marks. Going for food, I went to a small cantina. It turned out to be a pretty sleazy place (we’re talking mannequins with lingerie), but I had a good burger and fries.
Going to the post office, I was able to get the very friendly and helpful postmaster to come down on a Sunday (!) and hand me a couple packages. St. Marks definitely treated me well. I was even paid for to stay at the fish camp just west of town. I was told it was all done because of the love that John and his wife have through Jesus, so thank you to John and your wife for that fine gift.
I relaxed in a bed and watched television for the remainder of the evening. Life on the trail was going well after all, and I was being blessed by a lot of different people.
