February 13
End: St. Marks Natural Wildlife Reserve
Miles: 19.9
Total: 974.6
I stayed late at the fish camp. It was only my second time in a bed and I loved it. I had the heat turned up because it was very cold outside. Finally I got going.
I had to walk into town from the camp, which was not too far. I headed North and stopped at Subway to eat a bunch of food before I left town. Someone said it had gotten down to eighteen degrees that night. I ate another sub as I left and moved on to the next portion of the St. Marks National Wildlife Refuge.
Much of the area had the same boggy feel as the first portion of the refuge. I walked through alternating woods and forest roads, occasionally getting lost in thought and missing turns off of the roads, then retracing my steps. This is a common theme on the Florida Trail.
At one forest road I saw a vehicle with a couple of bikes on the back and a woman in the passenger seat. When I saw all the hiking bumper stickers I knew it must be Mrs. Gorp. Sure enough, Stumpknocker walked up as I stared awkwardly at his car.
It was good to see them again, and they warned of a washed out bridge ahead. After shooting the breeze for awhile I moved on. It was getting dark and Mrs. Gorp said the Marsh Point Camp was nice.
As darkness approached I had not yet encountered any major missing bridges, but I soon found the area. There was a large marsh area with no boardwalk in place. Not only was there deep mud, but much of the area was under several feet of water. I took my time and successfully navigated this obstacle course in the dark without getting my feet wet.
After that major accomplishment I was ready to go to bed, so I set up my tarp along the trail somewhere just before Marsh Point. The St. Marks National Wildlife Refuge was throwing a few challenges my way but I was still in good spirits.