February 16
End: Camel Lake Campground
Miles: 9.6
Total: 1043.8
Ready to get into a real town for some hot food, I set out to finish up the Apalachicola National Forest. I was soon getting drizzled on, but that had happened to me before, and I wasn’t too worried.
The rain picked up, and as I was getting my rain gear out the guy from Porter Lake pulled up and dropped off a hiker, Pokeyman. He was section hiking back to Porter Lake. As the rain started pouring we split up and I headed North.
I soon discovered that my rain gear, now a Tyvek painter’s suit, had a near-fatal flaw: it didn’t have a hood. Rain was pouring onto my head, running down my neck, and soaking all my clothes thoroughly. I was totally miserable.
The monsoon continued, and I wasn’t sure what to do. I pressed on through the downpour and arrived at Camel Lake Campground. I could see it had a building, so I took shelter and found a shower. I used it to stay warm and attempted to dry out my clothes.
A couple of U.S. Forest Service workers showed up to do some maintenance, and I hung out with them for a bit. The rain stopped, but it was not guaranteed to be over, and I was deathly afraid of getting wet again. I got a ride into Blountstown with one of the workers and we had lunch at Main Street Station.
A guy named Bennett offered to let me stay at his place in Crawfordville, which was nice. I could tell that he had his quirks, but he seemed nice enough. I soon learned that he had some odd ideas about lots of things, but I stuck with him because he offered to take me into Tallahassee.
In Tallahassee I got my second pair of shoes. My originals had been worn through and were causing me blisters after over a thousand miles. I also got some junk food and slept on an air mattress at Bennett’s place.