January 11
End: Nobles Road Camp
Miles: 18.3
Total: 227.2
After my first night on the Florida Trail I got up and got ready to leave. I cooked up some nice hot mashed potatoes and put on my nice cold, wet socks in anticipation of more swampy goodness.
I bid my campmate Brian farewell and hit the trail. He had warned me that I would be in the water for about eight straight miles but that had not really registered in my brain yet.
I got the message real fast as my ankles got reacquainted with the wet terrain and never left it. The real problem is that so many hikers have done this path that there is a trench underwater that continues to deepen.
The water went on for about seven miles without a break. Some of it was knee deep as I crossed a lagoon or two. Needless to say, I wasn’t in a good mood after a few miles of this type of terrain. What was interesting the day before was now a bad joke.
Finally signs of dry land appeared, and after about another mile, I was out of the swamp. Eventually I got to the I-75 rest area, where I rested physically, mentally, and emotionally after spending the past day and a half in the Big Cypress swamps.
After throwing my swamp shoes out and getting water I made my way with some difficulty to Nobles Road, and got to the Nobles Road Camp, where I got lots of firewood for a great camp fire. I had some good camp food and lay under the stars. Another long day on the Florida Trail was over.
