January 12
End: CR 835 Picnic Shelter
Miles: 37.3
Total: 264.5
Another night on the trail complete, I woke up occasionally and finally packed up and took off as the sun rose.
In the early morning I covered the ground to the Seminole Reservation. Coming in from a back road, I saw a few folks driving but not too many. I ended up walking through the whole reservation without speaking to anyone. I passed on Billie Swamp Safari since it was morning.
I passed the RV Resort and pressed on, looking for a mythical campground which was probably the RV Resort. I stopped at a small food store, which turned out to be a great choice.
I met a Brother, Ernesto, and his mom let me have Powerade and a fried chicken breast free since there were no stores for days afterwards. I also tested some homemade hot sauce, which was a devastating choice.
The walk from there was still on the shoulder of roads, and it was not short. After hours of that I neared a canal levee, which I took North for a long time.
A nice man talked to me after he was done checking his cattle, and later gave me a GatorAde. The folks in this area were friendly to hikers. It was also fun to run into Karen, whom I met at the store.
Darkness fell and I continued to walk. I met Swami, who was Southbound. He has done some of the IAT up in Canada and I would have loved to stay and chat for hours, but I needed to get to a good spot to sleep.
The night walk took awhile, but I finally arrived at some picnic shelters right on the road late in the night. I lay down, exhausted and sore after a long day.