January 19
End: Old Godwin Home Site
Miles: 19.8
Total: 404.5
After surviving the drizzle without carrying shelter, I left Mosquito Hammock with Stinger and we entered Avon Park Air Force Range. There were no permit cards left to fill out, and the schedule for closings was for the previous seven days. I don’t want to mislead anyone into thinking the permits are a joke, but both this area and the Big Cypress reservation proved to me that they were never checked.
While navigating the range we came to the edge of the bombing area, but couldn’t hear any explosions. Later on we heard odd noises, and Stinger, who is ex-military, guessed that they were dropping inert bombs.
At some point I picked a wild lemon and kept it, and when we got to the Kissimmee campground someone had left wild oranges, which we ate. They tasted great. One of the papers at a kiosk claimed the area was closed, which we thought was funny.
We got back in view of the Kissimmee, and camped at an old town or home site. I was cold during the night because of dew on my sleeping bag, so I borrowed Stinger’s headlamp and foraged the sparse woods for fire fuel. That worked for a few hours, then I went back to sleep.
