2022 Swamp Creatures Hike

2022 - Into the Swamp They Go

This hike has ended but photos of the experience are now uploaded here: Photos

Update: A new journey of another section of the Florida Trail is being contemplated.

Prelude - Into the Swamp They Go

Five intrepid Appalachian Trail hikers have decided to trade the rocks, roots, ascents and descents for rain, mud, muck and water and tackle the 61.4 miles of the Ocean to Lake Hiking Trail. The trail is maintained by the Florida Trail Association - Loxahatchee Chapter and promises to provide a much different experience than that provided by the miles each of the hikers endurred on the AT.

Day 1 - Rain, Rain Stay Away

The schedule called for 7:00a exit from east central Florida for the hikers to make its way to the Lost Trailhead on the east coast of Lake Okeechobee. While not exactly on time, the slight delay in getting car bound paled in comparison to the time spent searching for donuts, coffee and appropriate breakfast sandwich. Once the breakfast food and drink list had been checked, the travel began in earnest and was uneventful.

Arrival at the Lost Trailhead seemed to ignite some nervous energy in the hikers as they did final adjustments to their gear and undertook the obligatory trail launch photos. Once the photos were complete, the hikers turned south and took their first steps on the Ocean to Lake Trail. For those familiar with the famous white "blaze" of the Appalachian Trail, please note on the below pictures that the "blaze" is present but with a more of a colorful presentation.

While the forecast showed a high probability of rain and the hikers began their day concerned about the anguish that rain would bring to their journey, fortune smiled upon the intrepid five and no precipitation fell. Camp was made approximately 15 miles after the start. Ken created a fire, dinner was had and tents were set up well before the radar showed rain was to descend upon the Swamp Creatures. A good first day.

Miles complete: 15.0 miles

Miles to go: 46.4 miles

Day 2 - Ocean to Lake Trail Version of “Waiter, There Is A Fly In My Soup!” and "The Swamp is Real"

As the hikers awoke the rain overnight was evident and the reviews and information warning of the difficulties of hiking in Florida (vs. the AT) became evident. Water.

Water was the constant companion today as it greeted each step as the rain the prior night had no where to go as the ground is low and already saturated. As seen below, given the conditions, the hikers were happy for light weight, breathable footwear and Five Pair happily modeled the last in knee high water proof socks.

***** We Interrupt the Regularly Scheduled Program to Bring You this Important Message *****

The hikers review and research of information regarding this trail and many portions of The Florida Trail provide instruction/warning regarding the retrieval of water: (1) Have a partner there with you, and (2) Get your water quickly and move away from the shore. The instruction driven by the desire to avoid unpleasant interactions with Florida water borne reptilians.

Below please see the rules in action:

***** We now Return You to Your Regularly Scheduled Program *****

Day 3 - Parliament and An Answer to Why

The hikers awoke on their island having experienced a different overnight than previous evenings on this trail and their various other hiking experiences.

The "island" surrounded by the marsh, swampy area that they had trudged through the prior day that was the location of the campsite was also occupied by others, albeit at an elevated level. A "parliament". Before this night, Ground Control would not have know what a parliament was in the wild but, due to the description of this evening, an education has provided a couple new facts. A parliament is a group of owls living in close proximity to each other. Okay, great, but where did that name come from? Well some sources attempt to credit author C.S. Lewis as he refers to a group of owls as a parliament in his 1950s book, The Chronicles of Narnia. However, it appears the actual origin may be derived from a different author 600 years earlier. Geoffrey Chauser, the 14th century poet, penned the "Parlement of Foules", which describes a large parliament of birds. So apparently, owls sometimes roost close to one another for various reasons including watching out for predators and to act as sentries for each other or simply because of abundance of prey in the area.

In this instance, the sense is this parliament is due to the later reason as the hikers were treated to the screeching of animals throughout the night as the owls brought the quarry back to the island, and feasted above the hikers.

As the sun rose and the hikers busied themselves for the coming day, knowing that the morning would bring more moist hiking. But as in life as all "good" things come to an end, so it is with trudging through marsh and swamp as the hikers soon found themselves on a completely different surfaces and into the blazing sun. The hikers have found this trail very well maintained and well marked with blazes.

As the hike continued, only to transition back through a different environment and then back into another swampy environment, the hike brought them upon an elevated hiker oasis in the middle of the swamp which contained a picnic table and water pump that was embraced by the hikers.

Onward they soldiered passing by various sights....

A young follower of the hikers having seen the condition of the hiking environment posed this question: "Why is Grandma Bear walking in a puddle?" The answer to this "Why" escapes many, including this author, and we are left unsatisfied by retorts such as "Because she can" or "To get to the other side."

So while it may not provide a specific, definitive answer to the question, in this instance a picture may in fact be worth a thousand words.

17.4 miles completed today and the Swamp Creatures are on the home stretch.

Miles complete: 42.4 miles

Miles to go: 19.0 miles

Day 4 - The Journey ends ... at Wally World

With 19 miles to go the hikers set off towards the eastern terminus of the Ocean to Lake Trail and continued through swamp, marsh, sand dunes and Florida scrub environment, forest and enjoyed, unlike the frequency found on the AT, a "luxury" stop at a convenience store. If it is to be believed based upon the descriptions from tired, wet, hot, hungry for potato chips, ice cream, Cadbury chocolate and soda and chocolate milk thirsty hikers, this 7-Eleven was the greatest convenience store on the face of the Earth.

While hiking its not unusual for hikers to come across items of interest and today, Ken stumbled across antlers which Five Pair considered to be a lucky find. Ken is a rarity having undertaken a AT Through Hike and came out without a trail name. Five Pair attempted to remedy this matter in her mind by attempting to bestow "Lucky Buck" as his trail name given the antler find. So are their "rules" related to trail names"?

According to Hiker Times (hikertimes.com):

Like with most things hiking you're free to choose your own path. However, traditionally trails names have been given to a person as opposed to someone naming themself. ... You can reject any trail name someone gives you or adopt a new one at any time.

"Lucky Buck" status: rejected. :)

A location was identified for the post hike feast and a feast was had.

While this would normally mark the end of the journal for this hike, during the post hike feast Pikachu was asked about the status of her cruise that was to set off from Port Canaveral the next day. A hush fell over the table and a grimace appeared. A story unraveled that while Five Pair was in the Greatest Convenience Store on the Face of the Earth, she looked out to see Mileage and Pikachu engaged in an embrace with Pikachu looking distressed. The reason? The State of Florida has several cruise "Ports" and sadly, Pikachu had mistakenly believed that her cruise set off from Port Canaveral (very close to Mileage's home) only to have just been advised the actual location was "Port Everglades" (175 miles south). A bit of stress ensued but as previously stated on the other journals here, the hiking community is a caring, supportive group and a plan was soon agreed that Mileage would drive Pikachu to Port Everglades (without Aunt Edna) the next morning and see her onto her cruise. So while this situation did not end with John Candy and Chevy Chase on a roller coaster together, a happy ending was had.

19.0 miles completed today and the Swamp Creatures have completed the Ocean to Lake Trail.

For those familiar with Five Pair and her picture taking (10,000 during her AT Through Hike), pictures will be posted later today from the "portfolio" of pictures found on Five Pair's camera.

Miles complete: 61.4 miles

Miles to go: 0.0 miles