FT2018 Day 12: Yates Marsh South campground (mile) to Starvation Slough Campground

I had another big day ahead of me. Because camping in this section was by permit only, I had to hike about 23 miles. The only other camping options were either too close or too far away.

Because it was another big day, I woke up early and started before sunrise. I wasn't the only one up though. As I was packing up inside my tent I saw other lights. I looked out my tent to see a couple pick up trucks parking next to the campground. I packed up and noisily passed them, though we did not speak to each other.

I then proceed to try to make my way through Yates Marsh.  It was still dark out. On the PCT there was almost always an obvious trail under your feet to follow in the dark. That was not the case here. I followed the beaten path as best I could,  but ended up going off trail a couple times. The orange blazes are not reflective either.

I crashed my way through Yates Marsh and was treated to an amazing sunrise. After that the trail was easier to see. I exited Yates Marsh over a stile, which is a wooden ladder that takes you over a gate/fence. Then I had a little road walk to Chandler Slough.

Yates Marsh sunrise.

Stile exit of Yates Marsh. 

I made a mistake when I first entered by following the levy,  but was able to backtrack quickly. The trail was better than a levy,  it actually went through a beautiful wooded area with palms and oaks.

Wooded trail in Chandler Slough. 

This area had plenty of spiders. I found this out when I  almost walked face first into a black dot.  They had woven their webs right across the trail. There were several that I didn't see until the last minute. Luckily, I did not get any on me as the spiders all successfully scurried away as I went barreling through their webs. When I took the time to look, they were very pretty spiders with black/white patterned backs and red spikes.

As I continued through Chandler Slough, I passed some open prairie with some large oaks. I stopped under one of the oaks to eat the dinner I decided not to have last night. That is when Day Late came walking by. I thought he was way ahead of me. It turns out I knew both of my campsite  companions last night. Those tents belonged to Woodchuck and Day Late.

"Bridge" in Chandler Slough WMA. 

Large oak in Chandler Slough WMA. 

Under the oak tree.

I exited Chandler Slough and took a road walk for several miles. Once I got onto Hwy 98, the trail would follow the very busy highway for a little ways,  then cut back into Chandler Slough. The Florida Trail website has a closures page, and it was recommended to take the high water route at this location, which followed 98 to the northern  Chandler Slough exit point.

Vlog 1

Sometimes the difficulty of trail conditions can be overstated. Usually my philosophy is to see what they are like myself and prepare to turn around if necessary. I didn't have the option to do that today because my campsite was about 23 miles away. So, I voluntarily took the highway walk, and I hate highway walking.

Along the highway was the hiker-friendly Cracker Trail Country Store. As soon as I came up on the porch, a couple guys said “Hikers!” This is not the reaction I usually get on the trail. I saw Day Late inside and sat with him at a table while I ordered a pulled pork sandwich and some tater tots. I spent way too much time there as the staff let me charge my electronics and refill my fountain drink.

Cracker Trail Country Store. 

When I finally left the country store, I kept walking down 98. The high water alternate had white blazes that were painted on posts and the highway itself. Eventually I saw those blazes change from white to orange.  For some reason my reaction was, “Huh, looks like they ran out of white paint.”

I walked to where the regular trail came out and crossed the street as there was a sign for another public land and I assumed that was where I was supposed to go. I did a little blurb for my vlog, then check my GPS. I was off trail. I was heading towards a campground used by Florida Trail Hikers, but the actual trail went north on 98.

My heart sunk a little. I had gone past the turn off. That was why the blazes had changed color. I was 0.4 miles away from where I should have turned, meaning when I went back I would have done about a mile more of highway walking than I needed to.

I got the turn off that I was supposed to take, and felt my insides churning. I needed to use the bathroom. At that corner was a civic center, so I thought I'd check to see if there were bathrooms. I saw a few women milling out back and, thinking they worked there, asked if there was a bathroom I could use. They said “Inside.”

I walked in the building and stopped dead in my tracks. There were families sitting at several rows of table and a handful of high school aged girls in dresses milling around in front of a table that had a cake and party snacks. I think I walked in on a teenager’s birthday party.

One of the adults asked if they could help me and I stumbled out the bathroom line again. They pointed to it and said it was occupied. So,  I stood there dirty, smelly, wearing a big backpack, and only feet away from the fashionable teenagers. I heard one of them (I think the birthday girl) say kind of passive-aggressively, “It's not like this is a super public place.” It was then followed by, “Whatever, I'm not like that.” Now, it has been a while since I have spoken “teenage girl,” but I believe that roughly translates to “I'm kind of annoyed but will play it off like I'm totally cool.”

I used the bathroom, smiled and thanked anyone who would actually looked at me (they were kind enough to wave back), and headed back on trail. Personally, I was embarrassed,  but physically I felt much better.

I looked at what was in store for the rest of the day. I was disappointed when it turned out to be almost entirely road walking. I put my headphones in and gritted it out. My feet, which had been doing well most of the day, started to swell painfully again on the paved roads.

I entertained myself as best as I could. I was passing a lot of farm/ranch land so I took to observing bovine behavior. Most of the cattle I would pass would get really nervous and run at my approach. I laughed when I started to pass dairy cows. Instead of running away, they walked right up to the fence and stuck their heads over. I guess they have a much different interaction with people than the other kind.

Roadwalk views and entertainment. 

Pounding more pavement.

It was a long and excruciating walk to Starvation Slough.  Considering how much time I spent at the country store and how much backtracking I had done, I didn't know if I would get to my campsite (just inside the entrance) with daylight left.

Vlog 2

Luckily, I did. The gate to the public lands had to be climbed (It was in the entrance instructions). I would not have liked to do that it the dark.

I shuffled the 0.2 mile to the campground and saw a hunter camp set up at one of the sites. Behind it Day Late was waving to me. He had found another couple sites tucked in the back. There was enough light left that I ate dinner at the picnic table with Day Late before we tucked into our tents. The low was going to dip into the 30s tonight and the temps dropped a lot as soon as the light disappeared.

While I was in my tent I heard a voice say, “Hello, neighbors.” The hunter from the other campsite had returned. He warned that he was going to run a generator for a little while, but also offered the use of his power strip to charge our phones. I had been using way more electricity than intended so I took him up on it.

Not only did he let me charge my phone  while journaling and uploading, but he gave me a couple of beers as well. We chatted while I worked and he said that another hiker named Good Man Grumps had been at that camp the night before. He also explained to me about his hunting gear (bow/arrow). I had no idea archery could be so high tech with lighted sights and ~$50/piece arrows. Eventually it got cold enough that I had to climb in my tent and go to bed.