FT2018 Day 2: Campsite (mile 11.0) to Oak Hill Camp (mile 22.7)

11.7 FT miles

I took my sweet time getting up this morning, finally hitting the trail about an hour after I originally wanted to. It was just as damp and muddy as I had left it.

The trail itself continued just as it had yesterday, alternating between flooded path, muddy path, and dry path. The rain continued from last night as well. It was grey, windy, and chilly. It was a good weather combination to damper my mood.

Cypress swamp.

By lunch time I was in a bit of a foul mood. I felt guilty too because I knew once I moved past Big Cypress National Preserve I wouldn't be seeing this type of wilderness habitat again. I should have been enjoying it and not focusing on the weather.

Following the blazes through the swamp  

Vlog Part 1

I stopped at the misnamed Thirteen Mile Camp (It is over 16 miles in on the trail) to eat lunch. Since I was also on an extensive bit of dry ground I also took the opportunity to go off trail to use the bathroom.

When coming back to my bag,  I was greeted by another hiker. His name was Day Late and he had also stopped to eat lunch at the campground. He had camped the previous night at Seven Mile Camp, which meant he had already done four more miles than I had today. Thay definitely hurt my ego some.

The trail near 13 Mile Camp. 

Day Late told me he had also encountered three or four other hikers today. This surprised me as I didn't think anyone else had started from the Visitors Center yesterday. It sounded like some, if not all, of us were headed to the same campground tonight. The description said that it is not very big, so we all might be squeezed together.

After I left Thirteen Mile Camp, the trail continued its normal pattern for a couple miles. During this time, the sun started to make brief appearances and was a nice mood changer.

A brief bit of sun on the trail.

Finally, about 1.5 miles out of my intended campground, I hit the big swamp area. This was 1.5 miles of consistent wading. The mud/muck was thicker too, meaning I sunk down further with each step. There was also an uneven limestone pavement along with logs, roots, and cypress “knees,” making it more of a challenge to walk through than it had been previously.

The limestone pavement in a dry section. This is the reason why you occasionally sink to your knee in the swamp.

The blazes were a little harder to follow as well. Many were quite faded or peeling off. There seemed to be a mostly defined path through the swamp but I made sure to check my GPS position in the Guthook app just to be sure.

Trail marker in the swamp.

Bromeliads.

The one thing that this swamp wasn't was deep. It was no deeper than anything I had done previously on the trail, just longer. There were warnings of the Black Lagoon being up to waist deep.

By the end of my hike for the day the sun had finally started to peek through consistently, so I took my time and enjoyed the area. I had to laugh when I finally got to my campground

The sign was underwater. Luckily, when I walked down the path, the campground was on a raised island surrounded by trees.

Sunny swamp.

More bromeliads.

Oak Hill Camp sign.

Day Late was already there and set up. His tent took up almost half the exposed camping area. I found a space behind him that I could clear off and pitch my tent, leaving room for any late-comers.

As the sun went down, I took shelter in my tent from the mosquitos. I heard at least one other person come and set up a tent. I also looked at the Guthook app for notes about tomorrow.  Guthook has the Black Lagoon and “deep swamp" in the area just north of the campground. It looks like I may be in for a challenge after all.

Vlog Part 2