FT2018 Day 5: Big Cypress RV (mile 47.8) to Campsite along canal (mile 71.5)

23.7 FT miles

I left Big Cypress RV around sunrise, heading northbound on the trail. Northbound was actually more like eastbound as I followed a road through the Seminole reservation.

After stopping for a quick snack at Cypress Landing, I crossed over and followed a dike. I'm not sure why, but this dike seemed to take forever to walk. I wanted to take my first break at the reservation border, but broke down and stopped to have a snack after only a couple miles.

A chickee outside of Cypress Landing. Chickees are traditional palm-thatched structures that were used for either cooking/eating or sleeping. I noticed many Seminole residents modernized the idea of a cooking/eating chickee by making it a barbeque area.

Walking the dike on the reservation. 

Cows on a Seminole farm next to the dike.

When I finally did exit Seminole lands, I immediately crashed. There really wasn't a good place to take a break, so I did so right on a bridge. My feet were swollen and I was tired. I was carrying a heavier bag than usual do to my resupply yesterday and the extra water I was carrying.

I was surrounded by water but it was full of agricultural runoff and alligators. The temps were still cold for Florida, so most of the gators were still hanging out at the bottom of the canals, but I did see one sunning itself on the bank as I moved north.

Vlog 1

Water control structure on the dike. Exciting. 

Caracara sighting.

Sugar cane harvest in the distance.

Otherwise, the dike walk was very monotonous. Towards the end of the day, I walked off trail to a pavilion that had privies, picnic tables, and a pitcher pump.

A temporary hiking buddy.

I was surprised to see someone else already sitting there. It was another thru-hiker named Woodchuck. I had seen her a couple times before but had never actually spoken to her before. She tended to get to the campsites after dark when I was already in my tent.

While chatting with Woodchuck, someone drove up and parked at the pavilion. He walked up and was curious why we were there without cars. We explained to him about the Florida Trail. When he pulled up, Woodchuck was huddled in her sleeping bag and I had my stuff spread out on the table. From the distance he mistook us for hobos and was worried about his safety.

The man had arrived early for a large duck hunt that was going to go on the next day. He said at 4:30 am the next day,  the pavilion area was going to be filled with 50 hunters. It was a good thing he had gotten there early and told us because Woodchuck was tired, cold, and thinking of just spending the night there. That would have been a nasty shock the next morning.

We both packed up and headed down the dike to camp away from the 50 hunters. I had planned to do bigger miles today, about 25, and hike into the evening. I just wanted to get this dike/canal section over with.

As the sun went down, I started checking the app for where I would camp tomorrow, which would determine how much further I would go tonight. There was not a good site near Clewiston. There was construction on the dike and an 8.4 mile roadwalk with no shoulder to avoid construction prior to the town .

Sunset on the dike.

I had two choices. I could either walk well into the night, and try to get to Clewiston by the end of the day tomorrow,  or do two days that were a little shorter than I wanted, and do 9-10 miles into Clewiston the following day.

At first, I considered trying to hit Clewiston tomorrow. Then I realized that I hadn't walked anything close to the distances needed to get there in several months. I could probably do it, but it wouldn't be fun and I would risk injury. I was hoping to regularly do 25-30 miles days on this trail, but it was best to build up to it. After I had made that decision, I stopped right there and set up my tent on a flat-ish spot off the dike road. 

Vlog 2