FT2018 Day 6: Campsite on dike (mile 71.5) to Campsite on dike (mile 91.1)

19.6 FT miles

I got up before sunrise to get an early start on the hike today. The dike road I was camped next to connects several farms, so I figured cars would be rambling by when the sun came up and I might as well be up anyway.

Sunrise.
Morning on the dike road.


I followed the road for several miles passing by horses and cows. After I had stopped at a pavilion to rest, I saw a plane dusting crops in the adjacent field. Further drown I saw several plumes of black smoke which I assumed to be the sugar cane fields (burning is part of the harvesting process).

Horses next to the dike.

Eventually, I left the dike with the road and started crossing an unpaved dike. The vegetation was about shin height so I had to step high as I walked.

I was about to stop to pee when I noticed a boat in the canal. I've had to time my bathroom stops carefully because you are totally exposed on the dike. The two men in the boat greeted me as I walked by. They worked for Water Management and were spending their Saturday fishing for bass.

I headed down the dike to the waters edge and chatted with them for a bit. They offered me bottled water, which I gladly accepted. I was a little lower on water than I would have liked and I explained to them that I was hoping to avoid having to filter canal water. They strongly warned against that.

After leaving the fishermen, I continued down the dike for as couple miles before sitting down at a bend in the dike for lunch. It was incredibly pleasant. It was a sunny day, a nice temperature, and calmer now that I was further away from the road.

My calm lunch spot.


I took my phone off airplane mode and found that I had signal, so I checked the weather. It said that it was supposed to rain in the next hour or two. I looked up to the east and saw storm clouds way in the distance. Because of the way the canal is shaped, east was the direction I was headed.

I got up and kept heading down the dike. The wind grew cold and very strong. The looming storm clouds were quite intimidating and I  could see rain in the distance. Luckily, the clouds were being pushed south and it never quite reached me.

Heading towards the storm.


I neared the junction of another dike that also had a road. The warning on the Guthook app for this stretch was that you can't camp out of sight of the cars. You are camping right next to the dike road.

I stopped just before the junction to this next road. I needed a rest. I hadn't even gone 20 miles, which was not a challenge a couple months ago. What I was walking on now was flat too,as opposed to the mountains I was recently scaling. I have definitely lost my “hiking legs.”

While I was resting, I watched the dike road that I was approaching. It seemed to have pretty consistent traffic. I still had a could hours of daylight left, but I decided to set up my tent where I was. I would have a couple more miles of walking than I originally wanted tomorrow,  but I would have a better nights sleep tonight.
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