FT2018 Day 33: Turkey Oak Campground (mile 519.3) to Cow Creek Campsite (mile 535.7)

16.4 FT miles

My neighbors at the campground last night were a group of young adults in their early 20s. They were chatting around the fire late into the night with their music playing. It was turned low, but I could still hear it. It went on until at least midnight.

I really wanted to sleep past my alarm. Since I didn't go very many miles, yesterday was supposed to be my recovery day. Instead,  I was very tired this morning. At least my electronics were fully charged.

I had to get going at first light because I had a big day ahead of me. I wanted to go about 24-26 miles to unofficial tenting areas along a long railway walk. That way, I would have a shorter day into Lake Butler tomorrow, getting in town with plenty of time to do town chores and hopefully beating the worst of the incoming rain storm.

As I was leaving camp, I scared several deer. One was kind enough to pose for me to capture it on video. After that, I headed around the lake and up a sandhill into a section of recently burned forest.

Devil's Wash Basin in Gold Head Branch State Park. 

Burned section of the trail.

Last night, when she dropped off the package from my mom, Janie (the trail angel) warned me that the whole northern part of Gold Head Branch was burned. As I was walking through the section, I found an interpretive sign that explained why. The local pines are fire resistant. However, without the regular fires that used to take place in Florida before human development, other trees such as oaks will outcompete the pines and displace them. So,  in order to maintain the pines forest, it has to be burned every couple of years.

I exited Gold Head Branch State Park and crossed the highway to Camp Blanding, heading through that section of the trail. At first I was walking through deep sand, like you would find at a beach. Then, I headed through a tunnel cut through the scrub. If you looked closely, you could see Lake Lowry through the trees. Finally, I came down to the shores of Magnolia Lake.

Magnolia Lake .

The lake was fringed in oak trees, all of which were decorated with copious amounts of Spanish moss. It was pretty, and made for some nice shade. The trail took the long way around the lake and I stopped at a nice pavilion overlooking the lake for lunch.

Vlog 1

I got my phone out to check updates, mostly for any word of my tent poles. I knew a couple people were hiking through that area today.  I discovered a single comment, buried in a large comment thread, that they had been found. I had the number for one of the people in the group (Mina). She had seen a few of my vlogs and had messaged me to give her a call if I needed anything in the Orlando area.

The message was buried in “message requests" on Facebook, which was something that I never checked. I had only checked (and saw her message) yesterday when someone had told me that they had sent me a PM.

I was glad to see the phone number in the message and gave her a call. She said that her group had my poles (they were exactly where I thought I left them) and we needed to come up with a location to find me tonight. I told her I would look for a place on the app and get back go her.

I was scrolling through the app when I was approached by a couple of day hikers. They made some comment about seeing a backpacker, and I made some comment back. Then, I recognized the voice. It was Janie (the trail angel!) and two other women from the local FTA chapter.

I explained the situation and Janie immediately volunteered to go retrieve them for me. I called Mina, who handed her phone over to the hiking group leader, Jackie. After playing middleman between Jackie and Janie for a couple questions, I just handed the phone over to Janie so that the two women could work out logistics themselves.

When it was settled, Janie was going to drive down to Rodman Dam (which I think is a 45 min drive each way) and bring my poles to one of her favorite campsites in the area, Cow Creek. This campground was about 8 miles less than I had planned to go today. Whatever. I was getting my tent poles back, which was all that mattered.

Janie and the other ladies took off and I enjoyed a leisurely lunch, since I was less than 7 miles from the campground. Eventually, I packed up and headed out of Camp Blanding.

The majority of the rest of the day was a road walk. I was able to stop at a mini mart for snacks and then made it to the campsite  around 4 pm. The campsite was a picnic table and a grassy area next to a pasture. I set up my mat on the picnic table and proceeded to transfer my journal entry from two days ago onto my phone. I had written it on a notepad because I was worried about cell battery at the time.

Cow Creek Campsite .

While I was transferring the journal entry, I learned why the campsite was named Cow Creek. The cows were let out to pasture. I continued transferring my entry and, after a while, I looked up. The cows at the far corner of the pasture were grazing happily. The half a dozen that were nearer were just staring at me. I got a couple angry moos as well. Cows are weird.

Around sundown, Janie and her son came to deliver my poles. I was so excited to have them in my possession again. Getting them back tonight meant I had a long, rough day in store for me tomorrow, but I now had a sturdy shelter for tonight and the nights to come. Now, if those frogs could shut up and that person stop their target practice, I could go to sleep. 

My poles are back!

Vlog 2