FT2018 Day 47: Bent Sapling Camp (mile 799.2) to Bradwell Bay South Trailhead (mile 817.9)

18.7 FT miles

It was another foggy morning. I started off walking through a pine forest again, but it was grey and misty because of the weather. I tried to walk through it as fast as I could. I had been too concerned yesterday about making the border with the national forest, that I didn't look at what was in this upcoming forest.

Morning on the trail .
At least it is cool looking fog.
The sun trying to break through the fog.


I was going to hit Bradwell Bay, which is the second official swamp area the trail goes through. It is much smaller than Big Cypress but whereas Big Cypress was a clearwater swamp, Bradwell Bay is a blackwater swamp. I had also been warned by Mostly Harmless to not go through at the end of the day and I saw that the deepest part started about 18 miles from where I had camped last night. Oops.

I didn't think I could get through the whole swamp today, but Good Man Gramps did quite a bit of note taking and suggested where to camp along that section that would still be dry.

After the forest, I came upon the Sopchoppy River. It was another blackwater river and the trail followed the banks for a stretch. It was a little tiring as the banks were hot and sometimes had steep sections. The breeze off the river itself was nice, but the section was exhausting.

The Sopchoppy River. 
A bend in the Sopchoppy .
The Sopchoppy flowing through cypresses.
Vlog 1


Next, I passed the trailhead for Bradwell Bay East. From what I had heard, the eastern part of Bradwell Bay was muddy, and it was the western part that was the challenging wading part.

I expected to hit mud and standing water quickly once I had entered. I expected wrong. It was dry scrub most of the way. Towards the end, there were some puddles and stream fords. Just as I had started to think that I  could clear the swamp in a day, I received a text from Sugar Rush saying the deeper part of the swamp takes 3 hours. I didn't quite have 3 hours of daylight left. I would have to camp at the trailhead before the deep swamp.

Pine forest in Bradwell Bay East.
Also the trail in Bradwell Bay East .


Even though I wasn't going to go through the deep swamp today, I got a refreshing warm-up about a half mile out from camp. The trail crossed a flooded creek. I got to about crotch deep before I used my hiking poles to poke around for the shallowest spots.

Yep. It looks like I'm supposed to go through that. 
Well, while I'm here I might as well filter water.

Vlog 2


After that, I made it to the trailhead where Nick was already set up. It was weird to set up camp so early. I played around on my phone, ate dinner, finished journaling, and went to bed early.

An unusual view.

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