FT2018 Day 49: Campsite (mile 835.6) to Camel Lake Campground (mile 858.5)

22.9 FT miles, minus about 3 miles for evacuation

It was another grey morning. There was still fog, though not as much as there had been the past couple mornings. I picked up where I left off, moving through the pine forest. Soon after my campsite, the vegetation became dense and overgrown. I'm not exaggerating when I say I could have used a machete.

Soon after hitting that first wave of bushwhacking, I got to do my first wade of the day. It was my first of many. I was moving in and out of a lot of swampy areas. Some of them had boardwalks. Some of those boardwalks were even functional. However, none of them were long enough and I ended up wading through the water anyway.

A slightly scattered boardwalk.

Uh...

Vlog 1

The day definitely had a pattern to it. I would be on a forest road,  then the trail would turn into the pine forest. Almost always after this, the trail would dip in and out of vegetation that contained some form of swamp. It was like the trail had been specifically routed into the swamp area. Then, it would turn back into the pine forest, and the cycle would start again.

Pines.

Swamp.

Road. Repeat.

It was after lunch when the day got exciting. I stopped for lunch a little before highway 65, then crossed the highway. There was a very narrow stile.  It was kind of like a gate you could zig zag through. It was so narrow that I barely fit and had to force my pack through. I continued my trend for the day of road-pines-swamp.

Lunch break rest.

Vlog 2

I was in a pine section, approaching a road when I saw a forest service vehicle. It slowed down to a stop at the trail junction. I figured it was a ranger who either wanted to chat or check up on me. The two men who got out of the vehicle were wearing the yellow button down shirts of a fire crew. “Oh great,” I thought. They must be clearing the area for a controlled burn.

It turns out that they weren't clearing the area, they were actively burning it. They were surprised to see me and just happened to be driving by that junction when I had gotten there, seeing my orange hat moving through the vegetation.

There was no hint of what was going on. The fire was still far enough away that I didn't smell or see anything yet. According to the map, I would have been walking right into it had I continued.

I didn't even have the option of walking around the fire. One of the crew members had to temporarily abandon his assignment to immediately evacuate me out. I would break continuous steps on this trail for the same reason I had to break it on the PCT. Stupid fire.

As I was being evacuated out, I was asked if there was anyone behind me. I said that it was possible. I didn't know exactly where the other hikers were at the moment, but we are consistently moving through the area. It seemed news to them that this was the season for people to be on the trail in the area. I heard the command for the helicopter to do an aerial sweep of the Florida Trail. That seems like something that should have been done earlier.

I was also asked if I had seen the flagging when I entered the trail after crossing 65. The honest answer was “no.” I remember that stile and don't remember seeing flagging or signs. Could I have missed it? I miss double blazes a lot and those are bright orange. I was vindicated when I heard through the radio that someone had checked and the flagging was not there.

During my evacuation ride I also learned that they were doing the controlled burn by dropping something from helicopters. I noted that I had seen a helicopter earlier, a red one. I didn't think much of it at the time since it always seems like I am seeing helicopters and small aircraft in the wilderness. However, this piece of information startled him. In the future I will relate red helicopters with getting out of the area.

View of the burn as I was being shuttled around. 

I was dropped of at the northern edge of the burn, which was still smoldering, and sent on my way. The further down trail I walked the more emotional I got. When I was deep enough in the woods I got my anger out by screaming out obscenities and even having a short cry. I was furious about being forced out of my continuous steps again.

Smoldering forest near where I was dropped off.

Continuous steps was my main goal for this trail and I'm not that far from the northern terminus. It gets into some personal issues, but continuous steps has a much deeper meaning than some stupid challenge. I really, really needed it. It cuts pretty deep that I failed at it again when I was so close to the finish that I was making plans for my flight home.

I couldn't really concentrate on the rest of my hike today. I definitely couldn't enjoy it. I passed flagging and a trail closed sign for a burn area that had clearly been done for a while. There was green grass poking up. The forest service clearly didn't remove it when the trail reopened.

Abandoned sign and tape. Notice the bits of green grass.

Yep. That's an official sign.

This happened the other day too. I remember going under pink tape for a section that had been done for a while.  There were notes in the app for that section from several days ago noting the burn, which seemed to have been done by then as well. I honestly can't say what my reaction to seeing flagging at the trailhead would have been had it been there.

Frustrated, I rolled up on Camel Lake Campground. It was less miles than I wanted to walk today, but they had hot showers. If there was room, I could have used a mental break. I encountered another hiker, Mr. Breeze. He had camped here the previous night as well with Sugar Rush. I had just texted Sugar Rush to put up a warning about the fire closure on the Facebook page as I only had texting ability and no network.

The trail towards the end of the day.

As I was talking to Mr. Breeze and the camp host, I learned that the whole section of trail north of the campground was flooded, some parts up to waist deep, and they were recommending a road walk detour, starting at the campground. Since it didn't seem like there was any other place for me to camp anyway,  I paid for a site for the night.

Sunset at Camel Lake. 

Vlog 3

I took a hot shower,  washing off quite a bit of swamp, then ate dinner. I was so exhausted physically and emotionally that I passed out in my tent pretty early.