December 29, 2017

After we finished our Okefenokee Swamp paddle, Karen took me to her favorite place in Florida, where the Florida Trail ambles through the Ocala National Forest (600+ square miles) in north central Florida. We drove my car down a long sandy access road to the Hopkins Prairie Campground, situated square in the center of the forest. We found an open tentsite beneath huge live oak trees facing the wetland prairie and set up camp for the night as the temperature plunged back into the 30s. We checked out their very large and famous bat house, but it was empty after storm damaged it last year and repairs chased off any remaining bats.

The next dawn was cold, crisp, clear and bright but it warmed up quickly as we packed up for a 2-day hike on the Florida Trail. The Appalachian Trail it is not. There are no mountains or valleys. No thousand-foot climbs or mile-long ridgewalks. But it was a challenging hike in its own right with loose sand in areas that dragged on my feet and legs, and hard-packed sand in others that pounded my knees and feet. I was stunned, though, by the beauty of the trail and sudden, surprising transitions from wetland prairie to dense inland scrub to towering sandy pine forest.

We camped overnight at Grassy Pond, 16-miles along the Florida Trail. The next day clear and cold just like the last. But before we retraced our steps back to Hopkins Prairie, we decided to pick up some trash that had been left by more careless folk. It made us feel good to leave it better than we found it.

The hike back was just as stunning as the day before, noticing even more of the details I’d missed yesterday – all the different pines and palms and grasses and scrub. The light was stunning and so was my hiker babe.

We made it back – a total of 32 miles in 2 days – with an hour to spare before sunset. Back at our tent, two warm sleeping bags were waiting. And inside the car, some crackers, canned smoked oysters and a bottle of cheap Champagne were on ice ready to usher in our new year and life together.

Every trail has its own personality and I was in love with a new trail.

~ Rusty

Epilogue: Two years later, we returned to Hopkins Prairie for a few days of hiking and camping. Amazingly, the bats had returned to the bat house and I was able to take this awesome video right at sunset. Enjoy!