Wednesday 3/1/00 14 miles/1109 total. 67 trail days. Dismal Creek on SR 20 to Freeport.
This morning we worked on “logistical chores”. I had some work to do on both vehicles, Betty got on an internet phone line to load about 10 days of journal entries on the website, plus I ordered a pack to replace my favorite old mountain pack. We had been best of friends off and on for 28 years. Twice before, I had tossed it, but later would pull it out of the trash and fix it enough to last a while longer. It’s really gone this time.
While I did a short day of hiking, Betty found a laundromat in Freeport and waited for me to hike to her. An uneventful road hike.
Thursday 3/2/00 25 miles/1134 total. 68 trail days. Freeport to Walden Rd on US 90 (thru DeFuniak Springs). Roadwalk through DeFuniak Springs then on US 90 to Walden Road, about 7 miles east of Mossy Head (SR 285).
This morning Betty went to Eglin AFB and got a permit that I need to hike the new Eglin portion of the FT. She also picked up a decal for the car at Vehicle Registration. This afternoon she downloaded our e-mail messages. We had a message from Mack Thetford saying that he and Vernon Compton are departing tomorrow for the annual FT conference and won’t be able to hike with me. Too bad, because they are both loaded with local information. Vernon is the Section Leader here and has been directing a lot of trail construction that is on the route I plan to take. Mack works at the University of Florida Field Station and is very knowledgable about local plant life. I phoned Vernon and he gave me an outline of the completed and partially completed trails I could take.
The good news is that we received a call from Ed Walker, whom I had met last November while helping with the construction of the Eglin trail. Ed told me how to get on some of the most recently completed trail on Eglin. He plans to meet me on the trail tomorrow. Also he may be able to hike with me again on Monday.
Friday 3/3/00 18 miles/1152 total. 69 trail days. Walden Rd on US 90 thru Eglin to Stokes Rd.
We moved the RV forward to Mossy Head and parked beside the road for the day. Betty took me back to my start point and I knocked out about five more road miles. Just as I was walking up to the junction of SR 285 at Mossy Head, Ed Walker arrived. We drove to the point that the trail enters Eglin AFB and discussed the route while referring to several maps. Ed could not hike today, but thought he could get away on Monday. He drove me back to our meeting point and he departed. By the time I had lunch, hiked to the Eglin trail, and doctored a blister, it was 1:30 pm. Parts of the new Eglin trail were well marked and trimmed. Other parts were only flagged with colored tape. My progress was much slower than usual for this type terrain. Sometime during mid-afternoon, Ed called on the cell phone to clarify the exit point that Betty should meet me. He also said that the trail I was hiking was 3 or 4 miles longer than he had told me earlier and that as much as a mile of the trail was not marked. As I moved on, it was obvious that, at the slow rate I was moving, I would not complete the additional length until well after dark. It is very difficult to follow a trail at night; some of the blazes are a challenge in the daytime. When I came upon a northbound dirt road, I decided to head for US 90 rather than grope for the trail in the night. Also, weighing on my mind was the situation with Eglin AFB. Only recently had the officials at Eglin finally permitted a trail on their base. This trail is not really completed nor is it actually open for public use. I certainly did not want to take a chance on embarrassing the Florida Trail Association with a search and rescue operation even before the trail was finished.
The dirt road north to US90 was through Shoal River Ranch, a huge peanut farm. The area had not yet been planted and appeared to be a wasteland in all directions. As I stopped for a drink from my water bottle, a young man drove alongside in a new diesel pick-up with two dogs in the back. After chatting a few minutes Scott Sherril offered me a ride out to US 90 (the opposite direction he was going). I thanked him, but declined. He had a four-wheeler in the back of the pick-up and said I was welcome to drive it out to the highway and he would get it later. I explained that the trace I was walking must not be interrupted. Scott is the resident foreman and lives in a nice, but isolated house that I had passed earlier. He and his young bride seem to work hard, but have a good life and a bright future.
Soon after Scott went on his way, a road grader came by me. Tom also wanted to give me a lift. Another mile or so down this isolated farm road, Scott drove up again and offered to let me stay in a bunk house nearby and wanted to know what my plans were for dinner. After multiple thanks, he turned around and went back toward his house.
Shortly after arriving at US 90, I saw a Holiday Rambler, RV, coming toward me, it was Betty towing the Honda. We waved at each other, but she could not pull of the road for about two miles. In just a few minutes, she had parked the RV, unhitched the Honda and was back to get me.
We found an abandoned parking lot and called it home for the night. After a beer and pizza at Pizza Hut next door, my feet felt better. It was a long day.
Saturday 3/4/00 21 miles/1173 total. 70 trail days. Stokes Rd to 2 miles west of Holt on US 90.
Betty took me to Stokes Road (a private, paved lane up to some buildings under large trees). As I started hiking toward Crestview, I noticed an elderly couple on the hill, out for a morning walk. It was nearly a mile before Betty drove by me on her way back to the rig. Later, she told me that the couple, the Stokes, had walked down to chat with her. They like to walk and were interested in our hike.
About 9AM I was passing a convenience store and stopped for a mid-morning snack. There was a National Guard Armory next door and several soldiers in their BDUs (Battle Dress Uniform aka Camouflage Fatigues) were at the rear of the building. As I walked through the Armory parking lot, I noticed the front door was open and stepped inside the entryway. An old bearded man wearing a backpack, shorts and a crumpled hat with a walking stick in one hand and a bottle of milk and a cherry turnover in the other, must look pretty “homeless”. Their trophy case had lots of unit awards, citations and trophies; it was a 160th Signal Company. A cute, young PFC walked up and asked if she could help me. I told her that I saw the unit awards for service during Desert Storm and that I knew Signal units were key to our success there. “Did you accompany the unit to Desert Storm”?, I asked. She chuckled and said “Oh no, I was only in the forth grade then”. Then she added, “were you in the military when you were young?” A little embarrassed by the whole conversation, I told her, “Yes, I was in the ‘Old Army’!” and bid her farewell as I made a hasty exit. Walking on, my mind was busy trying to calculate how this soldier could have possibly been in grade school during the seemingly recent Desert Storm. Just after passing through the busy town of Crestview and back in a very rural area, a couple of older men asked about my hike. One of them observed, “Well, guess you aren’t too concerned about the gas prices that are reaching record highs.”
For over a hundred miles when along some highways, there have been many work crews with specialized heavy equipment installing under-ground cables. It is the portion of the “Information Super Highway” from Houston, Texas to Tallahassee. They bury 12 plastic conduit cables three or four feet deep. The conduit is empty as they will “snake” fiber optic cable through it later. This is one big linear operation strung out (off and on) for miles. Surveyors, crews checking for previously buried cables and gas lines, tractor trailers hauling materials and equipment, plus hundreds of others, all working to make our little website a bit faster to download.
Meanwhile, Betty has been up to Blackwater River State Park and then to the State Forest checking on campsites, roads, trails and a possible church for Sunday. When she picked me up, we moved the RV to a spot on Hurricane Lake in the northern part of Blackwater River State Forest. This will be our last campsite in Florida before moving into Alabama and the Conecuh National Forest in about three days.
Sunday 3/5/00 8 miles/1181 total 71 trail days. 2 miles west of Holt on US 90 to Blackwater River State Park entrance. We took the morning off to accompany our new neighbors, Sam and Toby plus the campground hostess Shirley to a local country church – the Good Hope Congregational Church. We followed Sam about 10 miles in a cloud of dust down dry clay surfaced roads. It was a small but very friendly group and man, could they sing!! Over one-half of the congregation was in the choir. Upon hearing the first few notes roll out of the piano, we knew it was jubilation time. They (we) sang 10 or 12 lively hymns only breaking long enough to announce the page number of the next song. After the service, we all had a “pitch-in” lunch in the backroom. Great food and desserts to die for. Hanging from the ceiling in this community room were large quilting frames that had been hoisted up to clear the tables for the feast. Jeanette Henderson and I talked at length about the history of the area. Jeanette is a prime mover with the local museum in nearby Baker, Florida.
In the afternoon it was back on the trail. Just before hiking into Holden, I turned north off the traditional Florida Trail that goes another 70 miles to Fort Pickens at the west end of Pensacola Beach. I went north on Timber Crest Road toward Blackwater River State Park and Blackwater River State Forest, a spur of the Florida Trail that has been authorized for “thru-hikers” going on northward. We plan to come back sometime (maybe next fall) and hike more of the Eglin portion when it is completed.
Betty met me at the State Park entrance and we were soon at our campsite on Hurricane Lake.
Monday 3/6/00 14 miles/1195 total. 72 trail days. Blackwater River State Park entrance to SR 4 and McVey Road. Ed Walker was unable to phone us last night to coordinate a meeting place because our cellular connection was very weak. This morning I stood on top of the RV and got a weak connection. Ed’s wife said he was on the way. Betty and I found him on a road near the FT. He left his truck near the entrance to Blackwater River State Park and we hiked north to the start of Jackson Trail (also FT). Ed had worked on some sections of this trail. He told me about the challanging mission of the Western Gate Chapter. They are one of the smallest chapters in the Florida Trail Association, but may be responsible for the most miles of trail. Just the job of constructing about 80 miles of new trail on Eglin AFB is daunting. Vernon Compton, the Section Leader, and his dedicated group of volunteers are doing a great job methodically working away at this overwhelming task.
Even though the forest is budding more and more each day, it is very dry. Ed said last year was drier than normal and that this past January the rainfall was eight inches below normal.
In the afternoon a fire broke out in the southern part of Blackwater River State Forest, about 15 miles south in the area I hiked through yesterday.
We were early when we reached SR 4, where we planned to meet Betty. She arrived a few minutes later and took us back to Ed’s truck. I was glad Ed wanted to hike again tomorrow, we had a pleasant day and the conversation helped the miles slip by painlessly.
Betty had spent the day driving forward to Alabama to check on campsites, checked in at the park headquarters where Gladys and Alex provided the maps we will need in the next couple days and said she could update the website at their headquarters while we are in their area. She also arranged with David Kramer, at Blackwater River State Forest to tap into a phone line to update the website tomorrow. The folks at the Forest Headquarters are very busy with maintenance and fire fighting and prevention, so we appreciate their letting us use one of their lines. We will move the RV into Alabama on Wednesday.
As Betty and I arrived at our campsite on Hurricane Lake, Shirley, the Campground Hostess invited us to join the five other campers around a campfire for chili dogs. It was great food and the stories got better as the night went on. Elmer told about the snuff dipping old woman who ran a country grill with a short order grill. He said you could tell she was level headed because the juice ran out of both corners of her mouth. It also sometimes dripped on the grill, therefore her hamburgers were locally known as “snuff burgers”.
Tuesday 3/7/00 16 miles/1211 total. 73 trail days. McVey Rd on SR 4 to Hurricane Lake North Campground. Ed met us at our campsite on Hurricane Lake and left his truck there. Betty drove Ed and I to our start point on SR 4.
Our hike continued NW on Jackson Trail. By noon we turned left on the Wiregrass Trail and were moving north toward Hurricane Lake. The blazes on the Wiregrass Trail are white and easier to spot than orange, but they seem more out of place in the forest.
As we walked across the dam at Hurricane Lake, Betty and my sister, Mae, were walking toward us. Mae, who lives in Naples, had arrived a couple of hours earlier. Betty had intended to be there when Mae arrived but she was flagged down by three kids who had rolled their car. She took them to Crestview, an extra 40 mile loop.
We visited a while, drove some of the roads in the area we would hike across tomorrow, and went to dinner at the Gator Cafe in Baker. Our waitress, Meegan, was a perky young lady from Crestview. She was the final benefactor of the triple tip play until we find more cash alongside the road.
When we returned to camp, Shirley Keel, the campground hostess, and our neighbors, Sam and Toby Wimberly sat around our picnic table having ice cream and strawberries. Sam & Toby related some of their RV travels including an adventure to Alaska. Sam said one thing he had learned about driving a big rig was that if it looks like it might not fit, speed up!
One of the many things on Betty’s list of things to do today, was to update the website. She went to see David Kramer at the Forest Headquarters, and although he spent a long time trying to find a regular phone jack, they have recently changed their phone system and didn’t have one jack that was compatible with our computer, so the plan now is to look for a new place to connect.
Wednesday 3/8/00 13 miles/1223 total. 74 trail days. Hurricane Lake Campground to Alabama County Road 37 2 miles north of the Florida State line. Another great morning; light fog on the lake, birds chirping, ducks landing on the still surface of the lake. All of us hate to leave the Hurricane Lake campground. Everything here has been great; the people, the setting, the weather, the hiking. Even the bathhouse is one of the nicest and cleanest that we have visited.
We moved the RV to “Open Pond”, a campground in Conecuh National Forest, Alabama. After an early lunch, Betty, Mae and I went back to Hurricane Lake to resume the hike. We were all hiking north on a very new portion of the Florida Trail. This is the last few miles of the FT on the spur constructed especially for northbounders. It is not yet blazed but is well marked with pink ribbon. This afternoon’s hike was special for me; both Betty and Mae had hiked with me on the southern most part of the Florida Trail in the Big Cypress and now were here for the northern most part reaching to Alabama. Of course, it was also significant to be completing the Florida Trail part of our saga. Before starting, I visualized the entire hike being five segments: Key West to the Florida Trail, the Florida Trail, Alabama and Georgia Connector Trails, the Appalachian Trial, and the International Appalachian Trail from Maine, thru New Brunswick to Cape Gaspe, Quebec in Canada. The first part Key West to the FT was 183 miles and took 11 days, the Florida Trail took me 63 days (includes two rest days) to do 1,038 miles. My guess is that the Alabama-Georgia connector trails will be over 450 miles.
After hiking with Chuck for a couple hours, Mae and I (Betty) went into Baker, FL to go to the Baker Block Museum. The museum was interesting and impressive. We had a great visit and told Jeanette we’d love to come back to the museum again once this trek is behind us, as I know Chuck will want to see it too.
Thursday 3/9/00 Chuck is out hiking and Mae and I had to come into Crestview to take care of business. While here, we checked with the folks at the local VFW Post # 5450, to see if they would let me update the website. What a great group of folks! You are reading this because they said “Yes”.