Tosohatchee Wildlife Mangement Area

Location:  Tosohatchee Wildlife Mangement Area
Date:   July 14 & 15, 2012

The Trip:

(1)    We started out hiking the Florida Trail (redline on the map) in the Tosohatchee Wildlife Mangement Area (WMA) south to north.   The first part was nothing but an overgrown access road with open skies above.  This, of course, tends to make it hot.  We saw a very interesting flower.  According to my wife it is a lily.  It was odd because there were other wild flowers in the area but this one was very different and by itself.  We pushed along in good spirits knowing that there was shade ahead in the forest. 

(2)    When approaching the forest we immediately noticed a problem: there had been a recent fire in this area.  This means that there wasn’t any shade so we plodded along.  The fire appeared to be earlier this year.  It is amazing how quickly things had gotten back to “normal”.  Besides not having shade, the other thing that stood out was that the trail was actually more difficult to find and follow.   Yes the blaze marks were there but the path wasn’t.  The grass and weeds had grown where the path should have been because there was no shade to encumber them.  Nor did it encumber us as we pressed on.

(3)    As we travel on the Florida Trail you end up crossing other trails that lead to various destinations.  The first one is designated as white on the map but I am not sure what its name is.  These trails sometimes cross our path.  Occasionally the trail will briefly join with us on our journey only to later go off in another direction.  I often wonder where they all lead to and what the trail is like on that path.  If I only had more time!

(4)    Shade!  We have made it into the part of the forest that hadn’t been touched by the fire.  We picked up the pace as we got some relief from the high sun.  We were making pretty good progress until…

(5)    …we came upon a fire break.  Well, it really wasn’t just one fire break but where it appeared several had merged to make one large mess of an area that we had to cross through.  The tracks of the bulldozers tore up the ground pretty good making it difficult to cross.  Further compounding the adventure, the area was covered with water.  We  used a small tree as a bridge to cross this unexpected roadblock.  The making of the fire break presented another problem: the trail went cold.  We couldn’t find the blaze marks anywhere.  After going this way and that we ended up splitting up to search.  Thankfully Debi found it rather quickly and called us over to her trail.

(6)    When looking at this map on Google Earth you notice all of these icons.  Those indicate where people have taken pictures.  These make exploring the trail “virtually” before you go very nice.  Nice of course if there aren’t any recent fires in the area.  If I am going to continue on this blog, I need to find a better way to mark where some of these stories appear.  Wonder if I can use the camera and GPS on my phone to make notes?

(7)    Lunchtime!  Just past the yellow trail we stop for a well-deserved break.  We have hiked about 3 ½ miles to this point and have another 2 miles to go.  One of the many savor the moment times while on the trail for me is eating (no surprise there I am sure).  I tend to make on the trail foods quick and easy but camp foods are usually where I spoil myself.  We take a break and rest for about 30 minutes or so.  At this point I have confirmed that my blister is forming again behind my heel.  I was feeling it about a mile in but I think walking through some water back on the trail only made it worse.  Off we go to camp.

(8)    While heading to our stopping point for the night something strikes me as odd.  The trail, while in the wooded areas, has a lot of palm fronds on it along with the occasional parts of other trees.  I have done a lot of hiking and backpacking but can’t recall ever seeing this.  I made a comment about it several times but didn’t think much of it.  I have never been a fan of stepping on stuff specially on the trail.  Too many opportunities to twist an ankle or step on something hiding below/within the debris.  The ground on this part of the trail was a little damper than the other parts as well.  Later on, James mentioned that maybe our trail was the low part and everything was floating to that point.  That made the most sense.

(9)    Camp, umm, I mean our resting point.  James had mentioned earlier in the trek that we should exploring staying overnight near the power lines.  This was because the clear areas would give us the opportunity to see some animals like deer.  Throughout the trail we had seen numerous evidence of rooting by wild boar.  They tear up the ground pretty good whilelooking for roots to eat.  Thankfully, we didn’t see any…yet.  We got to the power lines and it appeared to have everything that we would need for an overnight stay: trees to hang the hammocks, a bridge which gave a nice place to sit, most animals wouldn’t bother with going up there, and a nice refreshing sea breeze which would keep the pesky mosquitos at bay. 

The one thing it didn’t have was a designated camping site.  We were supposed to stay in camp sites only, per the rules, but we didn’t have enough time or energy to make it the next 6 miles or so.  In order to avoid problems with being scofflaws we made several decisions.  Setup the hammocks in the woods near the bridge and hope to not get discovered by the game warden/park ranger.  We also decided to not have a camp fire, besides, it was hot.  Shawn and Debi started to put their hammocks up first (they need a spot for the both of them so letting them get first pickings makes the most sense).  First problem: the mosquitos are having their afternoon buffet on them.  While sitting on the bridge and watching the afternoon entertainment, I looked at James and casually mention that we should sleep on the foot bridge.  I could stretch the hammock from one side of the walk area to the other.  There would be plenty of room for more than one hammock.  After continuing to watch the Shawn and Debi show we decided that would be the best option.  Besides, the breeze would keep the little biting boogers away from the hammocks at night.  We figured we should wait until night fall to set them up though so we don’t block access to the woods for any later adventure seekers.

We were talking and finishing up dinner when Shawn heard something near Debi’s hammock.  He cautiously walked over to see what it was because it was making some noise like it didn’t care.  Of course, we were on alert all day for wild boars.  I am more concerned about one of these nasty animals than a bear.  Shawn cautiously walks over to where all the noise was emanating from and discovered an armadillo.  Noisy little guys that tend to make them sound way bigger than they really were.

After eating dinner, we sat and watched the sun go down while looking for different animals.  Unfortunately, we didn’t see any big game but did see a hawk out for an evening hunt.  The view was very nice though.  Just to the north of the bridge there was dirt road that went directly below some large power lines.  Further north of that was another set of set of even larger power lines.  In the same location of the larger power lines were ponds containing several types of flowers (wife says they were a type of hibiscus) and frogs.  Never saw the frogs but boy did we hear them.  There was one that had to be going all night long.  And by the volume of sound from him, he had to be looking for a mate, or 10, and about 4 foot in length!  Debi was concerned at first because it did sound like a hog sometimes.

As the sun said its final goodbye for the night, the stars started to appear.   Above me, a dragonfly swooped in on a mosquito for one last before bed meal.  The moon wasn’t going to make its appearance until the early morning so stars were easy to see with the big dipper right over our heads.  While taking in the sights and sounds I noticed the flicker of a lightning bug in the distance.  I always enjoy seeing these flying blinking lights.  This is probably because we didn’t see many of these where I grew up.  After another ½ hour or so there was an amazing amount of lightning bugs over the swamp areas.  They were randomly blinking reminding me of the twinkle of Christmas lights.

It was now time to setup our hammocks on the bridge.  Again, we waited until dark so we didn’t get caught by the park ranger and to not inconvenience anyone using the trail.  Earlier on, a group of about 6 twenty somethings went down the trail but came back after seeing some water on the trail and being tired of dealing with the vampire like mosquitos.  Oh, as the sun went down the breeze died too, taking away our natural Deepwoods Off alternative.  I had added a Thermacell to my trail tools and it was doing a pretty good job but seemed to be having a problem keeping up as it got later into the night.

As I began to pull out the hammock, headlights were spotted off way in the distance.  The game warden appeared to be on his way!   There were signs posted when we dropped off one of the trucks that driving on the roads at night was strictly prohibited so we figured it was some park official on his nightly rounds.  Shawn said it was to keep people from hunting off of the roads which made since.  Our plan was to put our packs on the other side of the bridge and hide in the woods.  Shawn and Debi had already turned in for the night but may have still been awake.  Hopefully he wouldn’t see us and kick us out.  A 6 mile hike out at that time of night didn’t seem like a fun filled venture.  James and I waited on the bridge talking about whatever to pass the time by.  Suddenly, the lights were gone and we were off setting up our hammocks again.  He had to have turned off on one of the numerous side roads throughout the WMA.

This was my first use of my new hammock with a bug screen.  Of course, it was both of our first time sleeping on this bridge.  After several attempts of getting the hammock as tight as possible it was time to get in……and sweat my butt off.  I had brought a battery operated fan but wasn’t able to support its 1 pound of weight off of the bug netting (getting tired of typing mosquito).  I had also brought some additional mosquito (there is that word again, cut and paste) to attach to the bottom of the hammock.  The problem is that I only got the hammock several days before and set it up for the first time the day before the trip.  I wasn’t in the mood to figure this out in the dark with mosquitos flying around and having the likelihood of dropping something into the water below.  I also had previously planned on not putting the rain fly up so I could see the stars.  I also decided to not run the Thermacell all night since I didn’t have enough butane and cartridges to do that.  I wish I had done something, anything, because I got pretty tore up that night.  Those little, thirsty mosquitos had bitten me from below through the parachute material used as a hammock.  I really didn’t know how much a donation I had made throughout the night until I looked in the mirror when I got home.

Off I went to bed….for a ½ hour.  I never fell asleep but I was admiring the view of the stars above.  Being on the foot bridge there were no trees directly above me.  This gave an amazing view of the night.  While lying there, and trying to get to sleep it silently prayed thanking God for the good day and hoping for a good night’s sleep.  That was all interrupted by headlights.  Game warden! 

Trying to not sound panicked by the sudden appearance of headlights from the other direction and being really close by, I called to James to let him know what I was seeing.  He mentioned to stay still and maybe he would go on by and not notice us….in hammocks….on a foot bridge….with nothing to hide behind/beside/below/beneath.  As the vehicle approached closer it seemed to be going slower and slower like he was looking for and spotted something.   Us?   Closer and closer he came when he stopped right next to where we were trying to sleep.  The truck door opened.  Music was blaring.  Out he stepped talking to someone else, his backup probably.  Wait, the music was blaring?  Also, when he stepped out he started cursing about something but I wasn’t sure what it was.

Then the door opened and closed again.  He was leaving?!!!  After taking my first breath in the last 5 minutes I heard the voice again.  Umm, he didn’t get back but must have gotten something out.  Firearm?  Ticket book? Flashlight!  It shined directly on my hammock and the night appeared that it would be getting longer…like 6 miles longer.  I started to pray for a happy ending.  Thinking back, it would have been kind of funny to sit straight up in the hammock and pray out loudly. Then I heard him make a comment about the hammocks and people sleeping on the bridge.  The light shined away from me as he walked…..away.  After a couple of minutes the doors opened and off they went into the night.  And off to sleep I went….eventually.  In the morning Shawn, James, and I talked about the intruders.  They seemed to figure that the guys were out looking for frogs.  When they spotted us, they decided to leave.  Found out that Shawn was awake hiding close to the other side of the bridge with the bear spray in hand!

Morning came early because Shawn decided to wake us up so we could wish him a Happy Birthday.  His birthday was the reason we were out this weekend and it was a good weekend to be out with family.

We broke camp and headed back into the woods.

(10)The trail was very similar to the last part: lots of debris on the path and wet.  Debi started having problems with her blisters and that isn’t any fun.  Thankfully, mine was a little sore (I had put a pad on it and taped it with duct tape) but holding in place.  Debi ended up switching to her flip flops but that isn’t fun because of the distance and the trail conditions.

(11)Speaking of conditions we hit another detour.  The path had about 4” of water on it so we had to find another way around.  James pulled out his machete and knocked down some limbs.  We had to cross a small body of water with only a small log as our way to put our feet on midway to keep our feet dry.  We crossed that but shortly realized we were going to have a problem.  There was no way to find where the marked trail would cross, if ever, our new path.  I ended up doubling back and walking the path formally known as Florida Trail now known as Florida Creek.  I keep talking to them so they knew where I was.  After about 100 yards or so it was dry again. 

(12)As we continued on the trail, the conditions were very similar to before but we were making progress.  We did notice that we were again close to the power lines.  Of course, we could have walked under those but it would have been hot but, more importantly, we wouldn’t have walked on the Florida Trail. 

(13)We ended up hitting a seldom used access road that signaled we weren’t far from our ending point (< 1 mile to go). 

(14)We kept on going and got to a bridge.  Since Debi has a thing about bridges, we were going to get Debi to go over it only to tell her that we had gone too far and we would have to double back across it.  Shawn having compassion for his wife in flip flops (and probably wanting to continue to have a good birthday) decided to let her out of the double crossing of the bridge. 

(15)Shortly, we were back at the truck.  We dried off, got a drink and were off to pick up the other truck.

My Lists – Thoughts and Ideas

Food:

·         Lunch:  tuna and crackers (nice little lunch kit to add the right amount of mayo and relish.  It even included a mint.)

      ·         Chicken A La King – quite good but I was surprised that I couldn’t eat all of it.  I didn’t even     eat my favorite desert on the trail Raspberry Crumble.

·         Breakfast – energy bar and trail mix.  I had the option of scrambled eggs (affectionately referred to as egg soup) but didn’t want the fuss since we were on our way out.

·         Also had trail mix while trekking, Clif bars, Poweraide (grape and mixed berry), and some hard candy (chocolate would have been like soup, right James?).

De Ja Vu (If I was to hike this area again)

·         Go see the scenic area to the east of where we overnighted.

·           Left a vehicle near our "resting point" with a cooler in it stuffed with cold drinks

Critter Count:

·         Snake (Black racer)

·         Birds (hawk, kites, plus the standard Florida birds)

·         Crickets (there were a lot on the trail)

·         Toads (there were a lot on the trail)

·         Armadillo

·         Deer (James caught literally the tail end of it on the trail while we were walking)

·         Lightning bugs/fire flies

People Count (an informal count to give an idea of how “busy” the trail was):

·         Backpackers:      0

      ·         Day Hikers:         5

Miles:

·         Day 1:  6

      ·         Day 2:  6

Cravings (as silly at it is, when you get away from "it all" you miss certain things like...):

     ·        Ice
     ·        Anything cold

Links:

      ·         Shawn’s Blog

·         Debi’s Blog
·         Florida Trails

Next time… (things I’d like to do differently)

· Get hammock setup worked out. Figure a way to add a layer of mosquito netting below hammock. Add an adjustable ridgeline to support the addition of a rainfly as well as support a fan and dry clothing.

· During hot weather, I need something COLD to drink at dinner time. I had thought of bringing some ice tea in a small thermos. I had also thought about putting the tea in something that a couple of can cozies could cover and insulate. Shawn did bring some sweet tea that he let me taste. It was previously frozen but was barely cold when it came to dinner time. Luck for him it was his birthday because I may have done more than a sip! I like the idea of the later due to wait and space. Not sure if sweating will be a problem though.

· I need to invest in one or two of these Tick Keys. Never knew these existed but we have had some ticks on the trail.

· Better organization of gear (access, group like stuff together)

· Need to take some pictures! and look into a way of linking our trips route and pictures into this blog.

Conclusion:

This trip was much different than the first one, Hopkins Prairie to Juniper Springs.  I still enjoyed it tremendously.  I look forward to getting my gear straightened out and getting a good night’s sleep (5 continuous hours).  I look forward to the next hikes.  I am really looking forward to a long hike (>10 miles) with full packs as well as a multi-night trip.

Edits:
07.23.12 I modified this for grammar and clarity.  Also, I expanded on the lists area and reworked it.