Of course we couldn't end the trip, there was still a list of things to do...

Goodness hiked the Suwannee River section of the Florida Trail alone.

While Zm busted up to Savannah for the final time to visit Shasta and the rest of the Adam Family.

Afterwards, we drove out to Eglin Air Force Base to the spot where Pod and Gnar were so we could see them for the last time, do some trail magic, and put some fake tattoos on.  

We then drove back to our friend Rick's place in White Springs to spend time together, hold baby emus, and finally canoe a piece of the Suwannee River!

Still PDX by early April.

Strange and Wonderful Times of the South

It has been a few weeks since we decided to leave the trail and begin the final stage of our journey. We had only the faintest idea of what we needed to do next; this was the plan:

1. hugs in Savannah   

2. get to our car in Nocatee (about 8 car hours away)

3. do some stuff in Florida for some undetermined chunk of time

4. leave Florida and start heading back to PDX

We have arrived at step 4 today! Hello Mobile, Alabama!

Tomorrow we will spend the day in New Orleans which is a new city for both of us. :)



Step 3 solidified into us mentally transitioning back to civilization from a year of living outdoors as much as we could. We've had motel stays with internet coupled with some car camping. We find that we sleep much better and longer out in the open. In the motel, we tend to stay up late to soak up much internet.

We've had to make many compromises over how to spend our time. Goodness tends to get uncomfortable when there is no plan for the day, while Zm does just fine by the seat of her skirt. We have been inclined to make multi-day commitments to alleviate the stress of figuring out what to do next.

The biggest magic was a nice combination of Goodness' extroversion and Zm's research: Two nights camping on the beach in Canaveral National Seashore. The water was perfect: mildly bracing in the morning, then soothing during the midday heat. Most of the time we relaxed inside our well ventilated tent, keeping out of the intense sunlight. The mornings had mild wind, and a wonderful ocean breeze picked up in the afternoon to help keep us cool. When we weren't in the tent we were probably in the water.





GOODNESS:
"I wanted to end the trip right there. It was such an awesome time, that I wanted to keep that moment frozen in time as the official end of the trip."

3/5: Thru Hike is Done!

We are now on a bus heading to Savannah, GA, where friends are waiting to hug us. Over 500 miles of trail remain ahead of us, but we will not continue forward. We are not injured, nor sad. We are happy, tired, and ready for a shift in pace as our long and fantastic year of travel draws to a close.

We ended our thru at the banks of the Suwanee River in Northern Florida. The trail was just turning West into the panhandle after a long trek north. The last few days saw some dramatic shifts in the hiking.

The first big shift was the decision to hitch ahead. Catching up to our friends was deemed to be more important than connecting our steps. We ended up skipping about 60 miles trail, most of it unremarkable. Our hitches were magical. First road we came to, first car to show up. His name was Michael and his brother had hiked sections of the trail. He took us about 20 miles out of his way to the town of Starke. From there, we didn't even need to raise our thumbs. We were recognized by a local who was on his way North to start the Appalachian Trail and happened to be going in our direction!

The next day, we found out that we were still about 20 miles behind our friends. Big days were needed. But big days were behind us. I think we left them somewhere back near Stehekin.

A strange thing happens when you skip a chunk of trail: you lose a portion of your commitment along with the continuity. Once we decided that we were no longer willing to do big miles, continuing on the trail would push a finish date well into April. Dreams of home are becoming stronger and it will feel good to be back in Portland before a year has passed. Once we had decided that we weren't willing to hike to the terminus, it turned into a discussion of when to jump off. Sooner won out over later. Our maps indicated that jumping out would only become more difficult as time progressed. Couple that with nearby friends and we knew the time had come.

A cold front had moved in on our last day. Preceded by a night of thunderstorms, we woke to a crisp morning. Both of us were fairly solid on leaving by that point. Once we focused on moving off the trail, the details followed naturally. As we walked, we said our goodbyes. Around noon, we took a luxurious break in a fantastic screened shelter next to a stream. Leaving there, we were completely resolved and excited about our decision. We were planning on walking about 7 miles into White Springs but we didn't even get that far. Just 2 miles past the shelter we were adopted by a local named Rick who fed us soul food, gave us an apartment for the night, and took us to the nearest greyhound station at 6 this morning. Rick had no idea what the FT was or that it ran right past his house. He was so excited to see his property on our little FT map.

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Now we are in Savannah with hugs, and all is good.

 

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We are not quite done with the FT. Once we get our car, we will cherry pick the best sections of the panhandle, and meet our friends somewhere around there. After that, we will start heading West. Home is calling!

 

Our experience of Florida has been varied but mostly positive. My only real gripes are the long roadwalks, insanely humid weather, and evil evil ticks. Of the people we have met, there are only positive things to say.

 

All is good!

 

2/29 Happy Leap Day

As it happens when blogging gets too far behind, I have to resort to bullet points.

It took four days of rest for Zm's shin to become walkable again. Getting back to the trail was touch and go for a bit. We deliberately took a slow pace to test the injury. The first day got us out of Orlando. The second saw National Forest and the start of the best hiking thus far. Beautiful pine forests with actual hills and decent water.

Cool temperatures have prevailed with some rain as well. Today, it climbed back to the 80s and my shoes finally dried. They have been stinking up the tent every night.

The biggest bummer is that Pod and Gnar are about 3 days ahead of us. They only took one zero in Orlando. As it stands, we won't be able to catch them unless we skip some trail. Many priorities are being weighed right now.

Zm's shin is on its second pain free day. We still need to work on injury avoidance, but once injured, we are very good at healing on the move.

Life is good.

2/20 rest in Orlando

We are in the greater Orlando area staying at a friend's house and taking our first zero after 19 days of continuous walking. Zm has developed shin splints and we will rest for two to three days while our friends will continue forward tomorrow. The injury is most likely the result of expired footwear coupled with the lack of zeros. We are fixing both issues here.

Since I last wrote we have moved from extremely flat terrain to slightly less flat. A few days ago I was surprised to be climbing a noticeable grade taking place over a long distance. Yesterday we were climbing noticeable bluffs following a river. And watercourses are now flowing with perceivable volume. The water looks cleaner and sandy bottoms are starting to show.

2/9 Big Miles

We are rushing to meet Pod's mom tomorrow. She has our next seven days of food and we don't want to keep her waiting and worrying. Therefore: big miles! Today we did 24 miles and it feels like a 30 on the PCT. Most of the difficulty comes from the winter daylight hours. We only have about 11 hours of daylight compared to the PCT's 15. Shorter breaks and faster pace are required.
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Today we finally left road for trail, easing stress on the legs and feet while increasing wildlife sightings. Saw an armadillo for the first time. It slunk off into the bushes. Much of the trail has gone through public land shared by cows. Despite the cow turds it is nice to be under trees. Palms, oak, and pines predominate, with the occasional cypress in the swampier areas.

Today was also the last hot day for a while. A cold front is moving in as I type this. Lightning is flashing in the distance. Tomorrow should be in the low 70's and Sunday won't make it above 65. We are all looking forward to the change.

Another change: tonight is the first night not camped with Pod and Gnar. Big mile days increase the chance of becoming separated as we all have different approaches to the challenge. Another difference is being able to chat on the phone in our tent to our friends two miles back. Much more cell coverage on this trail.

Our bodies are holding up fine. All is good.

2/9: past lake Okeechobee

The Florida Trail is flat, almost unbelievably so. Think Nebraska but even more extreme. Elevation changes are in the tens of feet at gradients nearly undiscernable. The biggest elevation changes are all manmade and tend to be either bridges or dikes. The flatness is surprisingly difficult to adjust to both physically and psychologically. Physically, it means increased repetition where the PCT gave us variation. Psychologically, we are prevented from the rewarding vistas so accustomed to.

We have spent the last few days on a dike skirting he western edge of Lake Okeechobee. Fortunately the dike is ridiculously high, affording views for miles around. We hit small towns several times a day, usually stopping at a restaurant, or grabbing a quick soda. This afternoon, we finally left the lake and headed Northwest along the Kissimee River. Tomorrow we will finally hit trail tread and get it fairly consistently for the next week or so before we must negotiate the Orlando area. Since we left the Everglades a week ago, we have had nothing but roads to walk on. Dirt is the best, pavement is harsh.

Spirits are high and company is good. Every night we have camped with our friends. Usually we cook together and have a campfire when the environment affords one.