Camp NimbleWill (ECT Day 35)

1. Hiked Today: 24.3 miles
   • The Florida Trail (495 – 503.9 on Central West & 465.9 – 480.9 on Ocala NE)
   • 88 Store Connector. (0.4 miles)
2. Total Hiked: 699.2 miles
3. Total Paddled: 99.5 miles

Weather: foggy, then sunny and clear, 60-80°F, no wind.

Powerline Clearing Spot to Rodman Campground 

There’s a scene in the all-time classic movie Shrek, when Princess Fiona starts running around through a meadow with a stick. After a few back and forth passes across the screen, she comes back presenting Shrek with a cotton candy-like swath of spiderwebs. That’s what it’s felt like I’ve been doing the past few days, except instead of a stick, I was using my trekking poles. And, instead of nicely capturing them all, I missed most and all the silk web collected in my hair.

Along with the spiderwebs, the fog also returned for the morning. Fog makes for dramatically picturesque scenes. I’ve enjoyed getting to see the morning in this way. I’ve enjoyed it, was glad for that experience, but also would be just fine if it went away now. The downside is it’s wet mainly, and just a tad gloomy if on repeat.

The 88 Store 

The big hype for today was the chance to visit The 88 Store… the “hype” coming from the FarOut app. There were 83 comments about this human watering hole that’s right along the trail. It’s reputation is a very hiker friendly place that lets you camp for a small fee and hang out at the bar or underneath an outside awning with picnic tables.

I arrived right when the place opened at 10:00 am and purchased myself a grape juice. That’s what caught my fancy in this particular moment. It actually must have been a few minutes after because there was already a hiker on the deck hanging out… Goob! I have actually briefly met Goob before.  He is a triple crowner (hiked the three big trails in the U.S.) and happened to attend a little award ceremony this last summer held by a group called the American Long Distance Hiking Association (ALDHA) West. I was there supporting my friend Cheer getting her triple crown award.

I didn’t stay too long at the bar wanting to get to my camp spot at a decent time today. A short ways ahead was the northern junction of the two routes around Orlando. I had made it back! That was a good feeling, somehow going west felt removed from the rest of the FT hikers.

Having not filled up water at the store I was out and getting thirsty. The only source for a while was this lily pad filled pond. Not ideal, but made it work by pre-filtering with my bandana.

Amazing On-Trail Trail Magic!

Taking off from here, I was motivated to cover some ground fast. Tunes had me cruising on a nice section with the trail covered in pine needles cushioning each step! The forest was pretty, tall, sparsely spread pines with an even low ground cover.  All that speedy walking was halted a few miles up the trail however, when I saw this sign…

Camp NimbleWill!

Totally unexpectedly, I got the chance to meet and talk to the guy who came up with the Eastern Continental Trail, NimbleWill Nomad! He waved me over to his camp where there was a spread of hiker goodies to hand out to FT and ECT hikers. I sat down and enjoyed a Coke while chatting about the route, gear, other hikers ahead and behind me, his hiking experience (including the 1998 adventure be write about in his book, 10 Million Steps: NimbleWill Nomad’s Epic 10-Month Trek from the Florida Keys to Quebec), how Canada was named, my accent, and the upcoming Florida Trail Association Trail Fest. I soaked in this moment of meeting a living legend. What a neat experience and one I’ll treasure.

Leaving, he walked me out to the junction and wished me well. I felt he genuinely meant what he said. And, I got his card, so I’ll keep him posted when I get up to Flagg Mountain in Alabama where he might be hanging around the same time.

The pretty pines stayed with me the rest of the day. This was a very nice section.

I caught up to Goob near the end of the day. Sounds like he’s going to make it to Trail Fest and has that all lined up. This of course got me thinking, hmm, I should probably try to arrange that myself. I sent out a few messages to see about a ride in the FT Facebook groups. We’ll see!

The last few miles were around Lake Ocklawaha and the Kirkpatrick dam…

The (Dennis) Rodman Campground 

My schemes of getting to camp early came to fruition! I was all set up before 5:00 pm. What a joy to have some daylight do some chores. I’d booked this site a few days ago after seeing the campground has laundry and nice showers. And oh man was I happy I did. I was overdue for getting washed up and cleaned up!

Once my tent was pitched, I threw most of my gear back into my pack and headed to the bathhouse. It was nice; a very similar set up to the Kissimmee Prairie Preserve State Park laundry facilities I used earlier on trail. I got laundry going right away, power bank charging, and then commenced to cooking dinner. Once all my clothes were out, I got a nice hot shower! Such a good feeling after being grimy and gross for days. 

I hung out by the bathhouse until almost 9:00 pm just perusing on my phone and charging everything up. I talked to lots of different folks, but mostly one guy on a long bike ride who hiked the FT fifteen years ago. He had some insight on things up ahead I appreciated him sharing.

A very memorable day today! 

Album of the Day (and Grammy Award winner for Album of the Year): “COWBOY CARTER” by Beyonce

Podcast Episode of the Day: Ted Climate – “What to do when climate change feels unstoppable.”