Florida Trail Fest Fun (ECT Day 39)

• Hiked Today: 1 mile 
  • The Florida Trail (547.8 – 548.8)
• Total Hiked: 767.1 miles
• Total Paddled: 99.5 miles

Peace Education Center to Trailside Spot

I love breakfasts when time isn’t a factor; when you can relax with no stress and no commitments. This seems to be the easiest time of day for me to be fully present enjoying the company of those around me. As the day goes on, my mind fills up with thoughts, but in the morning maybe it’s a little more empty and a little more open to absorbing. 

Our host Sara sanded down and oiled up this awesome 16 feet picnic table. It was beautiful and brought me back to when I used to attempt constructing home furniture. My results were not near as professional!

I’m not the first to say this, but there’s truth in it; there’s something special about gathering around a table with others. And I’m realizing the food doesn’t necessarily even matter, although that can certainly elevate the experience! It’s about the mood; and in this instance, the coffee, the the chit chatting, and the connections made. This morning was like that with Jeff, Iceman, and Amazon Man. Good conversation about all sorts of topics, one of which was stories of those folks doing amazing trail feats, like fastest known times or really long treks where they’re essentially creating the route themselves.

Iceman enjoying the morning cup of coffee. Jeff getting another pot brewing.

We probably didn’t get going to head to trail Fest until around 11:00 am, just two hours after our planned time. This would turn out to be for the best though allowing more time to have that relaxed morning like I said. I hopped in the Prius with Sara and Brian (our hosts) and Iceman (my fellow ECT’er). More good chats along the way on our 1-hour+ drive. After all the scheming early on to time Trail Fest right, I ended up about 77 trail miles short (or about 55 driving miles).

Last night I’d done some planning for the next few days and I figured I needed to visit a store to get three days food supply for the upcoming stretch. Coming into the town of White Springs there’s a Dollar General about a mile away from the festival area so I asked if they’d be fine if I just got out there and would meet them after I did my shopping. Worked out nicely.

The Trail Fest

Eventually I made it over to Stephen Foster State Park where there were booths selling various gear and crafts and others showcasing the work of different nonprofit or land management type agencies. Two food trucks were dishing out tasty meals (sadly I’d stuffed myself already at the DG) and a bunch of hikers and folks interested in the Florida trail were roaming about.

I had a ton of fun meeting some new folks, including a couple other ECT’ers, Trail Beard and Wanderer. There were also hikers I’d met earlier on trail including Pepper, who was the first hiker I met on this trek down near Key Largo and also an ECT’er. Van Gogh, Dukes, Goob, She Ra, Captain Glen, and NimbleWill (and probably a few names I missed) were all there too. I met trail “celebrities” Jupiter and Sprocket, which was neat. Juliter’s YouTube and podcast interviews were helpful in prepping for this hike!

The whole thing was a ton of fun. I walked around the different booths, but already have everything I need. I was tempted by some hand crafted ceramic mugs, but really didn’t feel like carrying one and didn’t want to deal with shipping it home. The Z Packs tents were awesome and left me thinking maybe some day 🙂

Billy Goat Parade 2025

Around 3:00 pm everyone gathered for the Billy Goat Parade! The plan was to walk from the state park into town where there would be an unveiling of a new mural. Billy Goat is another “famous” hiker. I think for twelve consecutive years prior to this he put on the festivities and this year it was handed over to the Florida Trail Association? Although, I truthfully wasn’t sure how all this got started. He and NimbleWill led the parade, followed by this years Florida Trail thru-hikers, followed by everyone else!

After a cutting of the ribbon ceremony for the mural by some local leadership folks, there was a quick FT hiker photo, and then things dispersed for a bit. Later, there was some live music from a group called the Wire Birds, but I really only caught a few songs. They were good though, kind of folksy with maybe some Irish influence.

Me, Brian, Jeff, and Sara. Thanks FCPJ for your generosity and for being such amazing hosts.

The 1-Mile Night Hike

Sara, Brian, Amazon Man and I headed back towards the Peace Center around 6:00 pm. Even though it was well dark when we reached where the trail crosses near their place, I asked to get dropped off haha. In the morning packing up, I’d made this plan. I wanted to get back to the trail itself for an early start the next day. Some would say foolish. Yep, probably. But hey, got to keep er moving if I want to get to Newfoundland, eh? Even now at the back of my head is a teensy tiny voice saying “winter is coming.”

Walking in the dark wasn’t bad. It was a nicely cleared two track and I didn’t plan to hike long. There was a tenting icon on my app about two miles from the road crossing I hoped to get to. Yesterday, Iceman had mentioned something about all the spider eyes shining in his headlamp light. I knew what he was talking about, but had thought they were all kinds of bugs eyes. Here’s what I found when I investigated a pair staring at me…

After 20-minutes of spider walking I was surprised to find two tents right along the side of the trail. They were both lit up from the inside indicating their occupants were still up and getting situated (it was only like 7:00 pm or so). Not sure whether to just walk by or say hi, the decision was made for me when they must have heard me and called out. I said hey and we started chit chatting. They were heading southbound actually and let me know that the spot I was thinking of wasn’t great and that it’d be better to just set up here. That sounded great! So I set up and got to meet Jellybean and Geo. They were awesome to talk to as I got situates and ate random foods from my bag. A special day “on trail” today for me!

Outdoors For All

In this spirit of good vibes and good causes to support, I want to highlight the cause I’m raising funds for while hiking the ECT… increasing access to and equity in the outdoors! I hope you’ll help me support Outdoors Empowered Network (OEN) in their work taking practical, measurable steps, including access to appropriate gear, training, and best practices for risk management and cultural inclusion. They seed and support grassroots local member groups all across the country.

• Please donate to my fundraiser via my Give Lively Page. My goal is to raise 1$ for every mile I hike on this route, or approximately $6,000. I need your help though!
• Check out this YouTube video explaining what OEN is about.
• Check out the OEN website.
• Check out my earlier post titled The Outdoors Are For All, going into why this cause is special to me.

Thanks for following along! Stevie Wonder 😎