Hiker Hides in a Bear Box
This morning I was up around 4:45am and began to get packed up. Then headed over to Fresh Ground’s set up for some breakfast. Around 6am Punisher and I walked through the campground and right back to the trail where we stopped yesterday.
The morning was super muggy and hot, and so was last night. It made for some uncomfortable sleeping. Now today, the weather is looking rough! It’s supposed to rain all day long. Which probably explains why the air is so hot and humid.
We lucked out for the first few hours of the day and the weather was fine besides the humidity. The trail was soft dirt and pine for the first hour. Then we bounced between that and some dirt road walking for the next couple hours. Fresh Ground planned to meet us 13 or so miles into the day to do lunch. And when we were about 2.5 miles out from there the storm rolled in.
The wind picked up quickly and the sky went dark. It began to rain lightly, but was still pretty hot and humid. So we hesitated when it came to putting on rain gear. Which was a big mistake! In just minutes it started to absolutely dump rain. It was blasting us from the side and I was completely soaked really quick. We picked up the pace and were probably walking 4+ MPH for the next half hour.
When we got out to the road we saw Fresh Ground’s van which was a relief. At least we could hide out in there for a little bit. The two of us were soaked through. But Fresh Ground gave us towels to dry off and we sat in the van out of the rain. We looked at the radar and saw that the mass of the storm would be passing over us for the next hour.

When we got in from the rain, Fresh Ground gave us nice dry towels to warm ourselves up. Afterwards it was soaked!
Then Fresh Ground had an absolutely genius idea. He checked to see if there was a laundromat nearby. Which there was right down the road. I haven’t done laundry since Clewiston which was a decently long time again. We decided to go there and just wash and dry everything we were wearing. It needed to be cleaned anyway. And at least now our stuff would be dry when we continued walking for the rest of the day. We were going to wait out the heart of the storm anyway. This was just a way more productive use of our time.
Being able to change into rain gear and dry off was nice. While we waited for the laundry I did some work and drank a chocolate milk. Then we got McDonald’s before heading back to the trail. 13 miles still remained for the day, but the weather looked much better. It was still probably going to rain a little. But now we were dry to start and actually planning on wearing rain gear.
We got back to walking a little after noon, even after taking that super long break. I was so glad that we ducked out and did that. If you have the opportunity to get dry and comfortable, while still hiking a marathon, then you might as well! We only had about 4 hours of walking remaining for the day after that.
It rained lightly on us for that next hour or so. But nothing in comparison to before. That just might have been the heaviest rain that I’d ever walked through. Now, this time around I actually wore my rain gear and was comfortable. We walked through a beautiful pine forest and enjoyed the rest of the day. The Ocala national forest section of the Florida trail is one of the best. It’s the most consistent trail hiking without road. And is just gorgeous and so quiet.
A couple hours in we ran into another northbound hiker! His name was Bear Paw and we talked for a bit. He’s doing the trail in sections and hiked the AT back in 2021. It turns out he’s getting off trail for a family thing in the next couple of days. Who knows, maybe we’ll see him somewhere north along the trail.
After a while we passed a nice trailhead with a pit toilet. We decided to finally take our rain gear off since the coast seemed clear. And I was so ridiculously hot from hiking in it. Then we continued along the pine m path, heading toward Juniper Spring. That’s where we will finishing off our day today.
Because of the holiday weekend we had to book our camp site for two nights. Which meant we would be going back there tonight as well. We wound up popping out at the next road crossing around 4pm and Fresh Ground was there waiting! But he teaser us, saying we still had another mile and a half to go. Our planned destination was Juniper Springs, just down the road. So we continued on to there!
We got there pretty quick and then got in the van. Then had about a 30 minute ride to get back to the Clearwater Lake Recreation area where we camped last night. It was still nice and early when we arrived. Then we got our tents set up again and lounged for the rest of the night. Fresh Ground made us dinner for the final time! Tomorrow he heads north to prepare for the Nobo Appalachian trail bubble.
It was a great night just hanging out and talking with a those guys. We have been laughing so much these last few weeks. It’s been such a wonderful time and a perfect start to the year.
After dinner we ate some of the desert that Gary brought over last night. Then sat by the propane fire until finally calling it a night. This sweet lady named Amanda came over with her friend and adorable dog Willie. She’s been watching the videos and wanted to say hello! That was so cool. Then I got some video work and blogging done in my tent, and then headed off to bed.
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Comments 3
Looks like another great day PL despite the downpour. Great suggestion from Fresh Ground to do your chores 😂 I know he will be missed!! I had to look up that pink on the tree. This growth is called lichen, which is a combination of algae and fungi. Lichen is not parasitic as some people believe but is an example of symbiosis. The fungi provide a home for the algae and the algae provides food. Lichen, along with the green Spanish moss, can often be indicators of healthy air. In this instance, they both tell us the air in your landscape is healthy and clean. ❤️ Science lesson over for today 😆
you’re blasting through Florida. Awesome. I’m sure you’ll be missing Fresh Ground. What a great guy. Hope to run into him when he’s working his way through central VA. No fun getting soaked to the bone. Been there. Glad you were able to make the most of your downtime. Perfect.
Didn’t mention your feet. Assuming those new insoles are doing their job. I’ve used them for nearly 2 decades: running, hiking and just walking out and about. Very helpful with soreness, posture and stability. Thanks for sharing your experiences. Very much appreciated.
Gear boxes are for gear, not for people to get locked into with no means of escape.