Longer Day to Key Largo (ECT Day 4)
- Hiked Today: 37.1 miles (Florida Keys Overseas Heritage Trail)
- Total Hiked: 105.7 miles
The Last-Minute Switcheroo
According to the “Stevie ECT Alternate” plan I posted about a week or so ago, this morning would be where I stop hiking for a while and switch to kayaking. Instead of continuing up the Keys on the ECT, my plan was to kayak across Florida Bay and then on to the Everglades 99-mile Wilderness Waterway. I’d then reconnect to the ECT at the start of the Florida Trail.
I had to cancel the Florida Bay part of this scheme. We’re on to plan G now… I think that’s what we’re up to 🙂 The past few days I’ve been watching the weather and marine forecast and it wasn’t looking good out on the bay. “Choppy,” is the descriptive word they used, as well as 15-25 knot winds. For a brief period, I considered bumping everything a day, but the next day was only predicted to be slightly better.
Thus, I’m going to walk around Florida Bay. The second part of the kayak trip is still a go! And I’m stubborn wanting to keep my continuous path, so somehow I still need to get over to Flamingo. It’s much easier to see on the crude map I created below than to explain.
The blue squiggle is the kayak route. I wanted to go north from Long Key to Flamingo in two days, that’s no longer happening. Instead, I’ll stay on the ECT through the Keys and hike the bottom purple line around Florida Bay to get there (I’m shooting for three days). Then, if all goes well, I can still kayak up to Chokoloskee and reconnect to the ECT via the top purple line road walk.
Long Key to Key Largo
So, off I went, dark and early. It was a long slog and to be honest, my least favorite of the Keys (and therefore, a bit less with the photos/vids today). There was less time with views of the water and more time in town-like settings.
The morning started off lovely though…
Once out on the bridge and exposed to the north, the winds were ripping! There were waves and a current of water being pushed through beneath me, splashing upward as it hit the bridge columns.
It really was a nice day, but the forecast was right on with the wind. Very happy to have switched things up and to not be attempting to kayak out in that!
I was happy to find a coffee shop without a large wait (so far every one has been out the door)! Inside, I talked to the owner and another customer and when asked told how far I am heading. It was fun seeing their reaction and they were encouraging and wished me safe travels.
Traffic was steady in and out in of the Keys today. Saturday is busy here, I guess…
At one point, the trail went a little off the busy highway which was nice. Instead, I walked along a quiet road with quaint houses and such. I found some more interesting birds there…
And some funky trees. Those are not bananas, but some kind of giant pod.
I walked in the median for a while…
As I got in to Key Largo I was making moves. First, was a stop at Domino’s pizza joint, you might’ve heard of it. They have a few locations, I believe. I ordered ahead so it was ready and intended to literally eat on the walk occasionally grabbing a slice out of the box. The squishy booth was too nice to pass up and my solar charger just hasn’t been performing like I’d hoped, so the charge boost was helpful.
A little bit further, there was a Dollar Tree. I was planning to visit a grocery store the next morning to resupply, but figured I could just knock it out here since I only needed a few items to supplement what I had.
A long day of walking, but I was happy to have put myself in good shape to reach my goal over the next two days.
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Comments 2
I really enjoy your little video clips! I tried to find those pods but it turns out Florida has quite a few types of PODS hanging from trees, some the size of giant sweet potatoes.
O glad to see you out there again! And enjoying all the choices to have fun!!