Night “Hiking” in Key West (ECT Day 1)

“Now we all have a great need for acceptance, but you must trust that your beliefs are unique, your own, even though others may think them odd or unpopular, even though the herd may go, ‘that’s baaaaad.’ Robert Frost said, two roads diverged in the wood and I, I took the one less traveled by, and that has made all the difference. Now, I want you to find your own walk right now, your own way of striding, pacing. ..any direction, anything you want, whether it’s proud, whether it’s silly, anything.”

-John Keating (in Dead Poets Society)

Happy New Year!

I kicked off 2025 by taking my first steps on the Eastern Continental Trail. After all the scheming and dreaming, it’s happening! 

I celebrated New Years Eve with friends in Michigan and the next morning got dropped off at the ole Gerald R. Ford airport. In no time I was flying through the skies like Elphaba, on my way to Florida. I had a long layover at the St. Pete-Clearwater airport and when exiting that first plane, as I stepped out, the first thing that hit me was… warmth! It felt so good after coming from this.

Unfortunately, my second flight was delayed. Getting to the southern terminus in time for sunset was not meant to be. Instead, I got some glimpses from the plane. This pic is actually of the area where the upcoming kayaking journey will end (if all goes well). It’s a bad photo and hard to make out, but I’ve been staring over various maps for weeks, so some of the features stood out to me.

I didn’t land in Key West until around 6:30pm. The first thing that hit me here was the salty smell in the air. It was lovely and gave me all the feels in an instant. For most of the day, I had been stressed, still planning for things up ahead on trail. It felt a lot like the kind of pressure when resupplying in town and there’s a whole bunch of tasks to do before getting back on trail. When I found my pack at the small checked baggage conveyor thing, got buckled up, and headed out the doors of the tiny airport, all that stress went out away. I made it to the ECT!

Well, almost, I had to walk outside about 50 feet to get to the trail itself, and even then, I still hadn’t gotten to the southern terminus. I debated getting an Uber, but it’s only about 3 miles and I was feeling it, so just took off. Heading “southbound,” I was so pumped up, I felt I could’ve run there. Bad idea, I thought. Some of you have followed my other treks. I’ve had moments on trail before where I just start chuckling out loud to myself. This was like that. 

The spot where I jumped on to the ECT, the “trail” goes right along a boardwalk with nothing but Atlantic Ocean to the one side. There were people rollerblading, biking, e-biking, and some just out for a little stroll like me. The sound of very calm waves could be heard at times, and people singing, music playing, and all kinds of car traffic noises. There was sand on the concrete in places and an occasional dead palm leaf and what I presume was a coconut carcass. All varieties of gulf carts cruised up and down the road. Must be a thing here. And, I passed folks playing pickleball and bocce ball and others all dressed up to celebrate New Year’s Day. There was a giant menorah, Christmas lights, and tourist shops selling T-shirts. In the first mile it was clear to me, this is unlike any trail I’ve hiked before.

At the southern terminus “marker,” a painted giant concrete buoy, there were folks lined up. Could it be, I wondered, are these all other hikers setting out to hike the ECT with me!? Not so much. Actually, I got a few funny looks towards my outfit and pack. It seemed I was not in the norm here and these were all folks vacationing in the Keys over the holidays also wanting to get photos.

A kind couple behind me agreed to take my setting off photo…

I returned the favor by snapping some for them, did a loop around the buoy to really make sure I got to the southernmost southern point in all the Southlands, and then turned around and started walking!

“Believe in yourselves. Dream. Try. Do good.”

– George Feeny (in Boy Meets World)

The first 3 miles were repeat since I took exactly the same route back to the airport. From there though, I continued on the boardwalk wrapping around Key West.

I hiked in the dark for about three hours making it to Boyd’s Campground around 9:30pm.

After the nice folks in the office checked me in and showed me a map my site, I commenced to setting up Tanya the Tiger Wall (my tent) for the first time in a while. It kind of felt weird setting it up in a campground.

I was tired. My feet weren’t too bad, but I could feel it and when I took off my shoes, they seemed warm to the touch from walking on the concrete. I had been rushing tonight. At first, I was a little peeved that my campground neighbors were kind of loud, but wouldn’t you know it, I passed out in about 5 minutes!

A great first few miles on the ECT!

• Hiked Today: 5.6 miles
• Total Hiked: 5.6 miles
• Song of the Day: “If It Makes You Happy” by Sheryl Crow (which was playing by some random speaker I walked by)