Super Soaker Slough (ECT Day 21)

• Hiked Today: 28.5 miles (The Florida Trail)
• Total Hiked: 379.9 miles
• Total Paddled: 99.5 miles

Chandler Slough East to Starvation Slough North

The rain started around 3:30am or so and as far as I could tell from my dozing in and out of sleep, it continued pretty steadily the rest of the early morning. I had suspected this might happen and felt good, assured that my tent was up to the task of keeping me dry. Thus, I slumbered onward.

Packing up in the rain is not something I enjoy. Checking the forecast it looked to be an all day off-and-on kind of rain today. And I saw a lull around 7:15 am. That was my window I figured. So, some oatmeal and coffee in the tent vestibule til that time came!

I was very nearly out of water and didn’t know of any sources close up ahead. From camp going the opposite direction, a side trail led to supposed water, so I took that. It was longer than I anticipated… A great way to frustrate a hiker in the morning. Alas, I tried to maintain a positive attitude. That would be needed today!

When I got to the water it was brown and stagnant and I didn’t even fill up. There had to be something ahead I thought. Ater a 10-minute walk back to the FT, I was finally hiking on trail. And, thankfully it was just a light mist to start out.

Generally, here’s how it went today with the rain… a brief bit in the morning when it was just sprinkling. Then, it went episodic, light than more steady. Right around noon, it went downpour mode, which only slightly let up over the next 2.5 hours. It was windy and downright nasty. After that, it returned to the episodic style. And it would last through the night and into tomorrow. So, yay! Just lovely, right.

My photos, therefore, are primarily from the first half of the day, but it was stellar! I am in love with these outstandingly huge oak and palm hammocks. I’m not sure if that’s the correct wordage, but it seems to be be used often in my map app.

My water source ended up being a pond right next to the busy road… not ideal, but it worked. The big hat was essential today for the rain. Obviously, it’s not waterproof at all, but it blocked rain from spattering my face and glasses.

The trail had a bit of a soggy bottom this morning.

Some nice cypress stumpy bumps (that’s what I like to think of them as).

These are the giant oaks I have grown to love! Their limbs are so long, reaching out all gnarly-like!

Moss on the one side of the palm

An orange tree!

I didn’t try it, but there were comments in my app of folks that did… said it was pretty sour!

Small scale fun

In my head I’ve been calling this hanging stuff from the trees moss, but not sure.

A lot of the trail was walking along fences. It seems this is a corridor between the Kissimmee River and the cow fields. I’m guessing it floods often here. This was the last video before the downpour @12:07pm

At 4:00 pm, was the next photo taken when protected by this wonderful pavilion. I bumped into two hikers at a similar covered picnic area just ahead, Index and Bob. They invited me to stay and hang, but I wanted to get a little further still. It was fun chatting though!

The trees grew tall here!

Once set up and inside my tent, I checked the damage… how much of my gear was soaked? For starters, the tent itself was dry and continuing to keep me dry. That alone is key! My sleeping bag got damp, which I wasn’t happy about. I had it in the bottom of my pack in a dry bag that wasn’t so great at keeping it dry apparently.

My pack cover didn’t hold up to the task and especially at the bottom of my pack, it seemed rain had soaked in pretty good. My base layer bottoms were also damp, but my rain coat and pants did awesome. They kept my clothes, including my warm fleece, dry. I would stay warm overnight! The sleeping bag was still usable and all would be well if I could dry out tomorrow.