The Aucilla/St. Marks Revival (ECT Day 47)

• Hiked Today: 29.9 miles
  • The Florida Trail (736.6 – 766.5)
• Total Hiked: 979 miles
• Total Paddled: 99.5 miles

Weather: 60-75°F, overcast, rain with some thunder and lightning, then mostly sunny. 

“I’d risked everything, was risking it again every day, but in doing so I had grasped and pulled myself into a world once unimaginable to me, where I lived among people who were more alive than anyone I’d known. Did things I’d never dreamed I could do. Survived things I’d never dreamed I could survive. All because I’d let myself feel something… Despite all the trouble and danger we found ourselves in and despite the fact that this strange new world had started to crumble the moment I’d discovered it, I was profoundly glad I was here. Despite everything, this peculiar life was what I’d always wanted. Strange, I thought, how you can be living your dreams and your nightmares at the very same time.”

– Jacob Portman (Hollow City: The Second Novel of Miss Peregrine’s Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs 

Camp NimbleWill/Aucilla WMA to Ring Dike Campsite

The early morning hours were quite blustery and at one point I heard some sprinkles pelting my fly. Despite all that, I think because of the state I was in needing the rest, I slept good apart from the occasional super gust pressing against the side of the tent. When I did wake, I felt better! It’s sometimes tricky for me to know if the it’s really passed until I eat again though. A good sign is when I regain my appetite and that was back, so I decided to test it out with a little breakfast pastry.

I got moving in the dark and Nimblewill was still snoozing. After a little trouble finding the trail, I was off and things felt good again. As I mentioned in the last post, I feel my motivation, moral, and general mental state is linked with how I’m feeling physically and vice versa. Thus, I was in good spirits this morning. And it helped being trail right away as opposed to more roads.

The Aucilla Wildlife Management Area 

Very quickly I came up to the Aucilla River. It was smaller than the Suwannee, but of similar dark waters…

There seemed to be more palms here than the Suwannee section and general a feel of “more jungle-esque-ness” with ferns and mushrooms and stuff.

The trail hugged the riverbank pretty closely, which I was a fan of. That being said, it was still somewhat tough to get the full view of the river because it was such thick vegetation. The trail was overgrown a bit and there were some downed trees to maneuver around, but overall not too bad in my opinion.

I had been expecting rain this morning. Actually, one of the first things I did in my tent was to check the forecast. Last night it had predicted I’d be in rain until about 3:00 am to 11:00 am. When I got up though that window had shrunk from til 9:00am to 11:00 am.

I made the smart call to hold off on my second breakfast thinking the timing might be right about when the storm rolled through. Instead, I got my rain gear on and prepped for what I knew was coming. It was a good call. This little rapid would’ve been a nice break spot though! 

The Aucilla Sinks 

I continued to follow the river quote closely. And didn’t take too many pics during the rain, but did pull my phone out a few times since things started getting really cool. This area is known as the Aucilla Sinks and the geology here is limestone karst. There were sinkholes, caves, springs, and other oddball formations. The river started disappearing into the bedrock and reappearing a bit further up the trail! It was wild and unique and I was captivated.

I found a wonderful roof over some signage a little after 10:00 am where I decided to give second breakfast a go. Out of water, I was forced to do a class 5.12c climb into a nearby sink to get water (even after spending a summer around all the Yosemite climbers, I can make no sense of the rating scales).

It was still raining lightly and once stopped, I started to get a little chilled sitting there. The warm hot beverage and oatmeal did me good! The sickness was keeping at bay! The only downside to this little stop was a flock of tiny flying bugs annoying me. I believe they were no-see-ums? 

Post second breakfast was when I really got into the sinks. It was fascinating to me that the water was moving through all the rock underfoot and I could still see the river current.

A little after noon I made it to a two track which led to a sandy packed road which led to an asphalt road, which led to a busier asphalt road. That busy road was almost 4-miles, but there was a little convenience store in the middle. I couldn’t resist and went in to get a cherry Dr. Pepper. This road section marked the change between the Aucilla Wildlife Management Area and St. Marks National Wildlife Refuge.

The Beauty of St. Marks 

Once off the road, I started swamping right away. At first I tried to avoid it, but it was inevitable, so I took the plunge and submerged my shoes. The rest of the day was spectacular too! It had a totally different feel from the morning… now it felt as though I were nearing the coast, which I was!

The no-see-ums were out like I’d never witnessed before. One of those times when I couldn’t even keep them out of the tent, I had to attack the 20-30 that made it in with me.

Wow, what a full day! After yesterday’s low, today was a good day for a good day. Amazing geologic river and sink formations, more alligator sightings, and what was probably my favorite evening walk of the trek looking out at the coastal wilderness of St. Marks. 15 gold stars for y’all if you made it to the end. Might be my longest post yet!

Revival: “an act or instance of reviving : the state of being revived: such as, a) renewed attention to or interest in something” (https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/revival

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Album of the Day: “Revival (2022)” by Judah and the Lion