The Rainy Day Episode (ECT Day 50)

• Hiked Today: 19.4 miles
  • The Florida Trail (816.3 – 816.5 & 828.7 – 835.3)
  • FR 329 Brad Bay Alt. (12.6 miles)
• Total Hiked: 1,044.6 miles
• Total Paddled: 99.5 miles

Weather: lots of rain in the morning, then overcast, a little misting last hour of daylight, 45-55°F

Sopchoppy Martian Camp to Porter Lake Campground 

Light sprinkling started around midnight or 1:00 am. This quickly turned into a steady moderate rain, so that when I woke up around 5:30 am, here’s what I was hearing…

I happen to be camped at one of the few spots on this trail with minimal cell service, so when trying to check the weather, my forecast app was moving slow. Eventually it told me this would continue most of the day potentially slowing down or stopping mid-late afternoon. Yippee!

Bradwell Bay 

What to do? Well, to get the full scope of the dilemma, I need to add some context. I mentioned in yesterday’s post that I’d set myself up to go through Bradwell Bay today. This is supposed to be one of the gnarliest and deepest water wading parts on the FT. The Florida Hikes website says a bay is “a term used in Florida to describe a shallow basin where water collects in a forest much like a large pond” (https://floridahikes.com/florida-trail-bradwell-bay/).

The comments in FarOut give evidence to Bradwell Bays reputation, many using expletives in their stories of “shin to waist high water,” “knee-deep mud,” and “too many to count sunken logs.” Others mention it’s a slow slog, but not that bad, and “interesting” and “such a unique section.”

I am kind of strange and all that got me excited. I had been pumping myself up for the challenge. With this amount of rain on top of a day-old report of water being waist deep though, I was not as gung-ho. Add on the joys of doing it during constant rain and cold temperatures and it sounded pretty miserable actually.

Not sure why I sound like I have a Canadian accent, eh. But, it also sounded dangerous being out here solo and not currently having my Garmin Spot device on me. I also don’t know anything about local conditions to know if there was potential for flash flooding type situations.

Working in Yosemite National Park this summer, we would always do a little green, amber, red (“GAR”) risk management/safety check process before heading into the backcountry. This excursion would be in the amber/red probably, likely a no go situation, but I could get it in the green by going around haha.

Another blast from the past came to the front of my mind as I contemplated all this in my tent. When I started the Pacific Crest Trail I had the wonderful opportunity to stay with legendary trail angels Scout and Frodo prior to setting forth. They have a tradition of giving an after dinner talk covering various things, but which a big part of is safety. The line that still sticks in my head from time to time is Frodo saying, “Make wise decisions.” So there you go; it didn’t feel like the right move to go swim in Brad’s Bay during the deluge today.

The Roundabout Route

With that decided, I commenced to hanging in my tent for the next several hours. No kidding. I made coffee and oatmeal, schemed on my phone for stuff ahead, watched the first episode of Wheel of Time I’d downloaded, and generally relaxed. I figured it would be good for the odd shin pain that popped up too.

One unpleasantry was that with this much rain, my fly had lost some of its protection. I was getting dripped on. Not too much, but enough that I stuck my rain coat overtop of my quilt to try and reduce the down from getting damp.

Eventually, I started planning for my hike today and when I might leave. I kept pushing it off because the rain was so relentless. No pauses! The hourly forecast had changed now claiming it would stop around 1:00 pm, which wouldn’t leave much hiking time. But, around 11:30 am I sensed it slowing. A quick check and I discovered the storm had passed quicker than expected!

I got to packing. Lots of things were damp and some muddy, but being able to pack up without the rain still coming down was huge. At 12:05 pm, I was hiking the two track. Truthfully, it was pretty uneventful. I started out with dry feet, but eventually gave in to the increasing number of ponded water crossings that covered all the way across the road.

Another time Brad

It took me until 3:45 pm before reconnecting to the FT. Most of the next four miles were underwater.

Whether true or not, I probably will never know, but I felt I was getting a glimpse of what the bypassed section might’ve looked like. I assumed it was just on a grander scale. The water here was mostly ankle deep, but I did find a spot where it went over my knees too. So, the Bradwell Bay area still did claim the deepest wading on the FT for me. I thought it was a pretty neat section actually.

I still made some good miles despite only walking for half the day. There were a few miles of road at the end. For tenting, I ended up at a little campground. The place even had a water spigot and a privy. Very deluxe! A few other tenters (none that looked to be backpackers) and some RV’ers were my neighbors for the night, but coming in late and with the cold rain, nobody was out and about.

That’s where I’m at.

That’s where I’m going.

It’s Big Cypress all over again.

Album of the Day: “Beyond Beyond Beyond (2024)” by The Crane Wives