View Full Version : What has been your worst...
BumpJumper
01-08-2008, 18:14
or scariest, or just plain awful hike on the Florida Trail and why? ie; critters, pervs, ax murderers....etc...:eek:
cowboy nichols
01-08-2008, 18:17
you forgot gators!!!!!!
Pedaling Fool
01-08-2008, 18:26
I can't remember who, but someone down here in Florida claims they were tracked/stalked by what they believe to be the infamous "Skunk Ape"...
SGT Rock
01-08-2008, 18:29
When I was working on my BMT guide I found an instance of a Bigfoot sighting along the trail. Google Earth has some interesting things getting done with it.
AT-HITMAN2005
01-08-2008, 18:50
i was out one night cruising around with some friends on our motorcycles, south of orlando in kissimmee/poinciana area. the road had pretty dense forest on either side but also had street lights(which is odd in itself), out a head of i saw something cross the road but couldn't really make it out. looked like a biped to, but i was the only one that saw it. and when we got up to where i saw the "thing" there was just more woods and stuff. so dunno what it was i saw. that area is really not that developed so it could have been anything, but i think it was a skunk ape, or maybe an asterisk.
Hi Bump.I love walking in swamps and been hit by cottons and been stalked by many gators over 30 yr's.Worst was only a 5ft gator that i had to beat off.Cottons only made me REAL SICK for days....no shot ever.
Cannibal
01-09-2008, 09:33
Haven't really had a scary night out there...yet. Had a hunter fire what sounded like a rather large caliber gun too close for comfort one morning. It's been a long time since I went from blissful dreaming to wide-the-hell awake that quick. :eek:
Gray Blazer
01-09-2008, 12:50
I can't remember who, but someone down here in Florida claims they were tracked/stalked by what they believe to be the infamous "Skunk Ape"...
That would be me and I am now a firm believer in Bigfoot and will no longer discount the claims of other sightees.
My worst encounter on the FT so far has been with the ticks. I'm gonna get some of that there permith...premit...pemrit...that bug stuff.
John Gault....at the time I was pretty anxious when I spotted those fresh bigfoot tracks. I would have gotten pics, but I was afraid that if I got out the cam and looked down he was gonna jump me. I've walked up on bears in the same area (iron bridge, Etoniah State Forest). Pretty neat area. Rob123uf and I are gonna walk the 13 miles from SR100 to Etoniah Trailhead prolly on Jan 21. Anyone is welcome to join us.
Gray Blazer
01-09-2008, 12:51
or scariest, or just plain awful hike on the Florida Trail and why? ie; critters, pervs, ax murderers....etc...:eek:
What about morons?
Gray Blazer
01-09-2008, 12:54
Worst was only a 5ft gator that i had to beat off. Slow, that doesn't sound right. Maybe you want to rephrase that? :D
Cannibal
01-09-2008, 13:07
Slow, that doesn't sound right. Maybe you want to rephrase that? :D
Ha! That's sick AND funny all at the same time. :D
Gray Blazer
01-09-2008, 15:19
Ha! That's sick AND funny all at the same time. :D
Yeah, and I know some Seminole fans who might get jealous. :banana
My scariest and most awful experience while hiking the FT was eating at a McDonalds before starting our hike in 2005. I survived - barely, and haven't been back (to McDonalds) since.
superman
01-09-2008, 15:58
...besides the taste of the water or the bitter oranges?
We had to cross a swamp section on a long log. Winter had crossed logs before without a problem. I went first carrying Winter's pack. Winter followed me with Pat behind us. I was about 3/4 across when Pat started yelling that Winter fell in. I ran the rest of the way and threw the packs on land. When I turned to go back for Winter I realized that there were two gators near me heading for Winter. There were also two gators on the far side heading for Winter. The swamp was too thick for her to swim and too liquid to climb up on. Pat was trying to pull Winter up but she didn't have enough lift. I ran back to Winter and with both Pat and I pulling lifted Winter back on the log just as the gators closed in. We carefully led Winter across the log. We got our breath while we put our packs on and climbed up a little rise. There was a dinosaur size gator laying across the trail. We didn't know whether to poo or go blind. The dinosaur spotted us and shot in the opposite direction into another swamp.
...or was it when we were trying to hitch to Orlando to go home. We ate lunch at a combination restaurant/motel. The Boss Hog owner offered us the use of one of his rooms to get cleaned up...for free. Then he offers the room for the night...for free. Damn nice guy we though. So while Pat is taking a shower I had a spider sense thing. I got to looking around and happened to be standing in a doorway where I looked down the length of the room. There was a hidden hole in the wall about door size behind the freestanding closet. I showed Pat and she was spooked. I got my shower and we got out of there. As we walked out of the room, a guy had been in that connecting room and said in an eerie way "aren't you staying the night."
or ...well there was a different adventure every day on the FT.
superman
01-09-2008, 23:40
By the way...does it ever cool down on the FT? We hiked in January 04 and we were roasting. ...and is there a filter to get rid of the nasty taste in the water? Driving to and from the FT I encountered about a million old New Yorkers who still had the attitude but their driving skills were gone. Is that the norm in FL?
Jim Adams
01-10-2008, 00:02
mosquitos!
geek
Slow, that doesn't sound right. Maybe you want to rephrase that? :D
Gary,it was nice to meet you and sometimes it just comes out wrong.
Glad you had fun with it...but still true.:D
Gray Blazer
01-18-2008, 09:05
Gary,
Glad you had fun with it...but still true.:D
Sorry about that, brother. Speaking of scary things on the FT, when is the next FL/WB get-together? I was going to hike a section on Mon but I forgot to tell anybody and now I don't have a ride. Not a thru-hiker and a moron.:o
Crash! Bang!
01-19-2008, 06:46
jeepers creepers. i'll stick to the AT and the LT, thanks:eek:
Sorry about that, brother. Speaking of scary things on the FT, when is the next FL/WB get-together? I was going to hike a section on Mon but I forgot to tell anybody and now I don't have a ride. Not a thru-hiker and a moron.:o
Let's set a date,place that will work for all.
Bump did a GREAT JOB on the last one but to much work for her.
This time everyone just cook on own site.But i will still bring steak's for all.:D
BumpJumper
02-06-2008, 19:25
You hit the nail on the head. It was alot of work. Fun though. :banana
notorius tic
02-06-2008, 19:34
I was about two steps from a mochassin nest had to be 25 or 30 in it...Niner caught it before i step in it and wanked my azz back would have been a fatal last step..
Scrollner
02-06-2008, 19:47
My worst time on the FT was last March, on the first night of a three day hike with the family. We had gone from Olustee to Ocean Pond to spend the night. After dinner, my 9 year old said he wasn't feeling well. He was a little warm so we gave him some Tylenol and put him in bed. At 3 am he woke up saying he hurt "all-over" and was very hot & sweating. We decided to ask the host for help, and he was kind enough to drive us to my car. we drove him into lake city hospital, where it turned out he had appendicitis. He ended up getting it removed that morning.
I almost got shot during Turkey season out in Richloam/Green Swamp section once. Shotgun pellets tore up the palmettos about 12 feet in front of me on the trail.
That's my hunting story. Here's my perv story:
About three weeks ago I came across two dudes gettin' freaky in the parking lot (there's a parking lot on the far side of the trail) at McKethan Lake Trail near Brooksville. Not in a car, but out in the open....
Talk about awkward and weird. I ran back to my vehicle and came back and chased them off.