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Lion King
03-03-2010, 22:22
is road (and how many miles aprox are road in those areas) and as a second question, which part is walking in water.

Im working out a plan to do an interesting FL walk and I want to do some of the FT, but I dont care to walk in swamp or mud for miles on end.

Roads, bike paths no big deal because then Im close to cold stores to cool off and grab a gatorade.


thanks in advance

Praha4
03-03-2010, 22:37
the amount of water encountered on the Florida Trail depends on time of year and weather patterns... "usually" early spring (March) is when water levels are at their lowest in most sections... but this has been an unusually wet winter, so I think you will find water levels high for a while. I hiked the FT section thru Bradwell Bay last March in Appalachicola National Forest... they told me late Feb thru March is usually the best time of year when Monkey Creek is at its lowest levels of the year...even then Bradwell Bay is usually thigh to waist deep.... but this year the creeks and rivers are flowing very high. I think you would find similar conditions in south Florida.
My suggestion is to contact Florida Trail HQ in Tallahassee and ask them who would know for the areas of the State you are hiking. good luck

Lion King
03-03-2010, 23:09
Thanks.

So there are a few areas I dont want to hiek through, lol...

jnetx
03-03-2010, 23:29
WE hiked in a very dry year and actually never even got our feet wet in the historically wettest portion of the trail but here's a basic synopsis (mileage approximate).

Starting at southern terminus:
30 miles swamp - mud and ankle to thigh deep (our experience, it can get chest deep)
followed by 70 miles dirt road, canal dykes and fairly lightly used highways. All of this 100 miles is remote maybe pass 1 or 2 places for cold drink)
4O (W side) or 60 (E side) around the dykes of Lake Okeechobee - a small town each side and some very occasional gas stations off the dyke- often inaccessible from the dyke due to canal in the way.

Town of Okeechobee at the top end of Lake O the first reasonable size town - accessible from both side of Lake and the last town for over 100 miles of again remote road, but with a couple of 20-30 mile off road but mainly dry trail. again on this stretch only 2 or 3 places to buy cold drinks, etc.

At around the 250 (very approximate) trailmile point the trail splits to the East and Westsides of Orlando. West side: 60 miles road walk first, passing through towns of ST Cloud and Kissimmee in the first 30, then occasional gas stations, etc for second half of roadwalk. Then approx 150 of mainly off road and dry, but includes some bike paths, and skirts a couple of small towns (Inverness and Ocala). East side is initially less road walk through mainly dry trail, but remote and no services at all with one rather wet patch at Tosahatchee, then road walk and bike trails for about 100 miles through the outskirts of Orlando and appreciably more civilization.

The two meet together in Ocala NF then continue on mainly dry trail and a combination of dirts roads, railbeds etc for several hundred miles. Not much immediate on trail access to cold drinks, but passes near a few small towns, gas stations, restaurants, etc (approximately Palatka to Crestview). We hiked in very dry conditions. This north FL portion has been VERY wet this year. Mainly long roadwalks with a really nice trail sections. The highway walks generally have access to gas stations etc each day, but there are a couple of longer sections without any services. From Crestview west about 100 miles of road, bike trail and beach walk with frequent refreshment access.

Hope this helps. Please feel free to PM if you want more specific.










The western corridor around orlando has a 60 mile road walk stretch then a lot of

Gray Blazer
03-03-2010, 23:34
WE hiked in a very dry year and actually never even got our feet wet in the historically wettest portion of the trail but here's a basic synopsis (mileage approximate).

Starting at southern terminus:
30 miles swamp - mud and ankle to thigh deep (our experience, it can get chest deep)
followed by 70 miles dirt road, canal dykes and fairly lightly used highways. All of this 100 miles is remote maybe pass 1 or 2 places for cold drink)
4O (W side) or 60 (E side) around the dykes of Lake Okeechobee - a small town each side and some very occasional gas stations off the dyke- often inaccessible from the dyke due to canal in the way.

Town of Okeechobee at the top end of Lake O the first reasonable size town - accessible from both side of Lake and the last town for over 100 miles of again remote road, but with a couple of 20-30 mile off road but mainly dry trail. again on this stretch only 2 or 3 places to buy cold drinks, etc.

At around the 250 (very approximate) trailmile point the trail splits to the East and Westsides of Orlando. West side: 60 miles road walk first, passing through towns of ST Cloud and Kissimmee in the first 30, then occasional gas stations, etc for second half of roadwalk. Then approx 150 of mainly off road and dry, but includes some bike paths, and skirts a couple of small towns (Inverness and Ocala). East side is initially less road walk through mainly dry trail, but remote and no services at all with one rather wet patch at Tosahatchee, then road walk and bike trails for about 100 miles through the outskirts of Orlando and appreciably more civilization.

The two meet together in Ocala NF then continue on mainly dry trail and a combination of dirts roads, railbeds etc for several hundred miles. Not much immediate on trail access to cold drinks, but passes near a few small towns, gas stations, restaurants, etc (approximately Palatka to Crestview). We hiked in very dry conditions. This north FL portion has been VERY wet this year. Mainly long roadwalks with a really nice trail sections. The highway walks generally have access to gas stations etc each day, but there are a couple of longer sections without any services. From Crestview west about 100 miles of road, bike trail and beach walk with frequent refreshment access.

Hope this helps. Please feel free to PM if you want more specific.










The western corridor around orlando has a 60 mile road walk stretch then a lot of

Pretty dam thorough if you ask me.

Lion King
03-04-2010, 02:29
Awesome. Thank you.

I will have to get guides if I can work out this crazy plan I have...we will see....

So basically N of Lake Och, its a dry walk?

jnetx
03-04-2010, 07:52
So basically N of Lake Och, its a dry walk?

I would say in general yes, but right now, No.

I have a complete set of maps, data book, companion etc from 2008 looking for a new home if they would help initial planning. You might have to update a couple of them before kickoff due to relos, but they're yours for the postage if you're interested.

Gray Blazer
03-04-2010, 08:19
You might have to update a couple of them before kickoff due to relos,

Speaking of relos, there seems to be lots of them all the time. Especially in the woods. About 5 or seven of them converted to a road walk (along the old railbed on hiway 100 and a dirt road so its not that bad) in Bardin Booger Woods. You get to walk the Old Bellamy Road north of there. From Rice Creek to Bellamy Road is a nice dry forest walk. (Except for the previous mentioned section).

From Rice Creek to Lake Butler is a dry walk. There's some swamp north of Lake Butler that Cheif Duffie could prolly tell you more about.

Gray Blazer
03-04-2010, 08:20
Speaking of relos About 5 or seven of them converted to a road walk

5 or 7 miles, that is.

murphy_sj
03-15-2010, 19:38
Hi, I'm thanking about hiking the FLA trail for about a month. If certain places are so remote as mentioned above(especially southern), what do people usually do about food? Do you need to carry a ton of food?

thanks for the help,

SJM

jnetx
03-15-2010, 21:42
Do you need to carry a ton of food?

thanks for the help,

SJM

Yes, on certain southern sections. The first 100 miles or so there is limited acccess to resupply (though I recently went through a renovated convenience store on the res and you could probably get by now with supplies there).

From Lake Okeechobee all the way up to Kissimmee (west connector) or Oviedo (east) is a long stretch with no obvious resupply. Past Orlando you'd probably be mainly OK living off convenience store fare when supplies a bit further apart. Getting access to small towns is slightly closer too.