Southbound hike through ONF... question about staying in/shuttling out of Palatka

[treesloth]

Hello all,

I'm honestly trying to do my own research about this, but I'm to the point of seeing if a helpful Florida Trail hiker (or anyone!) can answer a question or two. This year I'm going Southbound, and I'm Amtrak'ing from Orlando to Palatka on a Friday eve, where I'd like to find a cheap hotel or something to crash. From there, it's early-up to find a shuttle to Rodman Dam to get started.

Anyone know of any cab or shuttle services up there that can take me from Palatka to the Rodman trailhead? Seems like it's about 15 miles. Can anyone recommend any lodging as well? There seems to be a couple places but a B&B or anything cheap would be great.

Thanks for any ideas!

[WingedMonkey]

I've stayed at the Budget Inn three or four times. It's your typical no frills thin towels motel, but it's only about .6 miles west of the train station, at Hwy 100 and Mosley Ave.

I've never gotten a cab or shuttle, I've walked It once from the trail at Buckman Lock and biked it a few times to Rodman.

I've noticed in the past that there are usually a cab/van or two hanging out at train arrival times, maybe you can make arrangements for next day with them, or I've also seen transportation phone numbers listed at the station (been a while not sure it there still there).

Rather you are going to Rodman or Buckman trailheads, be sure of the route in case you need to guide them.

[Gray Blazer]

Prolly easier to hitchhike on SR100 (or teke a taxi) to Rice Creek a few miles out of Palatka. Maybe a taxi would take you to Rodman?

[treesloth]

WM, I think the route is easy enough, 19S to Rodman Dam road just South of the canal. If I'm not mistaken. But you are right about being prepared for it. And I'll definitely look into the Budget Inn.. I'm sure I can find someone to take my butt there. GB, hitchhiking at 5 in the morning and tacking 20 odd miles onto my hike is not logistically feasible, from a time standpoint. :-) That's why I wanted to arrange a shuttle or taxi ahead of time down to Rodman.

At any rate, I do appreciate your replies gentleman.

[bigcranky]

We used Buck n Bass Outfitters for a shuttle in 2010.

http://www.bucknbasssports.com/index.htm

They were great - nice folks. Hope they are doing well.

That section was a lot of fun to hike. Water was sometimes an issue. Weather was good in early March. Stop at the 88 Store!!! Fun times.

Hitchhiking can be problematic, as the locals think anyone with a pack is a homeless vagrant or a Rainbow Person.

[treesloth]

Hi Ken, funny to hear you mention some of this stuff... water is indeed a problem in the middle of the forest, I found during my Northbound hike last year. And I had the same problem attempting to hitch. I stood at an intersection for an hour (looking to get taken somewhere to get some more water as I was almost out) and no one even slowed down. I made up a nice sign and everything... lol. The little bit of water I had with me was from the infamous Hopkins Prairie campground pump, and I swear it turned greener and greener as the day went on. And I filtered it to begin with! I got picked up at the 88 Store by my ride because blisters put me off the trail at about 50 odd miles.

The 88 Store was like a step back in time, the general store with the bar and two gas pumps out front. There was even the requisite pregnant girl with the one-piece bathing suit/shorts combo working the joint, as well as lots of drunks and good ol' boys having a good time. It was awesome! The place is very hiker-friendly with facilities for the hikers.

Buck n Bass is in Salt Springs and not logistically feasible for where I want to start, but thanks for the info anyways. :)

[Wanderlust77]

When you work out all your logisitics, please post them here. I never considered the train as a way to get to the northern edge of ONF, I'm a bit north of you and the train from DeLand to Palatka would run me $15. Hard to beat that. I'd be interested to know how the rest worked out for you.

[bigcranky]

Oh, wow, I remember the Hopkins Prairie water. It was bright orange, even after treatment. And cloudy. It came out of the pump that way. We drank it anyway, no ill effects. Hopkins Prairie itself was a pretty cool place. We camped there one night - great sunset and sunrise.

We ended up giving a couple of rides to a Rainbow Gathering guy. Young kid from out West somewhere -- he hitched there and back. Told us he had waited about 8 hours for us to pick him up. The locals get really spooked by the RG folks.

At the 88 Store I ran into a triple crowner that I know - small world.

[gearfreak]

I thought I read somewhere that Buck & Bass was no longer operating. Either way, another option is Ocklawaha Canoe Outpost (http://www.outpostresort.com/). Give Shelly a call at 866-236-4606. She seems to be a bit new to shuttling hikers, but is accommodating and friendly. I'm using her for the first time in mid-February from Clearwater Lake to Juniper Springs. She charges $1.25 per mile, so your trip might cost less as she's located much closer to Rodman Dam.

[Ladytrekker]

There is a fishing hunting store in Salt Springs area, however, they do not shuttle anymore. Mike is the only one that did any shuttles in that area and he recently moved out of town. If there are more than one you can self shuttle. You can leave a vehicle at Rodman Dam, Juniper Springs, or Hopkins Prairie. Hopkins is less secure but have never had anyone bother my car there. Hopkins to Juniper (approx 11 miles) is a no hunting area and always plenty of water especially mid point at Hidden Pond also is a nice place to camp. In a few weeks I am hiking from the 88 store to Hopkins and then next month hiking 88 store to rodman and then each month hiking two other southern sections. Only have weekends but by the end of winter I will have completed the entire ONF. Most of the forest is hunted however, hikers and hunters have been sharing it for years with little or no incidences. If you feel better wear something bright.

[treesloth]

Gearfreak - I gave Shelley a call and left a message, but she didn't return my call. I guess she's not interested, but thank you for the info regardless.

Wanderlust - I found Checkered Cab; a pickup can be scheduled from the Budget Inn or anywhere in Palatka really, they're gonna charge about $25 for a shuttle down to Rodman dam. Slightly on the expensive side, but I don't care. I tried to put it all together for this coming weekend, only to find out that Amtrak is doing track maintenance so no trains from Orlando to Palatka on Friday. I'm now committed for next Friday, Feb 1st as there is no maintenance happening at that date. The main point I'm making here is that the train and shuttle are do-able. The cab # is 386.325.7777.

The kinda sucky part to the above date is that the seed camp for the Rainbow Gathering (https://www.facebook.com/events/408438619222038/) is starting Feb 2nd on Hopkins Prairie somewhere off of FR86, I'd imagine it's gotta be somewhere near the abandoned boat ramp or close to the sinkhole (which we know the FT goes around). Oh well, I'm just gonna hike as far south past that as I can and camp in Juniper Prairie. I'm sure you already know about all this Ladytrekker... you ever run into any of them? I'm not concerned at all, just curious. My concern is more about spooking the locals with my presence (mistaking me for a Rainbow-er) as Bigcranky can attest.

[fcoulter]

That's weird, because the Rainbow's web site claims they got together last weekend. http://flrainbow.org/Ocala/

Maybe I'm reading that wrong?

[treesloth]

Yup, you are. :-) That's for the Council Meeting in Alexander Springs, the 'pre-meeting' planning event with the RG leaders and coordinators. The RG is a month-long event.

BTW.. I see you're in Cfl. Have you been to the Seminole State Forest yet? I went there last weekend to do a prep hike. There's a 9 mile trail (Lower Wekiva Loop, white blazed) and a 2.6 mile trail (Sulphur Island Loop, blue blazed). I did them both last weekend, as a prep hike, they were great. That place is a jewel! Lots of biodiversity like in ONF.

[fcoulter]

BTW.. I see you're in Cfl. Have you been to the Seminole State Forest yet? I went there last weekend to do a prep hike. There's a 9 mile trail (Lower Wekiva Loop, white blazed) and a 2.6 mile trail (Sulphur Island Loop, blue blazed). I did them both last weekend, as a prep hike, they were great. That place is a jewel! Lots of biodiversity like in ONF.

A few years ago I hiked from 46 to 44 and back. A long hike.

A ranger had driven by a couple of times looking for a lost hiker. I told her I'd keep an eye out for them. About a mile before I got back to my car, she came by one last time and told me that the hikers were found. They were on one of the horse trails, so they gave bad information about where they were. I ended up hitching a ride with the ranger for the last mile.

Like I said, a long day.

I'm planning on returning sometime this year. I'm going to see if I can get the Florida Trailwalker patch. (3 down; 27 to go.)

I've been writing up my hikes on myfloridatrails.com. Been bouncing around a bit.

[treesloth]

A few years ago I hiked from 46 to 44 and back. A long hike.

Yeah, that's a dandy of a trek. Even with no hills here, the sand walking sure gets my calves sore. And no more long walks here for me without gaiters. Never again. Good luck on the Trailwalker program. I may give it a try too, I've already got some serious miles logged in some of the woods around here in the last few years.

Sandra's info was excellent for the LW loop trail, as a side note. She does so much for the hiking community here. Oh, and gearfreak - Shelley did call me back this morning, but her shuttle cost would have been much more than the $25 quoted by the cab company.

[treesloth]

So I got back a day early from this awesome hike. To me, the absence of altitude is made up for with complete changes in the landscape every 3 to 5 miles. FT (at least the non-roadwalking parts) rocks in the Winter, period. (I never know if you're really supposed to put a period on the end of a sentence that ends with the word 'period'). At any rate, here's a few pics.

Scrub tunnels:

19492

cool looking wiregrass pine forests:

19493

Burned and/or timber-harvested (planned forest reformation) efforts:

19494

Huge "wet prairies":

19495

And believe it or not, hills (well, big humps really):

19496

A nice spring fed pond when you need it:

19498

Scrub plains (these were the least fun to walk through underfoot wise, think of walking on a soft sand beach for long periods of time):

19502

And one of my faves, Farles Prairie in early on a cool morning:

19505

The Rainbow Gathering was just getting geared up, hippies all over Hopkins Prairie. I was able to fill up from a huge water cache they had there, and most of them seemed generally friendly. It was definitely different to be stepping through groups of people just sitting on the Florida Trail just hanging out. I had a nice chat with a fellow named 'Big Bird', who, "loved Hopkins Prairie" and "loved everything". The only thing I wasn't incredibly keen on was them cutting paths through the prairie. Lazy hippies. Yes, that's a massage table. On Hopkins Prairie.

19506

Lots more biodiversity and many more pics taken but there's the gist. It was all well worth the overuse injuries.

[WingedMonkey]

I now forgive you for a post you made a while back that Florida "is one big swamp".

I knew you knew better.

:sun

[treesloth]

Dunno... on a macro level, it kind of is. On a micro level, well, that's what my above post (and hike) is all about. :-)

[Praha4]

I spoke with the bait n tackle store in Salt Springs today. He said the Rainbow gathering has 400-500 people there now. kind of like a "Occupy Ocala Nat Forest". And he also said they don't offer hiker shuttles any more, because their liability insurance rates got too high to do that.