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  1. #1

    Default This was the worst hike I've ever done in my entire life

    I got off the AT last month, after 500 miles and decided to start meandering around the US, since my lease is up. I decided I'd first go to the FST to break my soft feet back in, since I'd been sitting around for a month. What a mistake. Everything that could be wrong with the FST, is wrong. It almost seems like novelty item that Florida made just to say "hey, we have a scenic trail". Bug spray didn't stop the horrendous mosquitoes, all the underbrush is burned and gone causing very little variety in the Flora, the water tastes awful, the town's are barren, the trail is just a flooded mud pit. So many parts are closed and overgrown, that you have to take massive detours through farms you can't even pitch a tent on if you're tired, so you have to keep hiking, or hitch a ride.

    I used to live in Florida when I was a teenager, and I loved it, the sun, the beach, the relaxed atmosphere, but after twenty miles on the FST and driving around this state, I realized what a huge mistake I'd made. If I somehow become a millionaire, I'll come back here and buy a house in the Keys, so I can enjoy the great weather, minus the terrible everything else... but that probably won't happen. Was nice knowing you, Florida. Damascus trail days can't come soon enough.

    Also, I'm genuinely sorry for being negative, but if you do this trail, be prepared, it's rough! If you complete it, you're a brave soul.

  2. #2
    Registered User Venchka's Avatar
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    Swamps are for boats.
    “Go west young man!”
    Not necessarily all the way west.
    Wayne

  3. #3
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    I think your point is well taken in July, but the FST is pretty sweet in January!

  4. #4
    Registered User cneill13's Avatar
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    So you are two for two in quitting hikes. Maybe it's not your thing.

  5. #5

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    Know why florida was the last state "settled" in the south? It was considered a wasteland of swamps, mosquitos, and alligators. Poor for farming. Remained largely unsettled until 20th century.

    Yeah, summer not good time.
    Last edited by MuddyWaters; 07-31-2018 at 06:51.

  6. #6

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    Not a good idea to hike this trail in the summer. Did you ask anyone before heading out?

  7. #7
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    Quote Originally Posted by manzana View Post
    I think your point is well taken in July, but the FST is pretty sweet in January!
    I met a kid on the AT who had hiked the Florida Trail in January or so as a tune up.

    Must have worked. She was doing 25-30 mike days and sprinting down to the spring and back up at the end of the day. Hope she made it all the way (we were near the half way point when we met her. True minimalist. Only carried a liter of water, no filter, hiked in a hiking dress and used a mud layer like most use a puffy. I’d guess her weight carried including food and water was around twelve pounds).

  8. #8
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    Mid layer. —mud layer is a typo. Fleece.

    She started in March and was passing the mid-February bubble when we met her.

  9. #9

    Default

    I might go back then, but I think I'm just gonna head out west for now. I'm starting to realize that I've been in the southeast my entire life and it's time for something new. I think I still love Florida? But I also think I was remembering it through nostalgia goggles. It's exactly how I remember it, and it turns out that this isn't a good thing. I guess Florida man is Florida man for a reason.

  10. #10

    Default

    I got off the AT as planned, to go empty my apartment, because my lease ended.

  11. #11

    Default

    I'm going to Colorado. I really enjoyed the West. It's so mild and dry and there are no mosquitoes.

  12. #12

    Default

    I realize that now, and yes, I aksed a friend who did 100 miles of it during the Summer months and he sold me on it. Huge mistake.

  13. #13
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    If you are coming to Colorado thinking there are no mosquitoes, you may be surprised. I grew up in the Southeast and moved to CO 17 years ago. I have Rocky Mountain National Park as my backyard playground and guarandamntee you there are mosquitoes as large and fierce in great numbers at most of the high mountain lakes as you would see along any of the SE coastline. They have been particularly bad this year, too. So enjoy hiking in CO . . . but take your bug spray! A head net will go a long way towards keeping your sanity, too.

  14. #14

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    Quote Originally Posted by MyNameisChickenJoe View Post
    I realize that now, and yes, I aksed a friend who did 100 miles of it during the Summer months and he sold me on it. Huge mistake.
    Some people don't mind bugs. I went for a dayhike out to hidden pond the weekend before last. It was hot, buggy and overgrown but there were about a dozen people camped out there.

    Adding to what Mglyon posted, a friend of mine, who does backcountry tours in Yellowstone, said the mosquitoes are bad there right now. It's not just the SE. Head to the desert if you don't want mosquitoes.

  15. #15

    Default

    I don't mind bugs, at least I DIDNT mind the bugs on the AT, and they were pretty awful, but this was insane. At least bug spray worked on the AT. Because of how stagnant the water was on the FST, the air may as well have just been mosquitoes and giant biting flies.

    I'll keep the advice in mind about the mosquitoes out west. I plan to hike through the Rockies, and towards Utah.

  16. #16

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    When I hiked part of the CT/Collegiate Loop at the end of June the mosquitoes were a minor annoyance. Same with the Uinta Mtns in Utah. I wouldn't worry about bugs out here from this point on, unless you go further north (Wyoming/Montana) where we had a much wetter winter than down south.

  17. #17
    Registered User Venchka's Avatar
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    September. Maybe include the last week of August and first of October. In the Rockies.
    Sent from Estes Park, CO.
    Wayne

  18. #18
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    Sort of amusing to read what I've been thinking for many years. Even during the colder months, when the bugs are down, FL hiking is marginal at best. There are some pretty sections in the ONF, particularly around Alexander springs, but all in all I much prefer the mountains.

  19. #19

    Default

    That's a toss up. Warner Robbins...in any month....OR slugging it out on the FT in July.

    Gnats that buzz around incessantly flying gnat suicide missions into ears, nose, mouth and eyes are worthy of Guantanamo.

  20. #20

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    My buddy from Florida let me use his Sawyer filter. Rather than dig mine out, I said sure. 200 feet down the trail I was making a U turn back to the water source. Apparently "Swamp" is a very real flavor, that sticks to filters.

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