3 days in Ocala National Forest

[jbwood5]

I just did a 3 day 45 mile hike in the Ocala National Forest, Friday thru Sunday, out and back from Clearwater Lake. This was really just to test out some newer lightweight Summer backpacking equipment that I got for Christmas in preparation for a Summer AT hike in VT and NH that will hopefully happen in July this year.

Of all the years I have lived in Fl, I have never hiked in the Ocala NF. I picked a beautiful weekend and found the hike to be very easy and pleasant. On Friday, I woke up way before Sunrise and drove 145 miles to Clearwater Lake Recreation area where I parked at the Trail Head lot. I was on the trail a few minutes after 8:00 AM. I arrived at Alexander Springs around noon and snacked on the patio behind the restrooms. The place was dead, except for the campground. After refilling with water, I hiked up to Buck Lake and ended up camping off an unused trail NW of the lake. There are lots of old unmaintained trails in this area and you could actually get lost in the maze. I never saw another hiker the entire day, but there was a guy in a hammock on the blue blaze trail near Buck Lake. It got rather cold on Friday night (high 30's) and my Summer gear was insufficient. Fortunately I had some layers to help out, but did wake up shivering a few times.

On Saturday, I hiked up to Farles Lake day use area, got some water and continued N for about 3 more miles. I had wanted to make it to Juniper Springs, but that was too optimistic. I turned around in the Farles Praire area after taking it all in (beautiful area). Back at the day use area, I made some lunch and chatted with backpacked Dave from Eustis (the guy in the hammock). I guess because of the cold weather, there was only 3-4 people using the facility. Farles Day use area is very nice but supposedly you are not alowed to camp there.
Throughout the afternoon, I hiked back to Alexander Springs and found a great camping area just N of the blue blaze connector trail. I could have walked a half mile to get potable water from the rec area, but I didn't even need it with the cool air. Again, it was too cold and windy for my Summer equipment and temps dropped to the low 30's that night. I almost had to dig out the mylar survival sheet (1 shot deal), but toughed it out with a pair of rain pants and a rain jacket on. I'm glad I threw those in the pack.

Yesterday (Sunday) I walked the 10 miles back to Clearwater Lake and drove home. I was even able to stop for a meal, and make it home in time to set up the tent and dry it out. There was a father and son backpack hiker pair who I chatted with from Valrico, FL on a good part of the last section. They were planning to do some canoeing later in the afternoon.

In general, this is a nice trail and very well maintained. The cool weather really helped reducing the need for a lot of water and keeping away any and all flying bugs. I did find a dead tick in my socks (thanks to pre-treatment with permethrin) and I about got run over by a mountain bike who came flying up the trail from behind, yelling at me to move over (I yelled back telling him to get off the hiking trail).
I did find that the bottoms of my feet were a little tender by the time I finished. The nicest sections that I hiked were just before and north of Farles day use area. I'm looking forward to continuing N sometime in the future.

BTW, I hear it got into the mid to upper 20's last night. It is hard to believe it is March in Florida!

Just John
Seminole, FL

[Cookerhiker]

On a 10 day trip to Florida in late January/early February, my summer bag wasn't warm enough for the first night I car-camped in Ocala NF. Later in the trip when I camped in a county park near Manatee Springs State Park, the morning temp registered 36 but I used my winter bag that night.

[Sly]

I about got run over by a mountain bike who came flying up the trail from behind, yelling at me to move over (I yelled back telling him to get off the hiking trail).

I always wanted to hike in Ocala thanks for the trip report.

About the mountain bike incident:

I swear this is one of the most contentious group out there that demands that they be able to bike anywhere. I understand the proper etiquette is for bikes to yield to hikers and horses. Obviously that can't happen when approached from behind but they don't seem to slow down and many times annouce themselves practically on top on the hiker. More than once I've heard off hikers being injured in collisions to the point it ended the hikers hike.

Even though the forest service reiterated that no bikes are allowed on the PCT they're still trying to gain access. Also, from what I understand bikes aren't uncommon on some sections of AT.

[Tipi Walter]

I can't stand the wheel-retarded on unauthorized foot trails and have gotten to the point (as with horseback riders on trails not allowed) to just take their pictures and post them on my trip reports. Why not?

[jbwood5]

Every place the trail crosses another trail or a road it is clearly marked "Foot Trail Only", so there is no reason for bikes to be out there.... plus there are designated mountain bike trails in the Ocala NF. Because the trail surface is soft and usually sandy in places for most of the Florida Trails, the bike riders like to get on the hiking trails that are a little less used and usually firmer. I am actually happy to see that the maintainers do not clear all the fallen tree trunks from the trail. There is a good reason for that.

After my inner peace (while hiking) was disrupted by that rude biker, I thought about tossing my hiking pole right through the spokes of the wheel for the next biker. That is how mad I was. Of course that would, no doubt, create a worst situation, but it would sure put an end to it right on the spot. lol
One good hiking pole destroyed..... Oh well

At least its not as bad as the horse riders that get on the trails at Croom and Citrus in west central Florida. We get some serious damage there for sure.

Sly... with the cool dry breezy air we had this past weekend, walking through the Farles praire area reminded me of some of the parts in MA I passed by last year with the ponds and tree snags sticking up and deep blue skies. I can only imagine how quickly that picture changes when the hot and muggy air moves back in down here.

[JaxHiker]

Sounds like a nice trip.

Re: bikers
As a Trail Coordinator I make the conscious decision to not remove every tree that falls across the trail for this very reason. If it's a big snarl I'll take care of it but otherwise I'm inclined to leave it where it lay. We ran into some bikers while doing maintenance along the Suwannee. There is a bike trail that runs near the FT so I gave them the benefit of the doubt and they took my correction cordially. Which reminds me, I need to pick up some "Foot Traffic Only" signs.

[WingedMonkey]

Every place the trail crosses another trail or a road it is clearly marked "Foot Trail Only", so there is no reason for bikes to be out there.... plus there are designated mountain bike trails in the Ocala NF. Because the trail surface is soft and usually sandy in places for most of the Florida Trails, the bike riders like to get on the hiking trails that are a little less used and usually firmer. I am actually happy to see that the maintainers do not clear all the fallen tree trunks from the trail. There is a good reason for that.

In addition all of the Wilderness Areas, including Juniper and Alexander are closed to all bikes. Yet I have seen blogs of cyclist telling which trails in those areas they use.

Like you said, there are plenty of places on the Ocala to bike, and I've done so often where allowed.

[Praha4]

I hiked thru Ocala NF from Buckman Lock to Clearwater Lake between 9-12 Feb this year. I encountered the same problems with mountain bikers on the FT, it was just north of Hopkins Prairie. Also saw clear evidence of dirt bike (motorcycle) driving in a FT section in that area too. The dirt bikes really make larger ruts in the trail, cause more erosion too. There are clear signs up along the FT that it is for foot traffic only, but they ignore those signs.

I met some Forest Service rangers at the north end of Hopkins Prairie, the road crossing, where they were on patrol for the Rainbow Gathering, I told them about the mtn bikes, they said they know about it and are always trying to catch these guys, but they were more preoccupied with the Rainbow Gathering.

I took a 45 degree MLD Spirit quilt, had one night in the 30s so shiverring all nite was the result. Other 2 nites was in the 50s. Weather this year in north Florida has been up and down warm/cold.

Clearwater Lake Rec area is a good place to safely leave a car for a multi day hike in that area. I passed thru Lake Delancey campground, Hopkins Prairie campground, Juniper and Alexander Springs campgrounds, and only saw a few people camped, this is the best time to go there, summers will be busier.

the Fla Trail relatively flat terrain much easier on the knees than the AT. A few rolling hills in Ocala NF. If you want some FT hills in Florida, go to Torreya State Park near Bristol, FL in the panhandle.

[JaxHiker]

Torreya is very cool. I hope to get back this year.

Sent from my SkyRaider Thunderbolt.

[Gray Blazer]

Torreya is like going to the mountains without leaving FL. (sort of)

[Praha4]

ditto. Torreya is closest thing to North Georgia mountains in Florida. Great place to do some hills, and a beautiful park. I love that old Gregory House too.

[fishfeet]

I just got back from hiking Clearwater Lake to Alexander Springs and back over monday and tuesday. A bit of prep for my AT thru march 25.

[theoilman]

Torreya is very cool. I hope to get back this year.

Sent from my SkyRaider Thunderbolt.

I hiked Torreya this past weekend, with a cheap summer bag - about froze my tail off Friday night, Saturday wore everything I had in my bag as was OK. Below 35 deg both nights! The section directly in front of the Gregory House was closed - 20 to 30 feet out in the river (nearly 8' above flood stage) and they said 5 to 10 feet deep - so add 1 more hill to blue blaze to Gregory House and back down. Beautiful, clear, and dry - no condensation on anything.

[JaxHiker]

Wow, I had no idea it was flooding that way also. That's too bad about the house. It's a nice little hike along there. My friend has a cabin on the Withlacoochee near the Suwannee. She had to get an air boat ride to check on it and the water was 1.5' under the floor (it's on stilts). Not sure if it's kept climbing but the water over the road was about 5-8' deep and her driveway was 5' under water. What amazes me is that we walked down steps about 30' to get to the water last time which means it's made a huge increase. Earlier in the week the level was at 71'!

John, did you see any signs of the Hopkins Prairie fire? I understand it's burned around 2000 acres and I think maybe some homes.

[WingedMonkey]

Thank you again Georgia.
Since we are off on Florida Trail tangents....

State officials on Monday warned residents of several North Florida counties about possible contamination of the Withlacoochee and Suwannee rivers because of a water pollution problem in Georgia.


The Withlacoochee Water Pollution Control Plant in Valdosta, Ga., has overflowed into the Withlacoochee River, which flows south and connects with the Suwannee River.
The Florida Department of Environmental Protection will collect water samples from the area and the test results will be available within the next week.
Until then, the Florida Department of Health cautions people to avoid contact with those rivers. This includes people in the counties of Dixie, Gilchrist, Hamilton, Lafayette, Levy, Madison, and Suwannee.
Water contaminated by wastewater overflow may contain untreated human sewage with microbes that could cause gastro-intestinal and other diseases.
If you have been in contact with the river water, health officials urge you to wash your hands thoroughly before eating or drinking. Children and elderly as well as people with depressed immune systems are particularly vulnerable to disease so every precaution should be taken to avoid the river water.

http://www.gainesville.com/article/2...CLES/130309879