Nomadic 2005 ‐ Swimming in Pepsi

2005-09-25

Holton Spring (40.437 N, 83.056 W)After leaving the Seminole State Forest yesterday, I continued North through the Ocala National Forest. This area was sparsely populated, heavily wooded and filled with actual hills. I cut across the Florida Trail several times and felt just a tinge of regret at not thru-hiking this section. Oh well. I doubt that the view from the trail would have been substantially different than that from the many roads, although I may have had a chance to see more critters--like bears.

Today I drove up to the Osceola National Forest which also supports the Florida Trail. I hiked along an interpretive trail in Olustee Battlefield Historic State Park (about 40 miles West of Jacksonville), site of one of the bloodiest battles of the Civil War as far as Florida is concerned. Apparently, part of the movie Glory was filmed here. That area of Florida is nothing but sand and pine trees. Okay, there is the ever-present palmetto, too. Many of the pine trees are on farms, the only difference between them and their wild brethren being the farm pines grow in endless rows like corn.

Next up: Suwannee Springs. There's a spring there that gushes brown rotten-egg-smelling water into the already tannic-stained blackness of the Suwannee River. Many people swim there. I took to the water as well in the guise of swimming, but was really taking a bath. (To be sure, the semi-bath I enjoyed the previous day in a horse-watering trough hadn't yet completely worn off.) If you push your hand a foot into the water, you can no longer see it due to the water's blackness. If it wasn't for the other swimmers, I would have been very hesitant to enter the water.

The forest around the river is pretty cool. It's thick and dark with many vines and hanging moss and can best be described as something you would find Scooby Doo and gang sneaking around in.

From Suwannee Spring I drove a few miles West to Holton Spring. After a long drive into the woods, I AM now camping once again on the Florida Trail. Technically, I'm supposed to be out of here by dark. Oh well. This area also has the cool dark forest, but there are also massive cypress in the Holton Creek. There are sink holes everywhere, some filled in with water, some not. Holton Creek itself could almost be called a river. Even with all that water, it starts only a couple hundred yards up from here at the spring. Springs in this part of the country are serious.

I spent many a mile today driving along sections of the Florida Trail, always revealed by its distinctive orange slash. Again, this is part of the reason I gave up on the thru-hike. What's the point of walking down a road?

Critters: a feral cat passed by just before dark. With its bushy tail, I thought at first that it was a fox.