Hog Island

So my idea of a contiguous NOBO section hike obviously isn’t going to work. Having completed the first 7 or so miles of Big Cypress, the next section is a 3 day backpack trip with no accessible roads to split it up. I could take the time off an do it over a long weekend, but I can’t find anyone to go with me. The Rangers at Big Cypress are strongly advising against going solo. So to continue with my Florida Trail section hike I’ve picked out a couple of day/weekend segments close to home. I’ll just have to wait to finish Big Cypress. This weekend I’m hiking again with Mindy, who came on the Loop Road hike.

We started out the day at Hog Island campground, where we secured a camp site for the night, and left one vehicle, then drove to At River Junction where we left the second vehicle. After a brief false start we realized we had not actually seen an orange blaze since we left the car, and we doubled back and took the correct left turn (the one on the left!), actually headed down the correct sand road to River Junction and the start of the Croom Trail.

From the trailhead the trail skirts several small Cypress swamps. We really enjoyed the clear still water, with the sunshine flooding through the new spring green of the trees. Eventually the trail wound its way to the Withlacoochee River, back to the swamps, and then oak forest.

We saw plenty of wildlife throughout the day, from deer in the campgrounds, to birds, butterflies, a very fast black snake, and the little turtle. The butterfly would only allow me within a couple of feet, then would fly about 20 feet down the trail, let me within a couple of feet and fly 20 feet further. This went on for long enough that we thought it was hiking the trail with us! Eventually he flew off into the forest without us.

The last 1/4 mile of or so of the trail was through a pine forest, and we were home at our campsite for the night, complete with a campfire and steak dinner.

View more photos in my Picasa album