Brief History of Florida Trail
Nearly 60 years ago, the first section of the Florida Trail was begun just a few short miles from my home. Less than 20 years later, the trail earned congressional recognition and nis now known as the Florida National Scenic Trail. Today, this trail runs north from Big Cypress National Preserve to Gulf Islands National Seashore in the panhandle. There are numerous side trails and spur trails to local sites of interest. There are multiple websites and mobile apps that make navigating the Trail something anyone can do, and I encourage you to get out there and see a mile or two of the over 1000 miles of trail.
We got an early start!
Judy and I set off early one extremely chilly morning, dropped off her car at the Alexander Springs boat ramp, and followed NFS 538 through the Ocala National Forest into Paisley and onto SR 42 to Clearwater Lake Recreation Area. The Florida National Scenic Trail shares a public parking lot with the Paisley Woods Bicycle Trail, and the beginning of the trail to Alexander Springs is just a few steps away. We started traveling at about 6:30 am, but it was nearly 8 by the time we stepped onto the trail. Next time, we want to get onto the trail before the sun is fully up.
One of the nicest things about the Florida Trail, at least the sections in the Ocala National Forest, is how well they are blazed. In many places, you will see the next blaze immediately upon passing the last blaze.
Wild, but not wilderness
This section of trail is not part of the Wilderness areas, so it is criss-crossed with forest roads and is actually worked – trees are harvested and there are periodic controlled burns. You would think that this would limit wildlife sightings, but we saw our first deer as we were traveling by car to the trailhead. I have seen deer within yards of the trailhead, and we saw several more deer during this hike. At one point we left the trail briefly to walk along a forest road, and followed bobcat prints through the sand. If you want to see wildlife, this is a good section of trail for you!
The first part of the trail is open pine forest. The hillsides are beautiful and the morning light indescribable. Although SR 42 was very close to where we hiked, we felt like we were in a remote and perhaps enchanted forest, far from roads and the cares of the everyday world.
Jeremiah H. Brewer gravesite
Before too many miles had passed, we came upon a single headstone in a small fenced area. Jeremiah M. Brewer died in 1877 and was fortunate enough to be laid to rest in this forest. He was a Union soldier in the Civil War. I do not know why he was buried all by himself, but the Ocala National Forest is not a bad place to end up. As with other headstones, this one was surrounded by tcotchkes and mementoes.
We begin to thaw out
By this point, the morning was growing warmer and our fingers weren’t so numb. Between the day of the hike and now, I’ve actually borrowed reusable handwarmers and found them delightful! I immediately ordered some and they’ll arrive in time for my next cold day hike.
A couple of interesting plants
In one area, we noticed that the palmetto leaves were splotched in an unusual way. The background color appeared more yellow than the normal dark green of palmetto. This may have been due to the cold snap. We’ve never seen it before! It looked like camoflauge.
Later on the trail, I noticed one of my very favorite plants, Sundew. This tiny jewel is actually carnivorous, with nectar that attracts and traps small insects which the plant digests. I was excited to show them to Judy, who informed me that she had been seeing them along the trail for miles. Ah, well.
Push-me-pull-you
While we were walking and talking and enjoying the quiet day, we decided that it might be fun to do this hike with each of us starting at opposite ends. When we meet somewhere near the middle, we can break for lunch and switch car keys. At the end of the day, we’ll each be able to drive home. Judy calls this push-me-pull-you hiking, and we’re going to give it a try! One advantage of hiking this way is that if one of us wants to get an earlier start, we can do so without inconveniencing the other. It also accommodates my slower hiking speed.
The boardwalk pictured below was in great shape, but the last boardwalk before we reached Alexander Springs was being repaired and we detoured onto a forest road briefly.
How long is a half mile?
We discovered that the longest half mile in the world is the spur trail from the Florida Trail to Alexander Springs Recreation Area. By the time we reached this spur, we were both slowing down. The trail was clearly marked with blue, and it clearly said 0.5 miles, but it felt more like 5 miles! We saw a beautiful Sherman Fox squirrel off to the east. Then, at last, at LONG last, we crossed the road and walked into Alexander Springs. There are restrooms at the entry point, and a nice picnic table where weary hikers can rest for a moment. We rested for a long moment and then trudged back to the car.
The next morning, I felt so good that I’ve calendared a monthly 10-mile hike. I believe I will begin hiking before the sun is up during the summer months, and in the fall I may increase my distance. We’ll see how that goes. All I know for sure is that I will do this section of the Florida Trail again. It is pretty, there are some nice little elevation changes, and it’s well within my comfort zone.
See you on the trail!
