In my capacity of Long Distance Chair I get many calls prior to the winter hiking season. This year I was speaking with Pete "Old Corpus" Hoffman.  He asked the usual questions about permits, road walks and transport to Loop Road.  I told him that due to road work, the Loop Road terminus was closed and until further notice the starting point would be at the Oasis Visitors Center.  He had heard that the water level was pretty high this year through the swamp and was looking for some company. At the time of our conversation I did not know of Chuck Norris and his group or I would have hooked them up. 

While Old Corpus and I had only met once at an ALDHA meeting a few years back, we did have a close friend in common, Aloha Ann.  That got me thinking.... I had been trying to get Aloha down to hike in FL for a few years, maybe this could be the catalyst. So, without Old Corpus's knowledge I contacted Aloha to try to convince her that we should escort him through the swamp.  To my surprise and delight, she agreed.

When Old Corpus found out, he was a bit surprised and pleasantly delighted.  Just days before our departure down to the Swamp, the temperatures dropped.  Although I had hiked the swamp in 2006, I was concerned with predicted temperatures down in the low 30's and unusually high water levels, but was not letting that stop me.

Our shuttler was at I-75 waiting for us upon our arrival.  To our surprise Billy Goat was also there along with a few folks who are doing van support for Chuck Norris's group. That group was half a day ahead of us.  We all piled into Swamp Eagle's car and headed over to the Oasis Visitor's Center. We were dropped off late afternoon and Billy Goat would be brought further up the way to head off to the Keyes.

Our little trio took some pictures of the resident gators outside of the OVC and then signed in at the trailhead.  We headed off up the trail. It took only a few minutes to get our feet wet.  With the cold weather we had been having it was COLD!!  Aloha looked at me and asked "what the hell had I gotten her into?"  My reply, "the swamp!"

Since we had such a late start, our plan was to just hike the 1.8 miles up to the first campsite.  Aloha was trying hammock camping for the very first time, so we needed time and daylight hours to get that all set up. The site was more accommodating for tents, but we did find trees for the two hammocks. The sun was down and temperatures were dropping quickly.  We all converged at the camp ring where Old Corpus had pitched his tent and had dinner. Being cold and a bit travel weary, we did not socialize for long.  I was worried I would be cold in my hammock, but with the under-quilt I was toasty warm and had a sweet night's sleep.

The plan for day two was to hike to 10-Mile camp. I was surprised that the trail was as dry as it was. Do not get me wrong, there was water and plenty of it, but not even half as much as I had hiked through in 2006, so I was confused about the high water reports.  There was a chill in the air but the sun was out and by mid-day we found ourselves down to our base layers. We missed one trail turn but realized it quickly and only had a short backtrack. Lunch was at 7-Mile Camp.

We all had so much mud in our shoes we had to take off our socks and shoes. It was unbelievable on how much mud wedged in to every crack and crevice. At some points the build-up makes you feel like you are wearing a pair of shoes 2 sizes too small.  It seeps into your socks and in between your toes.  Once you get all the mud out, you get the joy of putting the dirty wet things back on. Knowing we only had another 3 miles left for the day we dallied a bit, enjoyed a long relaxing lunch and dried out all the wet tarps - no it did not rain, just lots of condensation. Once the water bottles were refilled we were on our way. We arrived at 10-Mile Camp with a few hours of daylight and warmth, so we played with Aloha's hammock and just relaxed and enjoyed each other's company.

We were treated to a very pretty sunrise as we packed up on day three. Today was to be our longest day of 12 miles. Our whole plan had been to use the one-mile-an-hour ratio for this hike because we were told of high water, and I remembered how tiring sloughing through deep water can be.  As I said, the water was not as deep as I feared, but there was water and lots of mud. Mud that you sink in, and when you pull up your foot it tries to suck your shoe off.  I tied my shoes so tight to keep them on that ended up with blisters from where the mud got stuck under the tight shoe and rubbed the skin off.

There were a number of places where we hiked today that were very "jungle" like. You expected to see monkeys or hear Tarzan at any minute.  At one point I did my best Tarzan imitation but only got looks of concern from my fellow hikers. Our lunch spot for today was 13-Mile Camp.  Since we stayed at 10-mile camp last night you would think that would be a three mile hike, right.  Well you would be wrong.  13-Mile Camp is 7.2 miles north of 10-Mile Camp.  Seems that this is where the camps come in from different directions.  Ten mile camp comes in 10 miles from the Oasis Visitors Center and thirteen mile camp comes in from the I-75 trail head. It is a very small campsite and I was glad we were not spending the night there.

Once again we had to go through the routine of de-mudding our shoes before relaxing and having a leisurely lunch.  I was pretty sure that the Chuck Norris group was just ahead of us, but they had not signed the register so I could not confirm it. The sign in box is pretty mangled and could use some repairs.  Surprised that the register is even readable since it is exposed to the elements. I knew from past experience that the afternoon was going to be a long stretch of water with no break points, so we packed up and got on the trail.

The trail did not prove me wrong. As the day waned and we were tiring, the water continued on and on.  The worse thing was that the large group that had gone before us had really chopped up the mud. So if you walked on the trail you would sink about six to eight inches in soft muck and go even deeper into the water. This was so hard at times we look for alternate routes, but that was just as tiring. There were a few places where we came out of the water only to walk in this slick clay-like mud. At one point Old Corpus's feet slipped out from under him. As Aloha and I walked over to help him up my feet flew out as well and we both found ourselves down in the mud.

As the sun was beginning to set we finally made our way to Oak Hill Camp.  This is a pretty small camp, but we managed to get up two hammocks and a tent, even if we were almost on top of each other, guylines all intertwined. By the time camp was set up it was dark, and I expected to get eaten alive by mosquitoes while having dinner.  Luckily it was cold enough to keep them away. For some reason the tuna tasted bad in my pasta and I could not gag it down.  Ended up having bread, cheese and a little jerky. After a cup of hot cocoa I was ready to turn in.  Aloha and Old Corpus chatted a bit, but I think we were all in our own little cocoons by 7:30 or so.

The last day of our hike was to be the longest continual water walk.  Very shortly after leaving Oak Camp we entered the Black Lagoon. This is the deepest section of the swamp hike. It is also a very beautiful place. The trees are all full of bromeliads.  I wish it was the right time of the year for them to be in bloom. Again the trail was a soft muddy trough that was very difficult to walk in. We all got into our own zones and sloughed through.  Some of the blazing was very old, faded and peeling, which at times made you need to hunt for the next blaze.

The sun really came out and it was downright warm.  I was so worried about cold I totally forgot sunscreen and a hat with a brim. I wound up with a bit of a sunburn.  While we did see a number of birds, animal tracks in the mud and deer bones I was surprised at the wildlife we did not see.  No deer, no gators, no snakes (Aloha did find a snake skin) were spied. At one point Aloha did come across a very large crawdad in the mud. She said she looked down and there was this claw poking out. 

Early afternoon we finally found ourselves emerging from the water and walking along the dirt roads to the trailhead and gate that would take us to the rest area at I-75.   Yeah!!!!  We had completed our swamp tromp. It was a great hike and both Aloha and I hated to put our packs in the car and drive off as Old Corpus got to resupply and hike on.   I already had thoughts of doing a through hike next year, and being out there this week has just reinforced that thought process. I love trail life.

Best wishes to Old Corpus and all the other 2010 Florida Thru-hikers.  Click here for more photos.

Sue "Hammock Hanger" Turner