Copy/Repost Hike

We had picture perfect weather – 84 & sunny Sat., and 76 & sunny Sun., Sat nite lows were mid-sixties & partly cloudy – stars were visible throughout the night. No rain.

What a wonderful & talented group, Andrew, Clarence & myself with complimentary experiences made the whole experience an all around pleasure. Great comraderie & sharing of experiences.

We change the start to inside the DuPuis Reserve at the group campground via the improved park roads about a mile from the Ocean to Lake Trail. This shortened the total distance from 27 miles to 17 miles by starting 5 miles in from the original plan. 10 miles in Sat. 7 miles out Sun.

We started at 8:30 & the trail maintenance inside the DuPuis Reserve made for easy going. Other parts of the OTL trail can be rocky & tedious. We made our first 3.5 miles by 10am averaging 2.25/mi./hr. We made it to campsite by 1:30. 10.5 miles. 5 hours. Up-to 1 hour rests. Overall average 2+/mi./hr.

Plenty of time to scope our site, gather firewood, setup tents, & hammock, have dinner for an early evening retire at 7.

Even though we had ideal conditions all around, being the first pack-in camping for me & Clarence, we opted to shuttle back for our gear & take the return trip light. Andrew completed in and out with full gear pack.

We encountered several groups of horse-backers about a half mile from our on-trail campsite. No good. Trail is restricted to foot traffic only. We were taking a break & they acknowledged they were on “our trail”, meaning they knew this was hiking only. Clarence has full video for the deposition. No problem – sort of – but then one now has to navigate horse poop with a full pack – they left a few piles within a 150 yards where we put down for the night.

Two women - looked like thru-hikers arrived 6-ish & set up camp further down the trail. They had started 5 miles further than we did – our original plan – my guess they were doing the whole 62 miles to the ocean.

So, about 10pm I needed a bath break, & noticed the hammock was touching near the ground, the tree saver straps had slid down some; so I readjusted & no sooner than I sat back down to get in, the tree snapped; it seemed sturdy when I set it up; no problem!; had practiced several times at Vitambi and just routed that side to another tree. But I think that was my farewell to hammocks. I'm off the ground, but there's no ever getting completely comfortable & flat like in a tent. & had it rained I realize I have nowhere to stash my gear. New project.

On the way back at time the fire break would be tedious – esp. a mile plus segment of soft sand & no shade – at other points we had hard packed field.

Clarence spotted a group of baby alligators – there had to be at least twenty – by the time we got the camera pointed & them hearing us they began scattering & Clarence kept warning Mama's going to come back so we didn't want to linger between a mama gator & her babies. Had a wild hog running up towards us as close as 50 yards – likely never saw us – as soon as it looked up – turned & ran away – estimate about 300 lbs. ???

We all got to try out some new adventures, gear & friendship. Glad & grateful for the opportunity & for Gay Outdoors as a way to meet folks.

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