So ,the last. time I was out on “safari” with my boyfriend, aka hiking the swamp, after the day we wanted a nice hot shower. Well, that was possible, but not without effort. The Coleman HWOD unit would put out pressurized water for only about two minutes, then drop power. I kept having to turn the unit back on, over and over. Not the most relaxed shower situation.
So, fast forward to being back home, a couple weeks have gone by, and finally I bring the unit upstairs to plug it in, and let the battery charge. I’m thinking if this doesn’t work, I’m going to try changing out the propane tank. It’s got to be one or the other.
Wish me luck trying to figure this one out, before my next hiking trip.
We drove in the night before. My GPS kept telling me the drive was over 5 hours. It was wrong, not sure why it stuck to its story, but whatever. Ended up at a different trailhead anyway. I’m figuring when I try for my intended target on the next hike, I may find out that my GPS said 5 hours due to some dirt road from hell. Next time.
We separated this hike into two parts (traveling with my boyfriend, and the dog). For the first hike of the day we started at the trailhead at mile 235.2, and proceeded north. This part of the trail is pretty easy. This stretch begins on a well traveled dirt road that eased through ranch land, eventually bringing you through the resort of River Ranch. We passed some fake teepees (complete with AC), cabins, golf courses, a club house, bonfire circles, herds of buffalo, horses, and cows. Everything you and the family would want on your ranch vacation. It looked very interesting.
Eventually we ended up walking a good portion on asphalt. We turned around at mile 237.5, which stops you before entering the backcountry from the road. So this portion pretty much was easy peasy walking. If I had not had the backpack on, I would not have called it hiking. For the most part, it felt like general urban hiking I could have done back in Fort Myers. Wasn’t expecting so much civilization, roadway or traffic, but it was still nice to get out. The temperature was pretty awesome at this point, in the low 70’s, but slowly rising.
The second hike of the day took place after a nice break at the van where I changed into more appropriate clothing for hot weather, and out of my hiking boots and into my trail runners. Had a cold drink, and we were back on the way. This time we headed south from the trailhead. This portion is more back country. It’s rainy season at the moment, and a few times we got lost in the head high or above overgrowth, and bush, that swallowed the trail. At times it would open up again, thank God. Our legs got pretty chewed up from thorn bushes and whatnot. No signs of ticks, but plenty of mosquitos and horse flies. One got me right in the throat, and since I’m very allergic, has since turned into a giant welt on my neck. Horrifying. Ugh.
The temperature also turned blistery hot. It was almost unbearable coupled with the humidity. Both of us and the dog wondered if we were going to get back OK at times. We were smart and brought plenty of water, but drank pretty much all of it by the time we got back to the van. We turned around at mile 231.5, and began the walk back. Instead of continuing on the Florida Trail and backtracking, we decided it would be better to just take the dirt forest roads back to the trailhead. this cut much of the bushwhacking out and got us back to the van in no time. Honestly, we were all out of steam by the time we did.
Every day I thank Brett and Chad Roberts for their contribution of the heated shower I have on board, but in the moment the water pressure kept quitting on us. Either I have not charged the battery in quite a while, or our propane was running low. In the moment, we didn’t have the time nor the energy to figure out what the issue was, but instead kept turning the machine back on when it would stop pumping. It would run for about five minutes, then stop again. I must put in my notes before my next adventure to check out what the issue was and remedy it. A hot shower, any shower, even a cold one, is vital when you are hiking in extreme heat and get back to the van.
Anyway, another short, but good adventure. We did only a total of 12.2 miles, but in the heat, like I said, it was brutal. I really need to start coming out earlier if I want to get any miles in. By 12PM its really not fit for humans or any animal for that matter to be out in the bush in south Florida during the height of summer.
