Where Did Cindy-jo Go?

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.

I really liked this purchase. It completely cleaned up the look of the cab of my van. These seat covers are made of a wetsuit material on front and top, but the sides are a stretchy mesh. Not a snug fit, but they were easy to put on, minus the hole to fit the drivers side bucket seat adjustable armrest. I did cut a hole into the fabric to make it work, and it slipped right into place. The mesh fabric ran a bit where I cut, but I can easily fix that with nail polish, a glue gun, or an iron on, or a combo.

I introduced the dog, and literally as soon as she jumped up, her nails tore into the wetsuit material. Again, not terrible, but in the future I will be putting a towel down if she’s coming along.

Love this thing. Good addition to the living space. Greatly reduces radiant heat. Bought this one off Amazon. It’s by YelloPro Auto. So far, I’m really happy with it. Construction seems basically solid. Easy to store above the cab. Would love to get matching side window shades. Will be on the lookout.

It looks like a disaster hit the van, but it’s getting closer to being complete every day. Yay!

Finally, on to staining… This is going to take a few coats.

We had a small gathering last night at the condo. I live there with my boyfriend now. So, once again, I am not full time van life-ing it. Not thrilled by that fact, but I’m still very happy he HAS taken up my hobby of long distance hiking. So, the van comes in handy often. So, to spite too much rum and way too much food last night, we are heading out on the Florida Trail. This also to spite, the Coronavirus that has everybody up in arms. Thank God I bought toilet paper long before the hoarding of paper goods commenced.

Not sure if I’ve mentioned this or not, but I prefer hiking at night. Where we live, in SW Florida, even in the dead of what would be considered Winter, it can be a near 90 degrees out during the day. So, heading out at night helps keep energy levels high. The heat can be brutal, and drain your reserves quickly. So we found ourselves on the road around 5:30PM.

By 12AM we still had not reached a viable trail head. We entered the Florida Trail area through Clewiston. Many times I’ve parked at John Stretch Park, but because I’ve already completed the miles coming to and from that park, we decided instead to head south and make our decision whether to park or move on at Florida Trail mile marker 91.2 off Miami Canal Road. When we got to this point, if we proceeded south, even still an entire hour would be repeat miles. So, we decided to push on and attempt to park at Florida Trail mile marker 66.1. It’s another 25 miles, but we assumed it would be paved for the most part, and have plenty of ammenities like picnic tables and regular parking spots. This seemed like a good choice at the time. Another benefit of pressing on? If we parked there, we could head south to hike, turn around, and make a pit stop at the van, cook, eat, then head north, turn around and come back again to the van. This would allow us to cover many uncharted miles of the Florida Trail, helping me to complete more of which I haven’t yet.

To our chagrin, it wasn’t mostly paved, it was mostly dirt, with lots of potholes and divots. It was a slow bouncy ride all the way to mile 68.1, I believe. Yup… Where we found a locked gate. So, we decided to head back from where we came, during which we found a road that would take us around and through another route, from another direction, but to the same location. So, we backtracked back up to the nearest wayside, mile 79.3, took the paved road that intersected there and headed east. We went about 2 miles, when we started heading south again down a very sketchy sort of paved road back toward the trailhead we were attempting to get to. We thought we had it this time. Back down we go another 11 miles south, and BAM, another locked gate. WTF?!?!?! We concluded that perhaps the Coronavirus park closings had something to do with the gates all being locked. So, my boyfriend decided he wanted to head back to John Stretch Park, another 26 miles backtracking again. So, that’s the direction we go forgetting all about the Coronavirus park closings.

When we got to John Stretch Park, there were barricades and the park was, duh, closed. Surprise! Ugh… It’s right about now my boyfriend is becoming visibly irritable. I’d say for good reason. We have been driving since early evening, and at this point it was well after 12AM, and we still haven’t done a lick of hiking. He starts threatening to drive home. I convince him to head back to where we started making bad decisions, mile 91.2, off Miami Canal Road. He agrees.

We park the van. We were supposed to cook out and have dinner, then hike, but given the new time constraints, we decide to just chill for a moment, then go to bed. I set the alarm for 4:30AM. We both crash hard. When the alarm sounds, I shut it off and got out of bed, leaving my boyfriend behind to sleep another half hour. I figured he deserved it for driving us around all night. At about 5AM he got up, we adjusted our bags, made coffee and finally hit the trail.

Unfortunately, from this mile marker in each direction for at least an hour, we would be repeating ground I have already completed. So, the miles didn’t really do me much good, other than as a general work out. Because of speed alone, we may have covered a quarter mile that was new, otherwise same old ground. It was fine though. We had driven all the way out there and at least we got some hiking in, even if it didn’t help me complete any new miles of the Florida Trail. On top of that, now I know for next time, which could be as early as this coming weekend, that getting to some trailheads may not be as accessible as I’d like. Lesson learned.

Check in day, but tomorrow is the big race. Super excited to see how I do. 100 miles in 30 hours is the goal. So far, I’ve met a few people, and everyone seems very nice and enthusiastic about hitting the trail tomorrow. Can’t wait!

A couple shots from the actual race…

Didn’t even come close to being any of the front runners. This was truly an eye opening experience. Holy hell, is it hard to walk/run 100 miles. My hats off to the whole community of ultra-marathon enthusiasts. This takes stamina beyond anything remotely normal. I’ve learned a ton!!! A big thank you to my trainer for encouraging me to try my luck. Came in literally at the very end, two hours after the cut off for the Western States Qualifier, but I was here to learn, and that’s what I did. From what I was told, 400 runners started, and only 300 finished. So, I’m going to just pat myself on the back for making it. It was amazing. Definitely would like to try it again next year now that I know more about it.

2020 should be excellent. I can feel it in my bones. This will be the first full year I will be in business for myself. It will be the first full year with my boyfriend. It will be the first year I hike/run an ultramarathon. The year I make my third attempt at the WR on the AT. The year I start getting serious about selling my art, living in my van, and minimizing. I will be 48 this year, and life lessons are still happening, I continue to try new things and my world expands again. Can’t wait to see what is on the horizon!

Again, Happy New Year Everybody! May this year also be your best year yet!

Thank you Bret and Chad Roberts for the accommodations in GA, the pleasure of giving the house full some epic haircuts, and also for the bad ass Coleman HWOD Hot Water On Demand shower, complete with shower tent. So awesome! I haven’t had a chance to actually try it though. Unfortunately, I had to order the collapsible water container that goes with it, and it would have been good to have the 12v power chord. I’m not sure, but I don’t think the power chord comes automatically with that model shower. Now that I have the water container though, I have to charge the battery and attach the propane. Hopefully, I can give you the full report on how that works here shortly.

The hike is on. I’m taking the van and heading to GA to hike, again, this weekend. I’m hoping to do a section that runs north into Fontana Dam (MILE 164.7) I also would like to hit the portion between Nantahala Outdoor Center (MILE 136.9) and the Wayah Bald(MILE 119.5) fire tower. The goal is 40-50 miles per 24 hours. Observe my handicaps. Make the miles count. I’m sure I will be adding to that itinerary.

Radar says my low/high for today in Murphy, NC (a random location close to where I’m hiking) is 56 degrees to 67. Saturday through Tuesday look relatively the same. Rain chance is pretty high for tomorrow, (50%) but easing up by Monday (23%). Definitely, going to be bringing some warmer gear to switch in and out of. Mid October can be sketchy as far as temperatures and I’m from Florida. (Currently 77 degrees)