Trail of Lakes, Sort of
Posted By auntie on February 27, 2018
8.61 miles; Bristol, FL
You know that post where I had an encounter with a snake earlier? Well, consider that hike a dress rehearsal for this hike, only 100% less life-threatening. But first, the hike…
Florida Trail blaze
This 9 mile hike incorporates another section of the Florida Trail, a federally-designated National Scenic Trail. Like the last section I did (Cathedral of Palms), it makes a loop with a blue-blazed side trail which skirts by the shores of 3 or 4 lakes, hence the name.
Titi, Cliftonia monophylla
Florida Sweet Bay, Magnolia virginiana
The first part of the hike as it left the Camel Lake Campground was very fragrant… deliciously so! Besides the usual [deadly] yellow jasmine vines, there was also a ton of Titi (pronounced tye-tye) in bloom, and I even found a Sweet Bay bush, which smells very much like the bay leaves used in cooking.
Scary Water Crossing
Once I left the orange-blazed Florida Trail and began [trying] to follow the blue-blazed Trail of Lakes, things got interesting, as in the probably apocryphal ancient Chinese curse, “May you live in interesting times.” That water crossing pictured above was my first clue that this trail would be something of a challenge. Long, thin balance beam with no handholds. There were about 3 or 4 more just like it, too.
Cypress Knees
There was one point where I had to abandon the attempt to follow the blue-blazes altogether, as there were none where there were supposed to be, and no discernible trail, either, so I followed a jeep road for about a mile till it again intersected the blue trail. Then, uh, things actually got worse.
This was just slightly under 1/2 way through. The trail was unbelievably overgrown and full of deadfall, not to mention in several places more of a paddle than a hike. You could hardly see where you were walking…
Rattlesnake
Yeah, that’s a rattlesnake; an Eastern Diamondback, to be exact. IN THE TRAIL. The worst part? IT WAS BEHIND ME—that is, I didn’t know I’d almost freaking stepped on a large rattlesnake until I heard the characteristic rattling and hissing, and turned around and realized I’d somehow avoided putting my foot right on it.
Needless to say, as soon as I possibly could, I left the crappy trail and walked back to my car using the jeep roads, cursing and muttering the entire way. I’d have to give this particular hike a decided thumbs-down.
You can (if you want to) find out more about the Trail of Lakes Hike from this US Forest Service website. This FloridaHikes page has a lot more detail about the route. As always, click the image above for details about this hike and to download the gps track.
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