Read over in trip planning forum about ONF and a No Underquilt hang in July. I attempted going to Hidden Pond on Saturday June 22.
First off my Garmin set me down a road numbered 321 and I did not catch I should be on FR33. Do not trust the Garmin. 321 is asphalt. The Garmin sent me down sand roads east toward the other road. Not unusual from my Garmin experience in Florida, but my Toyota Yaris was not the car to attempt these hilly sandtraps. I knew enough about how to drive the car in snow to make it out. But I'm thinking it was 95% luck and 4% guardian angel watching over me. After propelling my somewhat sand-covered car back onto FL 40, I went down to the Juniper Springs entrance.
Ranger person (I'm so bad with names) I spoke with theorized I should have been on gravel road FR33 to find the spot to walk the short trail to Hidden Pond. This short trail might not be really official. So YMMV if parking there. Hope I didn't tip them off to some secret trail... I'm still a bit sketchy on what you can do in national forests.
The ranger suggested parking my car overnight for $13, and not have to worry about the car, and try the trail from Juniper Springs. (I might have done better with the 3.3 mile trail from the north. More on that soon...) I had not done walk-in camping in a couple of decades. But I had just bought a pack that day and driven from South Carolina, and walk all day in a warehouse... Better now than drive around looking for a place I already got lost looking for...
So I packed up a bunch of stuff, tried to pare down the weight, (and left without bug repellant and flashlights in my excitement and urgency that I had a five mile/"two hour hike" and it was getting on 3pm) and I set off north up the FT. It's sandy. It was clear skies and 90 something degrees.
I made it maybe two and a half miles before my pushing my pace stiffened my left heel's plantar fasciitis. It's a normal thing for me at my job so it's not unexpected. But it made me reconsider turning back and not getting in a spot where I could not walk out comfortably in the morning. I'm unsure where I stopped. I passed a big sign for Juniper Wilderness a good bit back south. But I never got to the stream crossing mentioned on the map. So I back tracked to a unregistered campsite. Someone had made a fire without a ring. There's trees for maybe three hammocks. Since I'm new to this it took me three tries to find ones that worked for me and didn't put the tarp too close to the saw palmettos.
The third time testing the hammock I didn't spread the hammock and landed on my behind hard. Not the best way to start a night. And I'm still sore three days later, so it was a pretty good rap. Whiplash on top of a mild case of heat exhaustion made for an interesting hour fighting that off and eating a protein snack dinner. I was eagerly waiting for the sun to go down so it could be cooler.
I did not sleep much with the whine of mosquitoes on both sides of my hammock. The OFF mosquitoes fan I brought along did not do much. And I had forgotten my bug spray. So the bugs ate me up. Some got in my fronky net when I got in and out. During the night I saw storms in distance so I got out to set my tarp out fully. Possibly a spray wouldn't have done me much good once they got in the bugnet. I really needed earplugs. The one time I pulled my phone out as a flashlight had about eight of them ladies up inside the net at the ridgeline. Like some horror scene from Aliens. Ugh.
The ranger said they had removed the nuisance bear but I hung my food. I heard a big snuff sound in the night so maybe a bear was startled by my setup? Rest of the night was whippoorwills calling, wind, lightning and mosquitoes. Still could hear trucks of FL 40 after the Navy training and whippoorwills gave up for the night. Maybe I had not made much progress at all. I was alone in the woods. I'm trying to figure out if I like that. I'm more used to going on group hangs all spring; I think I got some sense of security from that. But then fireflies started zipping and flashing. The spaces filled quickly for the Congaree National Park firefly hang. I had my own that night!
I don't remember what I did to fall asleep. I think my feet were too high. I kept trying to scoot my head higher rather than let more bugs in making adjustments. Early on I got my underquilt out and wrapped it around my cramping legs. I woke with a sopping wet tarp but don't recall it raining. As I packed up there were warm wet gusts of air hitting me. Maybe from the pond?? So glad I had the tarp sides pulled down even if it didn't do much for mosquitoes. It had to have saved the hammock and underquilt from being soaked by fog dew.
Oh! One more surprise for me. The OFF fan attracted a honey bee as I was packing up. So there is a hollow tree with a hive around two miles from that spot. I think the OFF fan uses lemongrass scent as a repellent which oddly enough actually attracts honey bees.
Overall it was enjoyable. Maybe not the ideal place to return to hiking with a loaded pack in summer heat. The trail near Juniper Springs is very visible. In some spots it's a little hard to keep believing I was still on the FT. Growth is closing in on sections of the second mile. I get the feeling that not a lot of people make it that far in. If it's allowed, it needs a little cutting back. The yellow flies in the morning were super annoying. Spider webs crossed the trail and I got plenty in my face. It isn't blazed that I could see and a bit sketchy they're relying on foot traffic to keep the trail visible. I visited Little Big Econ later in the day and it had orange blazes. It is also more wooded.
I'm interested in returning to Juniper Springs itself. For all the time I've spent in Florida I've never before been to a cool spring. Staff there was kind to me when I came in looking like I was hot and had not slept. I spent some time by the spring and looking around. They seem to do a brisk business with the kayaks. Someday I'd like to get fit enough to make it to Hidden Pond. By the west or from the north mentioned in the planner post.
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