Day-late - Florida Trail Journal - 2018

Final Day

Probably the longest day on the trail yet. Got up a little early, maybe a
few minutes and headed into Navarre. I was feeling better than yesterday
so I assumed the meds I took were helping. I'm not sure I'm 100 percent
but definately better than I was yesterday. Before leaving Egland I ran
into a bunch of wild sheep, both rams and ewes. I didn't realize they had
wild sheep in the area so it was an unexpected surprise.
From Navarre the trail heads over a long bridge to get to the barrier
island that you hike across the long way.
The trail starts out on a bike path and that was okay except paved which is
a little hard on the feet. But after a few miles the trail heads to the
beach and you walk along the beach which is what most of the days walk
was. The sand on the beach was mostly firm so for the most part it was
relatively easy walking. The day was partly sunny but there was a constant
wind coming from shore. There were a fair number of jelly fish on the
beach that were inflated like balloons. They would pop if you poked them
with ou hiking pole. Around noon I had a squall come in and it was intense
for about 30 minutes where the sand was whipping hard and the wind made it
difficult to walk. I was getting sandblasted and the sand really stung.
Luckily about 15 minutes after it started I hit Opal beach and was able to
duck behind the restrooms to get out of the sandblasting. Another 15
minutes later and it calmed down and I headed out again.
It was definately the most beach I have ever walked in a day. Can't
describe the amount of sand that came out of my shoes. It was also the
first time I had ever seen surfers while on a through hike. Later in the
day I hit Pensicola Beach and met a nice man that had hiked the AT. He
recommended I stop at a resturant on the way called Peg Leg Petes. It was
the last resturant as you leave town so it made sense to me. I got there
in late afternoon and had a great Grouper Sandwich. While there I had a
nice conversation with the guy at the next table who was also dinning
alone. I then headed off to the fort and as I get there who do I meet but
the same guy. He is a profession compatition barbeque cooker and goes
around the country doing BBQ competitions for a living. Anyway he gave me
a ride back off the island and made getting off the trail a breeze, which
it usually isn't becasue it is pretty isolated.
Every part of my body seems sore from the miles of today. I wasn't sure I
was going to push to the end or not but that wind burst this afternoon and
the thought that it was going to be stormy all of tomorrow motivated me to
step it up and get it over today rather than chance the weather tomorrow.

I'm glad to be done, it will take a few days to a few weeks for the body to
recover but other than that I am no worse for wear. 1100 miles is a lot of
Florida


aligator count = 46

Entry 55 of 56
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