Southeast Journey - Florida Trails, Botanicals, and Magic

Scott amidst the long leaf pines in Withlacoochee State Forest

After a magical visit in Asheville, North Carolina, we continued our journey southward, heading for the lands of towering long leaf pines, canopies of live oak limbs, and sharp-toothed saw palmetto prairies. Amos took it in stride. Having enjoyed daily runs with Addy and Alex, many a group potluck surrounded by new friends both human and canine, and living in his even tinier trailer home, he had become expert at daily adventuring. While on the road for many hours, his preferred spot, despite his weighing in at nearly 70 pounds, was on my lap.

Amos taking the ride in stride on my lap

Our first stop - Lee, Florida. Population 326. If that count included the goats, I am not sure. Lee, Florida is a small community made up of mostly farms and forest located in the panhandle, less than an hour south of the Georgia border. Why, Lee you ask? Well, our hunt for southern property was to continue and nearly one year ago I had saved some possible plots of land on Zillow. This was the only one still available. It was priced right and better yet, not far from where the Florida Trail passes through the town of Madison. Why not?

Sheep at Homefield Advantage Farmstead greeting his new guests

We secured a site through Hip Camp - a website I would recommend in a heartbeat to anyone considering road-tripping - at a friendly little working farm called Homefield Advantage Farmstead for just $20 a night.

Homefield Advantage Farmstead

Alpacas at Homefield Advantage Farmstead

Here we had electricity for our trailer, a shared bathroom with shower and even a commons space stocked with pots/pans, a refrigerator, microwave, and goodies from the homestead should we have needed anything. Look them up! Especially if you're hiking the Florida Trail - the farm is just a few miles away. We enjoyed the company of goats, sheep, alpacas, pigs, and chickens. Amos thought it was grand, well except for the pigs...he steered clear of those oinkers.

Potential two-acre property in Lee, Florida

We stayed in the tiny town of Lee for two nights and spent a day visiting our potential property, which was oh-so-very-different from that which we'd been looking at in Asheville. This plot was two acres, completely fenced, with neighbors visible on all sides. However, we still had to travel down a bumpy sand road, so little traveled grass grew in patches. Two of our four neighbors had goats in the front yard and it was so quiet we could hear only birdsong and wind through the trees. It seemed an idyllic spot, especially with septic, water and electricity already ready to go. Amos reveled in running off leash around the perimeter. Afterwards we perused nearby downtown Madison, which was darling and reminded me of tiny towns in the Midwest, plus with a coffee shop and Mexican restaurant, what more could one ask for? However tempting, it was the first property we had visited, so we decided we would take some time to think on it.

View of Saint Mark's River in San Marcos de Apalachee Park

We drove southwest, more or less following the course of the Florida Trail, towards the town of Saint Marks. Saint Marks is a quaint fishing village and the only place on the Florida Trail where you have to literally flag down a passing boat to cross the river and continue westward. When we were here last year, town was nearly empty as it was still suffering the blows of Hurricane Michael. However when we arrived on a perfect Florida weather day, tourists walked the water's edge and families rode bicycles down its narrow streets. It was again alive. We toured the picturesque San Marcos de Apalachee Park which sits along the shores of the Saint Mark's River and marveled at enormous bull thistle roadside.

Bull thistle (Cirsium horridulum)

Bull thistle may be yellow or fuchsia, both are still Cirsium horridulum. It's scientific genus name means "swollen vein" and speaks to tea that can be made from its leaves for treating varicose veins. Despite its spiny appearance, described by its species name which means "prickly," it is also edible. However one must take the utmost care in harvesting so as not incur injury or dermatitis. Wear gloves! Midribs (center vein of a leaf) may be eaten raw or cooked, as can the inner stalks (stripped of green fibrous casing) of second-year plants before then have grown very tall.

Gator in Saint Marks National Wildlife Area

That evening we headed to Porter Lake Campsite, a free roadside camping area within Apalachicola National Forest. We largely had the place to ourselves, sharing it with just one other woman who was car-camping. We warmly remembered camping here beneath a full moon when we were thru-hiking the Florida Trail and again on this night, one year later, the moon shone bright and round. The next day we headed to Saint Marks National Wildlife Management Area...home to so many gators. This part of the Florida Trail was one of our favorites. Roughly 800 plus miles in and it was the first time we had smelled the salty ocean air. From the dike where we hiked we peered out at marsh grasses, punctuated here and there by only a stark palm tree, that reportedly stretched all the way to the Gulf. On this visit we hiked a eight miles out-and-back from Lighthouse Road to Ring Dike campsite along the Florida Trail.

Scott walking Florida Trail in Saint Marks National Wildlife Area

Ring Dike Campsite

Wildflowers dotted our path and we felt as if we were graced with a sneak peak of what new life was to eventually come back home, even if these were vastly different plants.

Wand goldenrod (Solidago stricta)

Goldenrod is a proliferate plant up north however, down in Florida I spotted species that were wholly new to me. Wand goldenrod is easy to identify because of its upright, non-branching flowering stem. The leaves and flowers of goldenrod may be steeped in hot water for a tea and are one of our best medicines for treating seasonal allergies. Unfortunately, this may come as a surprise given that it's gotten a bad rep for the company it keeps. Goldenrod can often be found sharing space with ragweed, which in actuality, is the plant that causes us to sniffle and snort. Ragweed has light, fluffy pollen easily carried on the wind, whereas goldenrod has heavy pollen that's carried off unsuspectingly by its insect pollinators, too heavy to be wind-dispersed. 

Carolina desert-chicory (Pyrrhopappus carolinianus)

Carolina desert-chicory was an entirely new plant face for me to meet. As soon as I saw it I exclaimed to Scott, "Look! It looks like a yellow chicory!" Chicory is typically blue and is a common roadside plant in the Northeast. You can imagine my pleasure in learning it's common name which pays homage to this resemblance. However despite that common name, it does not share the same genus with chicory (Cichorium), merely its family, Asteraceae. Some further research told me that Native Americans used the plant in cleansing the blood and consumed the roots as food, two uses that it does indeed share with chicory. This is certainly a plant to explore further.

Lighthouse at Saint Marks National Wildlife Area

We paid a visit to the lighthouse, which we hadn't had the luxury of visiting on our thru-hike, and set foot on the one and only, all be it very tiny, beach we would see in Florida.

On the beach at Saint Marks National Wildlife Refuge with Amos

Speaking of Florida beaches...you may be wondering just where our journey stood on the covid pandemic timeline. When we were in Asheville, news of covid hitting the US and its eventual spread was beginning to trickle in, but the world was still in full swing. Our newlywed friends had departed as planned for Peru and my mom would soon be hopping a plane for Illinois to visit her 99-year old father. We had attended a wedding where we'd all held hands in a circle, gone out to eat at numerous establishments, and shook strangers' hands. Once in Florida, we continued to hear through periodic phone calls home that the scope of the virus was worsening, but still we didn't question stopping at Rocky's gas station for fried okra, sitting at picnic tables, or using public restrooms. We also didn't hesitate to embrace our trail family friends when we met them later that evening.

Steps, Flat Top, Bot and Wise Man

Our motivation for heading towards Apalachicola and Saint Marks, besides our love for the area, was to connect with Flat Top, or as some of you may better know him, Sean of Kelly and Sean, the incredibly generous couple who had assisted us on multiple occasions during our thru-hike. Several nights they had put us up in their home, helped us resupply, slackpacked us, and even retrieved us from the northern terminus. Flat Top was thru-hiking the Florida Trail for his first time, along with his hiking companion, Steps. With just two weeks from the end of  their journey, these guys were HUNGRY! We knew they would appreciate some trail magic. So we stopped in Crawfordville at a Pizza Hut and gas station and then drove that pizza, ice cream and soda 45 minutes to the Jewel trailhead in Apalachicola National Forest. Here we pulled out our trailer's folding table and a couple of camp chairs and dined like trail royalty. What a joy it was to talk trail and swap stories! It was fun to learn more about Steps and his previous long hikes and when Steps learned my trail name, The Botanical Hiker, he realized that he'd read my blog post about the dog we'd also named Amos that had followed us on the FT last year, inspiring us to rescue this Amos. Amos was famous! Evidence of how trails bring people together - what a special community we have as hikers.

Amos and our A-frame trailer in dry swamp in Apalachicola National Forest

We returned to Saint Mark's NWA for some more hiking, this time along dikes not part of the Florida Trail and then camped again in Apalachicola National Forest in a hauntingly beautiful swamp gone dry. The sweet thing about the National Forests is that you can camp just about anywhere you please as long as you're a safe distance from a roadway, trail or water way. In a trailer instead of a tent, this is called boondocking as you have no amenities such as electricity or a water hook-up. We were learning pretty quickly that this was the way to go - complete privacy and the bonus of discovering somewhere you might never have otherwise found. Unknown to us, we would return to this place later in our trip. It was enchanting. Pond cypress trees towered in a circular fashion and held vigil over the yellow grasses and lance-leaf violet that sprung from the sandy soil. We felt safe in their care.

Lance-leaf violet (Viola lanceolata)

Lance-leaf violet is one of over 600 species of violet in the world and one very unusual one in that it has lance-shaped leaves. Typically violets will have heart-shaped leaves, or less frequently, lobed or spoon-shaped leaves. My mentors knowledgeable in Appalachia taught that the flowers and leaves of any violets which are white, blue, purple, or a combination of, were safe to consume. But what about this unique beauty? Does anyone know?

Cedar Key State Park with historical marker for John Muir's 1,000 mile walk

We continued south and made a stop at Cedar Key, one very special town nestled in a cluster of islands on the Gulf coast of Florida. Years ago, long before I knew anything of Florida, I had read John Muir's, A 1,000-mile Walk to the Gulf, which through journal entries documents his long walk from Louisville, Kentucky to this very island. These journals were not published until after his death. Few know John Muir was, what we would call today, a long-distance hiker, although he didn't prefer to describe his excursions as hikes. He said we ought not hike in nature, but saunter, taking enough time to appreciate one's surroundings. This journey was one of his first immersions in nature, long before he traveled west and created his relationship with the Sierra Mountains. We sauntered down a trail near the museum at Cedar Key State Park and discovered Yaupon, a common shrub in this habitat, but oh-so-special, thriving in the shoreside forest.

Yaupon (Ilex vomitoria)

Yaupon, a member of the holly family, is our only North American caffeine-containing plant. Leaves may be roasted and then using a just a few, steeped in a mug of hot water for a pick-me-up infusion. It's scientific name, Ilex vomitoria, may not sound all that appealing, but don't let that put you off. Native peoples used to make a much stronger version of this infusion which would induce vomiting, in ceremony. Be cautious in harvesting Yaupon however, because many hollies are toxic. Typical of the holly family, Yaupon has evergreen leaves and bears red berries, but leaves are only subtly toothed and about one inch in length.

Yaupon leaf

Cedar Key was a charming village, however a wee crowded for our taste and so we traveled on to Withlacoochee State Forest. We were excited to explore a little piece of the western corridor of the Florida Trail which runs through this state forest. Last year on our thru-hike, we had chosen the eastern corridor given that there were fewer road-walk miles, however we knew there were some gems on this western route we'd missed. We spent the night at Holden Mine Campground, which was clean, quiet, and complete with electric and water hook-ups. This would be the one and only campground we would pay for and camp at on this entire trip. After a restful night with much appreciated air conditioning (our ac won't run off the battery while we are boondocking), we hit the trail the next day.

Scott on Citrus Trail in Withlacoochee State Forest

The Withlacoochee State Forest is home to the Citrus Trail, a 39-mile loop trail considered one of the Florida Trail's over 1,300 miles of trail. The easternmost part of the loop runs concurrently with the Florida Trail's thru-trail. Within this large loop are several smaller loops that may be hiked in a day's time. We chose loop A, given that it was the shortest of the hikes weighing in at 8 miles and we were getting a late morning start. The temperatures which had been hovering in the mid-seventies had risen significantly into the eighties and barely a breeze wafted through the treetops. But we didn't let that stop us! Amos was in the lead, free of his gentle-leader, pulling us down the trail beneath majestic long leaf pines. Long leaf pines don't bare foliage until nearly their uppermost third, and so we were able to spy the forest between their slender trunks far and wide. And on this day, the purple flowers were particularly enthralling.

Early blue violet (Viola palmata)

Early blue violet (Viola palmata) leaf

It was the flower that caught my eye, but it was this violet's leaves, that really drew my interest. Turns out this is an early blue violet, one that I know well from the Blue Ridge Mountains as well as back home in my Pocono Mountains, however never had I seen it bear leaves with just two lobes in an arrowhead shape. Typically early blue violet leaves bear many lobes with deep sinuses (the spaces between lobes). But a little time with my plant guides led me to conclude that this was still indeed Viola palmata. Florida you wow me regularly.

Sky-blue lupine (Lupinus diffusus)

Talk about WOW! I love the lupines of Florida. Only out west did I ever regularly stumble upon lupines. Here we have sky-blue lupine (Lupinus diffusus). It grew in abundant clumps in sandy clearings. Leaves are velvety soft and flowers are many. What a gift to the forest and to botanical hikers passing by.

Deer moss (Cladina evansii) - despite its common name, not a moss, but rather a lichen

Our hike was going great! Amos was ready to knock out long miles, prancing proudly amidst the tufts of deer moss...until suddenly he was not. We stopped for a break around mile 2.5 and Amos collapsed in the cool gray sand beneath the shade of an oak. This was unusual for him as he usually prefers to maintain hiking posture until we start walking again. He panted profusely slinging saliva at our feet. We offered him water and he drank a liter in 5 minutes flat. It was clear...eight miles was not going to happen. Our Amos boy was no Florida dog yet. So we turned 'round and head back the way we came, considerably slower than before, thankful to get Amos back into the cool air conditioning of the truck safe and sound. The Citrus Trail will be waiting for us next year. And Amos isn't the first hiker to let his enthusiasm for the trail get the best of him! From here on out, Amos wears his gentle leader in the Florida sun whether he likes it or not, it's exceptional at pacing him.

Amos with his gentle leader to pace him on hikes and keep him from pulling ahead with all his might - works like a charm!

Our journey continued southward to visit some dear friends and family and also make a return to the prairie...little did we know what covid had in store for us. But I think this post has trailed on long enough! Until our next installment of our Southeastern Journey, thanks for reading!