By Trail or By Road, We Will Prevail!

Florida Trail sign along SR 20

This past week we pounded pavement...over 60 miles of it in fact. It wasn't easy to tell you the truth. It was cold and windy and the traffic barreled by at full speed kicking up mini sandstorms in its wake. We found sand in our hair, in our pockets and crunched on it at meal times. We camped in the most random of places - vacant land for sale and roadside thickets by powerlines - and took breaks besides stop signs at intersecting roads. But in all our miles we saw our plight was minimal given the devastation that this area, the western panhandle, incurred. To both sides of us were forests of trees that had been snapped like matchsticks and houses gutted. We heard stories from locals we met along the way of just what it was like to go through Hurricane Michael. "We knew we were in trouble when the trees starting flying past the windows and water was coming in under the door." To imagine it is terrifying. We did however sidestep our own scary situation thanks to the help of Wilton Quattlebaum of the Hillcrest Baptist Church who provided us sanctuary in more ways than one.

Wilton Quattlebaum of Hillcrest Baptist Church

On our first long day of roadwalk out of Blountstown, we stopped at a small convenience store and were enjoying a meal of all things fried when both the women behind the counter and numerous patrons passing by informed us of a tornado warning in the area. The winds had been strong all day but they had recently picked up to the strength of gusts that threw our hiking sticks to and fro and knocked the hats right off our heads. Back home in the northeast a tornado warning doesn't mean a whole lot but out here we wondered just how concerned we should be, especially with evidence of the meanness of storms all around us. We hiked on and shortly received a message from Wilton. He too warned us of the weather and offered to come pick us up and take us back to the church for the night. We happily took him up on his offer!

Hanging with Brother Tom 

Here we had not only a safe place to spend the night in the fellowship hall, but had the luxury of a shower, and Wilton cooked up a vegetarian feast for us...and we had never before had corn fritters...they are among one of many gifts from God. We need that recipe, Wilton! Above all though we enjoyed the company of Wilton and his daughter Turtle (she too has taken on a trail name) and a sweet soul named Brother Tom. We feasted, made music, and talked about the things that matter and remained safe through the storm that touched down just three miles from the church and took the lives of 27 people throughout Florida, Alabama and Georgia. Thank you, Wilton!

Our fellow traveler, Wilson

At the end of another day's long hard miles by road, Brother Tom surprised us with a visit. He bore fresh oranges, juice packets, and a special friend for us to take with us to Pensacola, named Wilson. Wilson can stand in for a dog for us for now, he doesn't weigh much and he is awfully darn cute. Thank you, Brother Tom!

I would also like to give a shout to the man who offered us a safe place to stay at Thistle Dew Plantation. We were simply walking by him on the road with the wind pummeling us and Wilton already on his way. This local doctor was also heeding the tornado warning and with no questions asked except for, "Where on earth are you hiking to?" offered us shelter. The kindness of strangers throughout the length of the Florida Trail has been incredible.

Long Leaf Pine forest in Pine Log State Forest

When we finally reached the border of Pine Log State Forest and the Nokuse Plantation we felt as if we were in nature's sanctuary once again. To feel soft trail beneath our feet, to smell the fragrant flowers of Ti-ti and scorched Pine resin, and at night to sleep amidst the deafening quiet of the woods punctuated only by the howling coyotes and hooting owls was a gift. 

Wise Man crossing Cypress Creek in the Nokuse Plantation

Cypresses enjoying the wet of a sinkhole

Wise Man hiking through young Long Leaf Pine in sandy terrain

Walking through rehabilitated farm land, now planted with Long Leaf Pines in Nokuse Plantation

The Nokuse Plantation was full spectrum. We literally felt as if we were walking the whole Florida Trail in bite-sized pieces. We trekked through sun-dappled woods with Live Oaks and Magnolia trees into sandy desert-like stretches of Long Leaf Pine and Turkey Oak, then dipped into dark woods tip-toeing our way over muddy bogs with the help of tree roots, crossed picturesque streams with clear running water on sturdy bridges, strode through miles of yet more young Long Leaf Pine planted in perfect rows, and finally hit the steep ascents and descents of the steephead ravines which reminded us of home. The landscape here is ever-changing. Along the way, we also met a number of plants, some entirely new to us. There is nothing more thrilling than stumbling upon a plant which you have never seen!

Star Anise (Illicium floridanum) - not the kind we cook with! Even though it's leaves were intoxicatingly fragrant and it's blossoms simply stunning. We found this growing creek-side, great large bushes of it  

Sundial Lupine (Lupinus perennis) - I haven't seen Lupine since I was out west. Never had I seen it on the east coast growing naturally!

Black Ti-ti (Cliftonia monophylla) - We have been walking through thickets of this since the tail end of Saint Marks WMA and into Appalachicola, but still it persists here in Nokuse as well. It's blooms saturate the air with sweetness

Mountain Laurel (Kalmia latifolia) - made me think of the sweet mountains of North Carolina!

Lupine (Lupinus diffuses) - yet another species of Lupine, this one with elliptical leaves

And I must say, right now our minds are reeling from the fact that we have just 125 more miles to go. That's right...we are nearly 1,000 miles into this trek. And that deserved a zero, well a nero (we hiked two miles to the trailhead). So we are resting up in Defuniak Springs for the day, which could not have happened without the trail magic of Kelly Willis Fairbanks, who picked us up at Nokuse trailhead and delivered us safely into the belly of decadent fast food, soft beds, and all the hot showers we could want. Thank you, Kelly! And thank you to her husband, Sean for helping us sort out Eglin's very confusing map and closure schedules. Now we will not get escorted off the base or blown up.

Thank you Kelly Willis Fairbanks!

We are excited to see just what's around the bend in Eglin's old growth forests and steephead ravines...and will be sure to steer clear of all unexploded ordinances. You see not only is Eglin a forest that has been preserved since the 1900's but it is an air force base. And we have been hearing the nearby booms now for days resounding through the woods. One never knows what they will find around the next bend!