Day 20
Miles today:  15-20 miles unsure
Miles so far: 332.4 miles
Campsite: Fish Hawk campsite

We started with another 10 miles road walk at 545am. We wanted to get that section done and over with. The road walking is becoming tired and more of a pain than fun. Yesterday’s hike was mostly on a quiet road but today was a busy road.

The mileage was off today. We shaved off a few miles by taking the alternative route, white blaze, in the Tosohatchee WMA. The maps indicated that route would be the alternative if the St Johns was flooded. As this is a wet year for the Florida Trail, we just went ahead and took the white loop. The area started wet and muddy but quickly opened up to a beautiful trail. Ah, finally. 🙂 sadly enough, I was too busy soaking it in that I forgot to take a photo. Oops!

We made our way to Christmas, FL. Yes! There’s a town named Christmas… But there is nothing magical about it. We walked to a grocery store and it was basically a sad convenient store. Who do we see there? JOEY! We thought he would be days ahead of us… But our shortcut may have closed the gap between us. We stocked up on candy bars and ramen. We saw many characters while sitting outside the store. It felt trashy. Sorry to whoever lives there. From the people we interacted with over 3/4 seemed like they needed a bit a help. Which made me that much more appreciative that I could take the time off and do this hike.

We walked to our campsite for the night and hoped no rednecks would come our way as it was fairly close to town. Two new thru-hikers/section hikers arrived shortly after. Their mission to hike the entire trail but to not do the road walks. Smart! The road walks are a pain! I would take levee walking any day!

We all purchased a suspicious meat sub from the convenience store and were unable to finish it. For 3.99 you get a 12in sub and a soda. Can’t beat that! Hope it was made with somewhat fresh meats… You may hear about it in a few days Hahaha.

I saw an armadillo on my way to use the bathroom… And by bathroom I really mean cat hole. I got so excited to see my first wild armadillo that I scared it away. I previously saw one this morning but it was flat as a pancake… So I did not count that sighting.

It is supposed to rain tomorrow and Thursday. I hope to manage 15 miles each day then Billy Goat Day and stay the night at the campground there. ZERO on Saturday! Looking forward to that. Happy Trails!!