In all the years I have backpacked (at least 25) I have never developed a blister on the BOTTOM of a foot (where I already had a good layer of callous). Somehow I had managed to do that before reaching Grassy Pond on Monday, and the foot wasn't appreciating the fact that I was pressing on regardless. I just decided to keep a slower pace and get there when I got there. According to my GPS, I had slowed from 3 mph the first day to about 2 mph.
Earlier in the trip, I had wondered if there was a way to bypass Hopkins Prairie, because the trail does not go NEAR it, it goes THROUGH it. Hopkins Prairie, like Lake Delancy and Lake Kerr, is a drive in camping area. I really didn't want to deal with crowds of "car campers". After having seen Delancy and Kerr, I now expected to find Hopkins Prairie to be fairly deserted. When I arrived at the Northwest end of the lake and saw it was almost totally dried up (the sand in the picture is the normal shoreline), I now wondered if there would be anyone there after all.
I got an early enough start to be started around the lakeshore before the sun really got hot. This would be a killer hike in the afternoon, since it would not only be hot in general, but the trail is on the East side of the lake, and there would be no shade in the afternoon. Turned out it was a very nice hike around.
As I finally got within sight of the peninsula the campground is located on, I saw a white Blazer or Suburban type vehicle seemingly parked at the very tip. The trail wound a couple more times, then went behind a large stand of trees (possibly an island when the water is up). When I emerged from behind the trees, I did not expect to be able to see the vehicle because of the new angle, but it had apparently moved. As I approached further, it was obscured by intervening foliage. As I entered the North edge of the campground, I could see a number of empty campsites. Two dogs wandered across the road just then, and I wondered if there would be anyone following the dogs. There wasn't.
As I entered the center of the recreation area, I could again see the white vehicle. Its doors and windows were closed up, and there was no tent or other sign of people. It was too hot for someone to be sitting inside the closed vehicle. The license plate was out of state. It occured to me that it might be someone doing the tourist thing with two vehicles. (Forest Service campsites are $4.00 a night - much cheaper than a hotel room.) No doubt the owners would be back that evening with their other vehicle.
Now that I concluded there was in fact no one there (I decided the owner of the white vehicle had left his/her dogs behind to watch the vehicle), I found a picnic table near the large hand-operated water pump, and set my pack down. I immediately filled my water bottles, then put the towel on one of the benches, and sat down to have lunch. I was going to put my trash in the plastic bag I had been carrying in my pack, then remembered I had seen actual trash cans a few minutes before. Once my lunch was finished, I took the trash plus some trash from my pack to the cans.
On the way back to my pack, I noticed that beyond the white vehicle, I was now seeing something dark and rectangular I had not seen before. I decided it looked like a blanket or sleeping bag on a clothesline. As I watched, a man walked into view between the trees carrying another blanket or sleeping bag and threw it on the line as well. He had his back to my direction. The second item he put on the line began to slide off, and he leaned kind of sideways to catch it and put it back up. When he did this, I was able to see his whole back and down to about the middle of his butt. He was very tan, and either was nude or had shorts on the same color as his back. I didn't see him again, but I was able (now that I knew where to look) to see glimpses of ANOTHER white vehicle through the bushes. This was probably the first one I saw, and explained why the second one seemed to be in a different place.
I put my pack back on, and began hiking out the road to find where the trail continued on South. I passed another campsite with a vehicle but no tent in it. This was a Florida vehicle, so it may have belonged to another trail hiker. I never saw anyone
Just southeast on the trail from Hopkins Prairie is a rather interesting sink-hole lake. I thought about a quick skinnydip, but I could see a road on the other side of the lake, and Hidden Pond (today's destination) was supposed to be swimmable anyway. I decided to trudge on.
The next point of interest was the entrance to the Juniper Prairie Wilderness Area. Wilderness areas are just that - wilderness. They are not managed for timber like the rest of the forest. I knew this, but did not realize there would be such a visible difference between the two areas. The best single word I can think of to describe the appearance of the Wilderness Area is "gnarly". Twisted, broken limbs and trees were crowded in together quite unlike the rather open forest I had been hiking in.
The first point of interest inside the wilderness area is Pat's Island. In the book "The Yearling", Rawlings describes "islands" of oaks rising from the pine scrubs. Most of the action takes place near Baxter's Island and Forrester's Island. Here was an authentic example of such locations. All that I saw (I didn't take the time for an extensive tour) was an old cistern, shown above. The Forest Service has a fence around it to keep people from falling in. Next time I'm in the area, I think I will check it out more extensively.
After having seen all the dried up ponds on this trip, I began to wonder if Hidden Pond would be gone too. I needn't have worried. As I was going up a rather parched hill through the scrub, I began hearing frogs. As I crested the hill and started down, there was Hidden Pond below. (That's the Hidden Pond marker sign I'm leaning on. An Ocala Trail marker shares the post.) The pond's not really hidden, but the sense of suddenly coming on a pond in such a dry area explains the name somewhat (What's a pond like that doing here?). Most likely it is a sinkhole pond, since it was deep enough to not be dried up.
The camping area is on the West side of the pond (opposite the trail). Beyond the campsite further West is another, much larger but shallower pond. This pond was dried up except for a few spots, but along its East and North shore are more campsites. Between the main site and the other sites, you could easily accomodate half a dozen groups of hikers without feeling like you were in a commercial campground.
Remember, my plan was to hike vigorously Monday - Wednesday, then take a day off to "power lounge" before hiking back to civilization on Friday. I set up my hammock before setting up the tent and relaxed a while Wednesday afternoon. Of course, I had to take an obligitory dip in the water too.
