Dancing with the gators

[netllama]

I picked up the Florida Trail where it crosses I-75, Alligator Alley. FT is the pride of Florida hiking. Yet if I'd gone south, within a mile I would have been up to calf deep water for some miles - there's a few "island" hummocks along the way where people can camp. I chose the northward version, which was really nice. The old road side trails, not so much so. I routinely carry wading shoes. In addition to normal vegetation growth, there was evidence of a lot of trail work having been done after the last hurricane, though obviously more damage closer to the coast. Heat? Well I was out on a day with a "wind chill warning" and found it quite comfortable Temps returned to normal later in our stay and yes, the combination of heat + humidity is a challenge. One thing I found was a scarcity of dry places to sit down. There's not a lot of rocks, and the downed trees were often in the water.

At least you didn't have to worry about leaches and venomous snakes...