“There is no fun for the weary”. Sadly, I still have a life to leave and due to family commitments have to return to Miami and then on to New York. So with a healed knee and a mildly throbbing left foot I sprint 11 miles along the Withlacoochee section of the great Florida trail. See you later!

As I wobble into Inverness along the enchanting trail the early afternoon is cloudy. My nostrils detect a heavy aroma, and smoke, of something burning.” Must be doing a controlled burn up in the forest”, a waitress explains as I gobbled down a grilled cheese sandwich for lunch. As she speaks my mind races back to the days when I had the honor to serve as a White House Fellow. That was when this intrepid, adventurous searching, or whatever else you might call me, walker had the opportunity to work for Dr. Earl Butts, the then United States Secretary of Agriculture. Even though I was a city boy it was in the USDA that I became acquainted with our nation’s forest service and the fantastic work that the colleagues there do to preserve one of our most important heritages, the forests of the United States.

Our little trail ends at Rolled Dirt Rd., #635 then, after a short 2.4 mile test walking along and angry, no shoulder, route 476 the wonderful Withlacoochee Trail appears. This frequently shaded, paved walking by way, and bicycle path, was originally an old railroad right of way. Thanks to the rails to trails organization it is now a pristinely preserved walking trail it is a pleasure to huff along its arrow straight direction I am only sorry that yesterday I followed the Florida trail map and walked more or less parallel to this glorious trail a lawn noisy route 301. Oh well, it is true I am not perfect.

P.S. and one of the wonders of this easy walking trail are the original railroad mile markers they pleasurably scooped you back into the history of what we Americans fondly call “The Iron Horse”.

Okay, I counted 31 folks dining at beef all Brady’s in a remote little town where the noise of Interstate 75 all through the day and night. But other than a couple of young staff people every one of the diners were seniors. Oh, I guess they all were between ages 68 and 78, at least as far as my aging eyes and acute eavesdropping years, could see in hear. “I’ll be going back home up north tomorrow”, one of the diners wearing a Daytona 500 T-shirt said to his friend as he and his wife with the cane left a restaurant. His companions apparently also snowbirds bid him farewell and briefly chatted about the dates when they too would be leaving sunny Florida for the season

So here we are seniors. We come enjoy and spend a lot of money in South Florida’s restaurants. We call this place home but then again it’s really just a stopping off point!

As I have previously reported a few hundred miles north of here, when I was roaming the great state of Alabama, I discovered that the waffle house was a real treat of a little diner. These fun little restaurants ubiquitously do the old South. Now it is official. When you order those hash browns at the waffle House make sure you use the right lingo. You see “scattered hash browns” come in many different forms:

Smothered – that’s with sautéed onions
Covered – that’s with melted cheese
Chucked – you have grilled Hickory smoked ham mixed in
Diced – add grilled tomatoes
Pepper – then you have spicy jalapeno peppers
Chop – adds grilled mushrooms
Top – now that’s topped with Bert’s chili
Country – will finally mix in sausage gravy
Wow! Now that is a truly American treat!

Oh, when these relieving swamp road suddenly appear they are a blessing. I gratefully acknowledge that this is that not the wet season which would make these roads a daunting walk now, I simply make my way around the large pools and I am reminded once again that long-distance walkers are always there to challenge what normal men call “difficult”.

Ouch! After and easy morning where cleanup their first goals I have encountered on the Florida trail, I hit a “wicked thicket”. Tall dry grass, prickly underbrush, needy ants, and plenty of logs to stumble on underfoot greet me as I walked out of the forest. My ankles, bear again with my short socks and pants are bloody. The thorny plants have done a number once again on my lower legs.

Thankfully, the distance wasn’t as long in the thicket as it was memorable. Then, these little complaints are more than Alan Stout by a very romantic dry, ferns spotted, Pinegrove sprinkled with liberal doses of shade which mercifully blocked the late morning sun. And, a few lonely swamp roads were thrown in just at the right moment. Even though that was a little puddle hopping the pleasantness of this part of the trail made me feel blessed.

The rain had soaked the trail, but apparently the ground was so dry that large water puddles and ankle deep murky mud were not in abundance. As I made my way in reverse from State Road 471, back to my finish point yesterday, Sunday, I enjoyed the old tram roads that dotted part of the route. They made the walking easier. And, pine needle padded paths were a pleasure since they provided additional pushing for what would have otherwise been a soggy trip.

Civilization appeared as I neared the end of the 1.4 mile blue blazed alternative route. It took me to a parking area and a well landscaped, paved bicycle path, nature trail. A multicolored snake spoke to me just before I left the trail but fortunately it lead into a strand of thick firms before I had an opportunity to in counter it. With the aid of my support vehicle I was able to get to the little town of day and, a nice place, with a good Italian restaurant.

The green swamp of Western Florida, near Tampa, feeds a large Florida aquifer, providing life-giving H2O. Thus, I was startled, and also please, when the first several miles of the Florida trail through this lovely terrain was completely dry. The Withlacoochee River was only moist as I crossed its three bridges along on the old tram way. One pool was murky green. It stood silently in the mid-day afternoon sun, subtlety a normally muddy sloppy, paradise which was now barren. Then typically, without warning the rain started to fall heavy. What will tomorrow bring as I trek along America’s most interesting trail?

Dear friends, since we last communicated I have been fighting a nagging injury to my left knee. The knee still has a little pain, and the leg is weak. I know that the injury is not life threatening, even for someone whose life passion is walking. I know to, however, that without rest and professional medical attention even a little injury can become debilitating. So, after three weeks rest enter cortisone. After a MRI, X-Ray and professional physician evaluation I gladly accept a cortisone shot into the most sensitive area just below the kneecap. Then after 24 hours of discomfort I am back walking. And today, four days later, I am back fighting the memorial Florida Historic Trail. Bravo!

Whoops the toes on my right foot pain making my wobbling motion a little uncomfortable. I am concerned on till I remember my American history “go West young man”, they once said. And that is what I do. Tomorrow I tackle a wooded bicycle trail and ultimately another lonely swamp.