The Raven's Roost

Fox and I don't usually do a whole lot for the holidays. This year we'd already visited with his parents closer to Christmas, so we didn't even go to Orlando, but given how badly we've both been bitten by the hiking bug, we decided to go for a short hike on Sunday. I was surprised that Gold Head was even open, but it was, and it was somewhat busy!

The Florida Trail runs through Gold Head, then crosses SR21 and heads onto Camp Blanding, when the military base is open. Otherwise you can detour to Keystone. We decided to just hike around in the park, and since this is one of the better-maintained stretches, it wasn't a demoralizing slog through swampy water full of snakes and bugs. Which is what the first 15 or so miles of the trail are down at the southern terminus. There's a spot called Thank God Island, and there's a very good reason for the name.

We even met a thru-hiker while we were out and chatted with him a while. He seemed to be going ultralight and was stealth camping most places. We figured he likely had a map or something, but warned him about Blanding, since getting caught stealth camping on the base might not go really well for him. But it's a big place, and they're not running maneuvers right now, so he was probably fine. I brought a small snack that I ate just after the halfway point, but Fox had nothing and started bonking in the last mile or so, which is an important lesson about fueling these hikes. We've also started making lists of potential backpacking items, with their estimated weights from manufacturer's descriptions to figure out what we're taking. Since we're old farts/grey muzzles we have a keen interest in sleeping comfortably and eating. So we'll be taking a heftier stove and cooking setup than some people prefer, as well as cushy sleeping bags and pads. I will likely not be carrying as much tech, probably just a charger and battery bank for my phone and Garmin, maybe a Kindle for reading, definitely a Rite In The Rain journal or even just a regular notebook stashed in a dry bag.

Anyway, the cold is finally letting up here. After several nights in the 20s, we may be able to unwrap the fruit trees today and stop the faucet drips. Tonight should "only" be 44 or so. I like the cold, but sometimes it's hard for me to function. I turn into a cat and just hang out by the fire all day.I really need to work on my ability to tolerate discomfort.

( Speaking of discomfort, I'm going to talk about my family. )

I also now have copies of Horizon Zero Dawn and Dead Cells, both of which I started and really enjoy so far. HZD is apparently a pretty long one. I have a bunch of stuff still in my backlog, too, LOL. Having "too many games" is not exactly the worst problem.

I need to head out when it's a little warmer and run some strides, then get my training log for 2023 ready to go.

With the passing of Disney races, as I said Fox and I are looking at doing other things like trail runs, ultras, and going hiking and camping. I always liked hiking when I could do it, though I have never been camping. I guess the closest thing to camping I've done is just existing in that time period between a hurricane passing through and when they turn the power back on.

Anyway, since day hikes are something we're actively looking at doing, I started thinking about a hiking stick again. See, I've got a stick I've long wanted to turn into a walking/hiking stick and just never did much with it. It's even got a cool backstory.

The stick is a branch from some bald cypress from Louisiana. When I worked at the housing development, I was on the phone one afternoon with one of the residents as a storm was brewing, and while we were talking there was a loud POP on the line, and an even louder BOOM that rattled the windows. The guy I was talking to said something garbled, and I grabbed a maintenance man and headed over to that unit, assuming it had been hit by lightning. Actually, a big cypress tree growing near it had taken the hit and was on fire. We got that taken care of eventually, and the guys cleared the dead tree out, dumping the logs and stuff where the parish could come pick it up. One afternoon I spotted a branch about as tall as me, so I stowed it in my car and took it home. I brought it with me when I moved here.

I already know I need to carve the end down if I want a metal ferule with a spike on it - and I do want that. I still need to smooth it and cut off the smaller broken branches, and probably make a wrapped grip though I haven't decided between paracord (useful) or leather (easy on the hands).

I'm also curious about hiking medallion "etiquette." I've done some trails already - when I lived in Tennessee and then Kentucky, I hiked Cades Cove, Daniel Boone, Cumberland Falls, and a few others. I thought it might be cool to acquire some medallions and put them on my stick, since my Raven Brain likes shiny stuff and I have every intention of collecting more of these things. I mean, I think I can add ones for the trails I have done, even though it wasn't with this particular stick. I don't think there's any sort of clear rule about it, and I assume that as long as I actually did the hike I am allowed to show off the bling.

I'm not planning a lot of decorating or anything now, as I want it to develop "organically" with stuff I find on my future hikes. Gator tooth from a gift shop near the 'Glades? String it onto the stick with some rainbow beads. :) I get the feeling that things are going to get very aggressively RAINBOW.

I also don't have much skill at woodcarving, but I'm decent at pyrography. I made a friend a set of runes out of some red bay laurel sticks and she really liked them. We have several of these laurels around the property and a few actually look like they don't have bark beetles. Most of the wood here is pine, and pretty resinous pine, too, which is why fires in the area make me have Big Damn Anxiety.

Any of you wonderful folks go hiking? I'm thinking if we start doing short road trips or something we might try to get a couple of other states in - though Florida has a lot of trails.