Hiking the Florida Trail at Bradwell Bay: A Test of Courage!

// March 12th, 2010 // Adventures, Florida, Hiking

Crew in Stride at Bradwell Bay

It was 5:30 AM as I reached across the end table to stifle the hotel alarm. Today was the Bradwell Bay Swamp Stomp led by the Florida Trail Association and I have been looking forward to this hike for weeks. Immediately I reached for the remote control. I needed to see the current temperatures in order to gauge the extremity of today’s adventure. My mouth fell open as I read “Current Temp = 28 Degrees, Tallahassee” scroll across the bottom of the screen. “Oh my gosh“..I mumbled as my mind started filling with fears. “How cold is the water….. How high? For how long?…while I be able to hike this without getting hypothermia?” where just a few of the questions that popped uncontrollably into my head. After all, earlier in the week, our leader had e-mailed us a warning describing conditions as the water being “..waist deep (or chest deep depending on the length of your legs)…” and water conditions to be “….feet and leg numbingly cold.”
In an effort to relax my mind, I tell myself “ I do not have to go. There are plenty of other hikes to do around here.” Then I begin to feel sunken like a coward. After all, I drove all that way to swamp walk, I should at least show up to see what our leader has to say. If it was putting ourselves in harms way, would our leader not have sense enough to cancel?
With that, I spring out of bed, get myself layered up and head to the Park-n-Ride off Gaille and S. Monroe Street. Upon arrival, I am greeted by fellow hikers and our crew leader. Our crew leader mentions that of a list of 50 original signees, only 16 hikers showed up. Again he stresses the cold temperatures and the high level of water. He even suggests perhaps changing the hike to another segment that is high and dry. One disappointed hiker blurts out “No! We came to hike Bradwell Bay! Let’s go for it!” The rest of the group chimes in….as I am not too sure what I am getting into. I contemplate for a moment….”I am up for either.” I muster up when put on the spot.

Its getting deep!

With that we grabbed our gear and headed to the trail. We were met by George, a 73 year old Florida Trail thru-hiker from Virginia. He had timed his hike to be in Bradwell Bay with the group. What an inspiration he was! Our Strategy was to begin at Monkey Creek and hike 1.75 miles on dry land prior to hitting the cold water. This would allow our bodies to warm up as well buy us time to allow the air temperatures to increase. The strategy proved to work well as we entered Monkey Creek the coldest and deepest section we would encounter today. The group became lively with chatter as they entered the cold creek water up to their waste. Cameras were flashing and video was being caught as the adventure unfolded. A “cold headache” shot up my calves to my knees as I stood thigh deep in this cold water waiting on fellow hikers to make their way. Although cold and deep, it was a short stint and we were soon back out on dry land. The rest of the morning was in shallow moderately cold water. We all felt relieved when we stopped for lunch. What a nice day this turned out to be! As we pulled up a log, basked in the sun, and attempted to drying out our socks.
After lunch our leader warns us that the next section is the toughest. We were excited about the challenge! We sludged our way in thigh deep water stepping on slippery logs and fighting the suction of the shoe-eating muck! Pants were torn, leg gators were lost, spills were taken….but we trudged on for at least an hour before taking break. Feeling proud with a sense of accomplishment, I glanced at my GPS to see our progress since lunch. My shoulders sank as with disappointment when I saw our location to be only .5 miles from our lunch ground. That was the hardest I ever worked to hike ½ mile! We earned every step. Although this section was the toughest, it proved to be the most scenic with several hundred year old Giant Sweet bay trees amongst others. Too tough to travel in, the thick shoe-eating muck kept the loggers at bay in the early 1900′s.

From here out, the hike was fun as we knew the worst was over and also knew that we could handle whatever surprises this trail had left to throw at us. There was a communal sense of triumph as well as relief as we spotted our cars at the trailhead. What a great time we all had on such a challenging hike! Bradwell Bay I am hooked…I will see you again next year.

View flickr for more photos on Bradwell Bay