Feeling good and ready to tackle more of the Florida Trail! Even though we encountered some not-so-ideal trail on our first day, we pushed through with smiles and a lot of laughs. The trail will not always be in perfect condition, but you don’t come out here for perfection… and what is perfection anyways? After 14 miles we made it to Kissimmee Prairie Preserve State Park where we set up camp and enjoyed star gazing at one of Florida’s two official dark sky parks.
The next morning we were determined to do a 10×10 (10 miles by 10am), so we woke up early and headed out of camp before 6am. It was a beautiful experience to hike under the bright moon then get to watch the sunrise over the prairie. The trail was wide and flat which gave us an opportunity to walk side-by-side and get in some deep conversations before completing our first 10×10 ? We finished our 14 mile day with plenty of time to enjoy their first primitive campsite right on the Kissimmee River.
Sleeping by the river has it’s pros and cons. Pro – it’s beautiful! Con we listened to gator bellowing through most of the night, which made some of the group a little uneasy lol. Needless to say we made PLENTY of noise as we hiked through the tall grass in the morning, hoping to scare off any gators before we passed them by. Our last day was relatively easy and I could tell that all the girls were pretty comfortable with their gear at this point. We completed our hike at 9:30am and I’m confident they are all ready for our Arizona hike in a few weeks!!
Want to hike this route yourself? Click here for trip details!
Hike 37 Miles through Kissimmee Prairie Preserve State Park
⫸ Day 1 ⫷
Start: Rattlesnake Hammock Trailhead
Hike 14 miles
Camp at Kissimmee Prairie Preserve State Park
⫸ Day 2 ⫷
Hike 14 miles
Primitive camp at Kissimmee River access point
⫸ Day 3 ⫷
Hike 10 miles
End: Oak Creek Trailhead
