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| Suwanee River |
12/19 7:AM
Tatu is busting miles out to get to St. Marks where he has his last resupply. He has new shoes and pack in this next resupply which is good as he has a giant rip in his pack that he has been sewing and taping with duct tape. He has really enjoyed walking along the
Suwanee River. His last few days have been monotonous walking through tree farms and rails to trails segments. He had to walk a rail to trail segment to get around a recently closed section of trail. He is trying to keep his mileage in the high 30’s. He hasn’t had a 40 since early on in the trip walking in the Keyes, his highest mileage day being a 39. He has been trying daily to get a 40, but some obstacle comes up every day that eats up time. On top of that he only has 11 hours of day light to work with. When he gets to St. Marks he has to flag down a boat to get across the river. Problem is his schedule will put him at the river Friday night the 23
rd. He might just try to get across the river Saturday morning. He also only has a few hours to get his package Saturday at the Post Office. This is shaping up to be tight time wise coming into St. Marks. He was going to try to get there earlier, but the mileage isn’t working with him. He is looking forward to walking through the St. Marks Refuge which he has heard good things about. He will also be crossing the I-10 Freeway north of St. Marks (probably means more to thru hikers as several long distance trails cross the I-10 corridor: PCT, CDT and AZT to name a few). He is looking at turning around on 12/3-12/4. This would be a 33 day trip which puts him about 3 days behind schedule. He does have a large storm rolling in though. Depending on how bad the storm hits him this will affect his time turning around. He is still having issues following blazes which are hard to see and when he does see them they are misleading. The worst blazing is on roads. If you aren’t on top of the map and FT paperwork you might lose a lot of time. He is finding it hard to make time on the trail.
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| this bastard is about 2 1/2 inches wide and was all over it 2 minutes after I crawled inside |
12/?
Tatu is almost at the end of his north bound journey on the FT. He got a 43 mile day yesterday which is his first 40 since the Keys. Today he is up 22 miles by noon. He is finding he can put in better mileage days if he is up early while his eyes are fresh and he can make the blazes out better. He is having a little bit of a shin issue for the last 300 miles, but nothing a little Advil and caffeine pills can’t fix. He has been hiking as late as he can, which involves him walking until he is only making 2 MPH and it becomes monotonous before he looks for a camp. Water has been a big issue in this section. He has been walking a bunch of backcountry roads. He hasn’t seen anyone navigating the roads though. Tatu is finding that if he doesn’t pay close attention to the blazes on the roads though he is screwed. He is pretty set on finishing 12/2-12/3. He has gotten lucky with storm as it only brought a little mist. It did get colder though. One night he woke up freezing. He ended up having to bail off the trail to hitch into town and pick up some thermals. He felt stupid for having bounced his home earlier in the trip. On top of that the only thermals available where cheap cotton ones. He is also finding due to the recession many of his resupplies have been closed. He was bummed the 1st time he had to get into a car (as he hoped to do this trip without any mechanical advantage). He ended up walking 3.5 miles into town and picking up a hitch back out. Another issue is that he doesn’t have some of his resupply phone numbers and he can’t call them to verify hours or if they are even open or not.
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| a crystal clear lake in the middle of a limestone quarry |
12/23
Tatu went through an 80 mile stretch with the worst water. The water sources where basically just mud holes filled with filth. Even the clear water tastes horrible. He isn’t even sure you can filter these water sources. Strangers really helped him out though. Tree planters, hunters and power guys all gave him bottled water. On top of that he lucked out and found a little tiny bottle of water un opened. The last few days he has laid out some big miles: 41, 43 and today a 45. He started today at 3:30 AM from a hunters tree stand. He was worried the hunters may return and that he would freak them out. At 5:AM he ended up getting on the wrong road. Now he is 17 miles outside St. Marks. He is actually looking good time wise to get into St. Marks in time to get his resupply. He really needs this resupply as his pack is falling apart with a huge rip in it he has been milking for several miles now. He worked really hard to make it to St. Marks at a good time as he has to take a ferry across the river. He is exactly 1.5 days behind schedule now and doesn’t see pulling any more time of the NOBO leg of his journey to the rough trail north of St. Marks. The hardest part of the FT is coming up which is
Bradwell Swamp.
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| walking through marshes on Christmas Eve |
12/24
Tatu called as he was leaving St. Marks his last resupply. He has new shoes, shorts and pack! He feels great! He saw the most wildlife so far this morning. He was seeing a ton of alligators and videoing them. The all of a sudden right next to him the bushes started going crazy. Two black panther babies came out looking for their mom and crying a bunch. Tatu kept spinning in circles as he was concerned where the mom was. Still 1.5 – 2 days behind schedule. He is planning on ending his north bound journey of the trip on December 3
rd. He has a really bad stretch coming up though, which is the trail around
Bradwell Bay.
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| Merry Christmas from bone dry Bradwell Bay |
12/25
Tatu wished everyone a Merry Christmas! Unfortunately the phone cut in and out repeatedly. What I could pick up though was that even though this section of trail was rough, he was digging it.
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