A long distance(surely a relative term) bikepacking trip has been on my mind for about a year now. In no small part due to threads found on mtbr's Passion forum(I've just found this website), and various posts full of pictures and videos by mikesee and others like him. Doing it locally would keep this trip in my budget and timeframe. Unfortunately, we don't have mountains, but Florida still has a wide range of scenic views to enjoy. Large trails systems are hard to come by in this state as, finding single track over 20 miles long can be difficult, and only a handfull of places in the state can boast more; none of which are long enough for the adventure I was looking for... so I knew I'd be looking at double track, service roads, levee trails, and dirt roads for the distances I persued. Luckily, we have several parks in the state which can be used to work out these sorts of adventures including Apalachicola and Ocola National Forests. I chose the St Marks Wildlife Refuge for my first trip as it follows through alot of what makes Florida beautiful. Sandhills, pineforests, coastal lakes, sinkholes, springs, hardwood forests, marsh, beaches, rivers, and creeks run through this refuge which spans across the southside of Wakulla County, FL. The only downside to choosing the St Marks Wildlife Refuge is the fact that the three seperate tracts(Panacea, Wakulla, and St Marks) do not connect via trail, and you have to hop on pavement to connect them(and cross the major rivers - Wakulla and St Marks Rivers). The benefit would be I wouldn't have to pack food in, as there were places to eat on connecting roads.
I'm on a budget, but still managed to score a light packtent for $40 at Bass Pro Shop, and had a fairly light sleeping bag that I stuffed in a bag. My girlfriend sewed me up a frame bag that would handle a water bottle and a change of clothes. I carried a camelback with tools, a couple spare tubes(incase the tubeless sealant doesn't cut it), and some snacks. Strapped another water bottle to the pack on the back, mounted on a seatpost mounted rear rack(Topeac MTX). Temps were going to be between 55 and 75F throughout the trip, so exposure protection wasn't ranging much and tshirts and shorts were fine throughout the entire weekend.
I got alot of support from my girlfriend on this trip, including driving me out to the drop point for sunrise on Saturday morning. All the orange was no mistake, the Panacea and Wakulla Tracts get hunted, and while there weren't hunt dates during the weekend I was there, I didn't want to trust that the locals understood that.... My starting point was at a boat launch on the Ochlocknee River, more specifically on Roho Road. A half-mile of pavement brought me to my entry into the wildlife refuge.
Within a mile and a half of my ride, I had already spooked off a black bear. It was the only one I saw during the trip, but there were more around. The above were fresh tracks a few miles further into the trip.
This is a fairly typical representation of the northside of the Panacea Tract, pineforest, sandhills, and sinkholes. Alot of these trails were covered in sandspurs a month ago, but I guess the seedlings had all finally dropped, because they weren't much of a problem at all on the trip.
The southside of the Panacea Tract(south of Hwy 98), moves away from pineforests and lets loose into coastal marsh, and then beaches.
Little more of the same.
I made my way out of the Panacea Tract and headed to a food truck on the way to connecting back into the Wakulla Tract. It was suprisingly excellent.
The Wakulla Tract has is mostly composed of hardwood uplands and pineforests, but its crisscrossed with streams and creeks as well as a few springs and sinkholes. I also ran across an albino coyote, but it was far too skitish for me to snap a picture of...
Shepherd Spring, a second magnitude spring that feeds into Gander Bay.
Interesting little flower, berry thingy...
I jumped back on the highway, its the only crossing over the Wakulla and St Marks Rivers. Maybe one day I can look into a packraft and expand this type of adventure without pavement. This is the Wakulla River, which is springfed by several springs, including Wakulla Spring. Wakulla Spring is one of the largest springs in the world, the second largest 1st magnitude spring in Florida.
Another conveniently placed foodtruck for some BBQ dinner and off again. I also grabbed a few beers from a gas station and stuffed them in my camelback for later.
This is another springfed river, the St Marks River.
I camped at Newport Park, which is nestled along the St Marks River. I got there before sunset and setup the tent. The mosquito's were bad(FL state bird), but this weekend the real trouble came from the noseeums. They were friggin horrible and I retreated into the tent to enjoy my beer. 43 miles on Saturday, my longest single days ride to date. My legs were sore and my knees were killing me, but the beer cut the edge off nicely. I went to sleep around 7PM.
Sunrise on the St Marks happened around 6:30 and I slept right up to it(thats alot of sleep for me). The day promised to be far less overcast!
I hit the St Marks Tract of the St Marks Wildlife Refuge early and headed straight out to the former site of Port Leon, which is a historical port that was flooded over when a storm brought in an abnormally high tide. The community resettled on higher grounds and Newport was born.
Here's a shot of the river downstream of the Wakulla and St Marks confluence.
The St Marks Tract is composed mostly of pineland forest, coastal wetlands, marsh, and levee trails.
Saw hundreds of lizards out on Sunday, temps were closing in on 80F and they were enjoying a bit more of the warmer weather before "winter".
I saw bear, coyote, several deer, turkey, fox squirels, grey squirels, eagles, hawks, herons, egrets, snakes, and many other types of birds; but none as photogenic as this little buck. He walked within 10' of me while I was snapping a pic of a gator off to the side of the trail.
I crossed over the Pinhook river and headed east a few more miles before my turnaround point. The FL trail continues east as a footpath, no bikes. I turned back and headed south to my pickup point(St Marks Lighthouse).
Typical coastal wetlands and levee trail.
My camera battery died shortly after this... so I don't have a photo of the lighthouse from this particular trip. The PnS I was using was nice and compact, but I sure missed the flexibility and control I have with my dSLRs. I need to save up for one of the EVIL cameras.
Here's one of my past shots of the St Marks Lighthouse, a nice site to end an 83 mile trip.
