six more weeks

alien circles in the middle of myakka

rooted area from the wild boars

another sunday hike at myakka. my father-in-law and i took the same 5.5 mile round trip as last weekend. i loaded up 36 pounds in my backpack and we did the 5.5 miles in an hour and fourty minutes with a 10 minute break at the halfway point. we kept a fast pace the entire time. all of the previously dry creek beds were now full of water since the summer rains started. we saw some deer, hawks, and squirrels. i started the hike trying to use my new trekking poles, but they were useless on a level surface, fast pace hike. i feel comfortable at this weight and this distance, but this hike represents half of a typical day on the wct and the wct has beach/sand walking, ladders, mud, hills, etc. that i'm not experiencing.