Citrus tract, Loop A
I almost ended up on a solo hike and I was kinda ready for one – but looking back I’m very happy that Rachael showed up……..
I’m often spooked by wildlife and I simply can't stand the amount of spiderwebs I encounter on the trails lately. On the trails they’re most often perfectly camouflaged and you do not realize they’re there until you’re in them, face first.
A web-collision on the trail is much easier to handle if you have a hiking buddy because she/he can look you over and make sure you don’t end up with a hitchhiker on your body…..
This weekend’s hike took place on Loop A on the Citrus Tract in the Withlacoochee State Forest. After signing the trail log we started at the Holder Mine campground on our 8.5 mile excursion.
And so off we went onto loop A, the shortest loop of the four that make up the state’s longest backpacking loop trail in a single contiguous forest. I went ahead of Rachael, armed with a long skinny branch to defend against the hard to see, sticky webs that give me the heeie-jeebies like nothing else……
It didn’t take long before I was tangled up in webs, from the top of my hat to the bottom of my shins. Gladly, no actual spider ended up ON ME – we spotted most of them before we collided with their webs (these yellow garden spiders are about the size of my palm)…..
**Photo credit: Rachael Hurley
But despite the “ugliness” of these creepy crawlers, there’s also a ton of beautiful stuff to enjoy:
The detour turned out alright though, as Rachael and I went for a quick trip off the trail to find a Geocache she wanted to locate. This was my first time looking for a hidden “treasure” and she found it!
**Photo credit: Rachael Hurley
We eventually turned from the blue blazed connector trail back onto the orange blazed main trail and finished our hike in just under four hours.
Another hot, sweaty, but 100% fun day of hiking in the books. Where will I end up next?
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