FL > Panhandle > New Years > St. Mark's Wildlife Refuge Through-Hike

[WaffleBox]

Trip details

Please see this link for a map of the trail:

http://www.arcgis.com/home/webmap/vi...8.7192,29.8689

Meeting time & place
Meet at the parking lot at the west end of the trail in Medart at 9am on Thursday Jan 1. The parking lot is located just off U.S. 319 on Carraway Cutoff Rd, approximately here: http://goo.gl/maps/JOlXs

We will leave your car here, Life Scout, and shuttle over to the start of the trail in Aucilla. The hike will begin where the trail intersects US 98.

All camp sites mentioned below can be found on the map linked earlier.

Day 1
After getting dropped off, we will hike about 8 miles to the Pinhook camp site.

Day 2
We will hike about 14 miles to the Port Leon camp site.

Day 3
We will hike about 14 miles to the Wakulla Field camp site. About 2 miles into the hike, we will have to find somebody willing to ferry us across the river to the town of St. Marks. This is apparently usually pretty easy. You can resupply in St. Marks if you wish.

Day 4
We will hike the final ~9 miles to the end of the refuge where we will leave your car. If you're cool with it, I will hitch a ride back to Tallahassee with you.

Miscellaneous
Make sure to bring something bright orange to wear, as there will indeed be a hunt going on in the refuge. You can get safety orange vests at Walmart in the hunting and menswear sections for $5-10.

Also make sure to bring bug spray.

The park ranger said the most common wildlife to see this time of year are gators and migratory ducks. There are bears in the park, so bring something to hang your food with.

I will be taking an obnoxiously large number of pictures, so my apologies in advance.

No open fires are allowed, so bring a jet boil or something similar for cooking. If you don't have one, you can use mine.

There's a decent possibility of rain on Saturday and Sunday so bring rain gear. It's supposed to be 45-65 the whole time, which couldn't be more perfect temps.

If anybody else wants to join us, it's not too late!

[WaffleBox]

Life Scout, if you are cool leaving your car at the end of the trail, please PM me the year, make, model and license plate so I can put it on the permits.

[itsandy]

Are y'all going to need me for the first shuttle? At this time, I can also assist with a resupply for day three. I'll ask around for help crossing the river. If nothing else, I'll paddle y'all across in a canoe!

[WaffleBox]

I don't think so - my friend that is driving me down should be able to shuttle us over. A canoe ride would be most appreciated!

[Maskedmedic]

Hey guys how did the trip go.

[Maskedmedic]

When are you planning another similar run

[itsandy]

I met them at the river today. We got them across and had a nice lunch in St. Marks. We resupplied them with water and let them resume the hike. They had a bit of a wet trail and perfect weather. I'm sure they will post some photos and a full trip report soon!

[WaffleBox]

The beginnings of the trip report can be found here:

https://www.hammockforums.net/forum/...ear-s-Day-hike

We are currently camped out on our second night of the trip. We are way ahead of schedule, and are camping at the spot I had planned for night 3 even though it is only might 2. I think we are going to take it easy tomorrow and stay one more night even though we could make it back to the car if we wanted.

Thanks so much for everything Andy! You're the best!