Going to be heading out to Rice Creek for my annual pre-Annual Hang gear shakedown hang on Sunday, 12/29. I should be out there by noonish, but it really depends on how early I get moving that morning.

On Monday, 12/30, I'll be riding the rest of the way to St. Augustine to meet Mrs. FLRider for our New Year's celebration over the evenings of the 30th and 31st. I should be leaving camp some time around 11 AM.

The site information is located here. The trail map is located here. Google Maps location is here.

The site at Rice Creek is about a mile and an half back in the woods from the parking lot, along a pair of well-marked trails. There's a screened-in shelter located there, along with a fire ring, several benches, a pair of picnic tables, and a water pump (the water still needs to be treated, according to the sign).

Note that if temperatures in the week previous to the hang are not consistently below 50* at night that the mosquitoes will be a nuisance. I've stayed there during warmer times, and they get pretty bad. So make sure to Permethrin your gear and bring repellent, just in case.

If anyone is interested, we can explore the trails in the area on the 29th. The FT runs through the conservation area, and I both have the guidebook to it and have hiked as far south along the FT as the north end of Ocala National Forest from there (about 20 miles round-trip). Portions of it (mostly the first couple of miles and about halfway to Ocala) are awfully pretty, but the stuff in between is forest roads, so not so scenic.

Either way, I'll be there. Hope to see you there, too!