After a great night’s sleep and great eating, we departed from the Ebro Motel. I began hiking about 5:30 AM with a full pack at the SR 20 trailhead, met Marion 10-miles into the hike at Walsingham Bridge for A/C and lots of fluids, then hiked another 10-miles to the Scott Road trailhead arriving about 3:30 PM. The terrain was similar to the past 2 days,  but the views of the Econfina River were beautiful! This section had quite a few changes in elevation and one section had little 2 inch tree stumps which I tripped on occasionally causing great pain in my previously injured left great toe. My FitBit recorded nearly 51,000 steps, a new daily record for me! 

We drove to Hillcrest Baptist Church where Pastor Forrest and his wife met us and showed us around their hostel for FT hikers. Two buildings have air-conditioned bedrooms, refrigerators, microwave, bathroom, hot shower, washer/dryer, and lots of outlets to charge our devices. I was still very overheated on arrival, but felt much better after hydrating, showering, eating, and sleeping! The church advertised having the largest orange marker on the FT. We were blessed to stay here and will depart heading east tomorrow. 

After now hiking the Maine AT and the Florida Trail for over a week each, I believe the FT is a much more enjoyable and beautiful thru-hike. Before we left Maine, I heard about 2 deaths and 3 air evacuations sine July 1, 2025. I suppose the Maine AT is great practice if you want to compete in American Ninja Warrior. The FT does a much better job of protecting hikers with wider bridges across rivers, great trail markers, and sometimes even painting trip hazards orange. As a Floridian, we are blessed to have the FT!

Today, I hiked from the Leaning Pines campsite to State Route 20. I woke up early around 3:30 a.m. and began walking at 4:00 a.m. I was able to identify the orange blazes on the trees for the first one and a half hours but had to stop when I could no longer find the next marker. After sunrise at 5:40 a.m. came, I was able to find the markers and proceed on the route.

I arrived at SR-20 near Ebro, Florida around 6:30 AM and met Marion, then took me to the Ebro Motel where I was able to obtain a room for one night. Ebro has as estimated population of 258 people! We ate breakfast at Subway, the only restaurant in Ebro. I also picked up some supplies at Dollar General across the street from the motel. Marion then drove me to the next trailhead off US 20, and I hiked another 9 miles to the next intersection of SR 20. The area covered today was beautiful with many wooded areas, prairie and several ponds.I had no difficulty obtaining water from nearby streams for filtering. The last 2 miles was difficult due to walking in the hot sun and several very marshy areas. 

After meeting Marion at SR 20, we also discovered that the front tire on Marion’s car had a large bolt stuck in the tire. When the tire deflated, we had to put on the small donut tire after figuring out where the tools were located. Marion called AAA, and they sent a mechanic to plug the tire. Recovery from the hike and tire change came quickly with a shower, meal, air-conditioned room!

The plan tomorrow is to return to State Route 20 and hike to a campsite and water source approximately 15 miles northeast of Ebro. Marion may be able to meet me 10 miles up the trail if the roads are good.

 I talked to the pastor of Hillcrest Baptist Church located about 30 miles away, and he is excited about hosting us at their church hostel for Florida trail hikers on Tuesday night.

Staying at the hotel tonight is super nice since I have access to hot showers, microwave, air conditioning, and a comfortable bed. We depart tomorrow morning at 5 a.m. so I can begin hiking at sunrise.