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!