After getting a good night’s rest at Hillcrest Baptist Church Hostel last night and having a bowl of cereal with milk for breakfast, Marion drove me to the Althea Trailhead where I hiked about 3 miles and saw several deer. The trail markers were sometimes difficult to spot, so this was a little more difficult than expected. Marion then drove me through trail on several highways, and I hiked an additional 9 miles to Bonnet Pond Campsite. Today was modest mileage of 12 miles.

I was very fortunate to get to the Camel LakeCampground which had a beautiful lake and a swimming area which I really enjoyed. They also had hot showers, and the camp host and another camper offered up lots of free ice to cool me down.

 It was just a short three-hike longer to the Bonnet Pond campground where I’m staying tonight. Bonnet Pond is located about a tenth of a mile away and has great water for filtering. This pond likely has alligators, so Idid not attempt to swim!

Today’s hike was marked by several bogs in which my legs sunk almost knee deep into mud and water in the boggy areas. I also found several areas that were poorly marked and had some difficulty finding the Florida Trail without using the Far Out app for direction finding.

 Shortly after returning to camp from the pond, a huge thunderstorm lasting about 45 minutes gave me a chance to clean up and wash clothes. After the rain stopped, I was able to set up the camp successfully and keep my dry things dry. Other than lots of mosquitoes and other insects swarming around me despite insect repellent, this should be a great place to camp tonight! I even have 1 bar of Verizon signal and could talk with Kathy and Sarah. Photos later when I have more signal.