Tuesday, December 15, 2015

Back in the Eastern Time Zone

The Florida Trail crosses the Apalachicola River on a dedicated pedestrian walkway safely separated from traffic.  The eastbound span of the Trammell Bridge was opened in 1998 and is 8362 feet long (about 1.6 miles).  The older span, visible at right in the distance, was built in 1938.
"Key West or Bust" - Day 69

The Apalachicola River is the dividing line between time zones.  Today I crossed it on the spiffy new bridge between Blountstown and Bristol.

It felt like a big deal - like crossing a state line, but more.  It felt like I had come back home from a foreign country.

I never did accept the time change.  I crossed into Alabama and the Central Time Zone while hiking the Pinhoti Trail way back on October 14th, but I refused to change my clocks.  I clung to Eastern Time.  For two solid months I kept the faith.  And today my loyalty was rewarded.

I'm rambling on about this because I don't have much else to say about today's hike.  It was road walking again after just a half mile on the Blountstown Greenway.  Besides the border crossing the only accomplishment today was to set myself up for starting the long trek through Apalachicola National Forest.

So this is a short report.  If you follow this blog daily, you'll be expecting me to follow through on my teaser from my last report.  I claimed to have proof that elves live in Blountstown.  So here it is, spotted right beside the pavement on the Greenway.


I don't think these elves work for Santa.  Probably for Keebler.  I knocked, hoping to ask, but nobody answered.  So I moved on.  The Greenway provided a little immersion in nature before my long dreary road walk began.


I crossed into Bristol and had two miles of sidewalk to help me make the transition.  But then it was nothing but grassy shoulder and noisy traffic.

Thankfully, that will be the last of highway walking for a while, except for little snatches.  Apalachicola National Forest is a big place, with about seventy miles of foot trail and quiet forest roads.  I've already posted about my out-of-sequence foray into Bradwell Bay to do a circuit hike.  Tomorrow I'll get into it 'for real'.


The map of today's walking appears below, with a link to a few more photos.



Road walk, Blountstown to the Savannah Trailhead at EveryTrail
EveryTrail - Find hiking trails in California and beyond


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