Everglades Hostel

I'm spending a few days at this very cool place, letting my body recuperate before tackling the swamp, and doing some replacing and rearranging of my gear to try and lighten my load. I've had a day  of rest here or there, but never more than just enough to keep pushing on.

This is a wonderful place to hang out and rest, and I've met more great people than I have time to mention or pictures of to post.

Julia, from Germany

Adrianna, from Vancouver

Rasmus, from Denmark

Joel, from...Virginia!

Michael, Melissa, and Eva, from Philadelphia

Starting tomorrow, I'm going to be hiking the road/highway section--about 70 miles from just south of here out to the entrance to the Everglades, with nowhere to camp, and no ressuply or even water along most of it, except for the Homestead/Florida City part, which passes through some areas against which I've been warned by both guidebooks and local police. But with the kind help of the folks at the hostel, I'm going to do it the most comfortable way possible; I'm going to "slackpack" it. That is, most of my gear stays here in my room, and I get a ride each day between the hostel and my start and end points. Not only does that take away the worry of finding campsites and resupply, but it allows me to cover more ground each day as I'll be carrying almost no load. It also allows me to start the swamp with the 5 or so days of provisions necessary, plus some extra just in case.