Hike #96 - Florida Trail - Okeechobee West - Day Three

The cold front went away, and we had a beautiful, clear and sunny day to hike the next segment of the Okeechobee Trail. This time we parked at the Indian Prairie Canal and headed south toward the Harney Pond Canal. Along the way we passed a campsite (quite close to the parking area) and the S-129 water control structure. We did see a couple of other people on the trail, and could occasionally hear the cars on SR78, but for the most part we enjoyed a nice and quiet walk.

Fortunately, we did recognize our turning around spot from last week. On the way back, we had a constant view of smoky clouds from a nearby fire, which I figure started about five miles north of our parking spot. It looked like it was heading south; however, Wayne was positive there was nothing to worry about because there was a canal between it and our car. Despite that reassurance, it was still a bit disconcerting to see evidence of a fire. Once the trail turned away from the smoke, I felt better. And I felt even better once we were driving away from the scene!

As you can tell, we made it back safely to our car, which we had parked at a popular boating site, with a tally of 9.37 miles in just over 3 hours. You can also sense the dry grass, something we're not used to seeing in South Florida, with perfect conditions for a wildfire.

At home I did a little bit of research on the First Point fire, near Buckhead Ridge on Lake Okeechobee. It was about 1,000 acres and 50% contained when we started our hike. The forest service did some controlled burning to help keep the fire away from "civilization" and by Friday night it had spread to 8,000 acres but was fully contained. It will be interesting to see the aftermath next week, because the next segment will be adjacent to the fire's location.