Kind of spur of the moment I decided to head down to the Ocala National Forest for an overnighter. I've been itching to get out and see Juniper Prairie. I was really excited from all the good stuff I hear about the area, and now that I'm back I can say I wasn't let down! Juniper Prairie Wilderness is a beautiful section of the FT.
I arrived at Pat's Island at about 2:30 PM on Monday. I made some last minute adjustments to my pack and hit the trail at 3:00 PM. The forecast said there probably would be a little rain, but after a few hours of wetness the rest of the week would be sunny and dry. I didn't pack any rain gear except an emergency poncho because I planned to be at Hidden Pond with camp set before any moisture manifested itself. But if you know about Murphey's Laws you know what happened! I wasn't ten minutes down the trail and the bottom fell out. The rain was coming in small, dense, furious squalls, so I dropped my pack, and fished out the emergency poncho. I tryed to cover both myself and the majority of my pack, but it was useless. After I realized I was drenched already I decided the smart thing to do would be cover my pack as well as possible to keep it dry since dry clothes, tent, sleeping bag, and the like were in it. After about 15 minutes the rain ceased totally. A great way to get the hike going!!
My spirit was not broken though so I continued down the trail wet, but excited. The palmetto and pine landscape draped over the hilly prairie was almost foreign. Without a well marked trail I'd be lost pretty quick. All the way to Hidden Pond you can hear the traffic on State Road 19 so if you did wind up lost, just head for the sound of traffic! It would be a ruff hike but it would get you out of the woods.
Just about the time I entered into the uppermost part of the HIdden Pond area I came around a bend and saw a nice turkey. It wasn't frightened like I thought it would be, but just kinda turned away from me and made it's way into the woods. Not to mention the doves (I think) that I scared a couple different times, sending them flapping and chirping into the air. When it is almost pitch silent and you are surprised by the swooshing of wings, and shreeking of birds it's a bit startling and scary!
I passed several ponds, a few of them with water. I also passed what were either ponds at one time or were sink holes. The large dry ponds made me ponder what the area around Hidden Pond looked like at one time full of water. I got an idea of it when I arrived at the swimming hole right off the trail at what I figure is actually the Hidden Pond camping area. The hike took me about an 1 hour 45 minutes to complete at a medium pace. The pond was refreshing with clear water. Behind the pond is where I found all the campsites and a much larger pond area I think is Really hidden Pond. Someone might correct me if I'm wrong.
So I picked myself out one of the nice campsites between the small pond on the FT and the larger prairie like pond. I set up camp, changed socks, ate a snack, and gathered up some firewood. Then I went back down to the pond on the FT and tried the fishing. I wasn't sure there would be any fish at all but it was worth it to me to carry the extra weight just to find out. I had only fished around probably half the pond when I caught a small mouth bass. And that was about it.
After I finished playing around I went back to camp and got the fire going. After eating dinner the sun had just about went down so I got myself situated in the tent so I wouldn't lose anything in the dark. I had bought one of those head lamps that have the high intensity bulbs. Apparently that's the specific bulb you would want if you needed to find spiders in the dark! I had never noticed it but if you shine a light into the eyes of a big brown tree spider (the brown recluse?) it's eyes light up like a cat. I thought they were fireflys but I realized when you turn the light off they disappear. So upon investigation I discovered the big, juicy, spiders all around me. On the ground, in the trees, everywhere. It was rather unsettling! Spiders are my fobia of choice, and seeing points of light all around my campsite which were NOT stars above stairing at me put the fear in me! Were they mounting an assault?
After a prayer, and some reading, I kinda forgot thankfully. I'm here to write this report so they didn't eat me! It was a beautiful night to camp, the temperature was around 58-60 degrees according to the news. I woke up at about 7:00 AM Tuesday morning, ate some breakfast, packed up camp, and headed back for Pat's Island. Almost back to the trailhead I passed the first person I seen the whole hike. So Hidden Pond was mine for that brief time. It was a wonderful experiance.
The hike is approximately 2.5-3.3 miles long. I'm not exactly sure I didn't count the distance and the maps had me a little confused. At any rate count on 1 1/2 to 2 hours hiking at a medium pace. I learned a lot about backpack weight, neccessity gear, and the wonderful world of hiking!
I hope this report wasn't too long, I just wanted you guys to know about all the fun I had.
Below is the link to my picture album. There are also a set of pics from Rice Creek CA you might like to see. I didn't do a trip report for that hike, not much to tell, just a great hike!
http://picasaweb.google.com/gmcclain20 
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