Hike #17 - Point Washington State Forest, Florida

Other than visiting grandma and grandpa, our family has not taken a family vacation in ten years.  We had one kid then. This summer we loaded up and headed to Grayton Beach State Park in the Destin, Florida area.

We have stayed in Grayton before, and we came back for several reasons.  First, the state park has cabins that are significantly cheaper than most of the rentals in the area. Second, the state park has a private beach with very few people and rangers who monitor the water for riptides and dangerous marine life (sharks, jellyfish, sea lice, oh my!).  We spent most days in the water, but we couldn't let the whole trip go by without at least one hike.  The trail was technically Point Washington State Forest, but it seemed that it ran together with some of the Grayton trails.  In the future though, we might pass on hiking in Florida.

Reasons we prefer Arkansas hiking to Florida hiking:

1. Wildlife - The sign at the trailhead warns hikers of rattlesnakes, water moccasins, and coral snakes.  The only one we don't have in Arkansas is coral snakes, and we replace them with copperheads.  However, in our previous 50+ miles in Arkansas this year, we have see a total of zero snakes. On this trail we saw two, and they were big, and they were right on the edge of the trail.  It put us all on edge for the entire time.  This doesn't even consider the "watch out for gators" sign by the lake we passed.
2. Terrain - This trail is flat!  There was zero elevation change, and zero rocks to see or climb.  The trail was sand, sand, and more sand.  Everyone can tolerate sand at the beach, but once you leave the beach it is just a nuisance that you can't wait to get rid of.
3. Heat - For some reason people expect Florida to be hot, but the temperatures there are no hotter than the temperatures at home.  And don't say "it's not the heat, it's the humidity," because Arkansas has crazy humidity too.  However, the heat was brutal on this trail.  We came up with two factors.  First, in Arkansas you are usually hiking in the woods with a nice canopy of hardwood trees above.  Here you have scrawny pine trees if you have anything.  Second, below the Arkansas canopy you have leaf strewn brown dirt.  Here you have the white sand reflecting as much sunlight up at you from the ground as you have the sun beating down on you from above. Let's just say, the ocean felt particularly nice when we got back.  

(Don't worry, the mohawk went away as soon as we left the beach.)

Our family unanimously agrees that hiking in Arkansas is better.  Not that we doubted it before.

Travel time from home: 12 hours, 20 minutes (plus 3 hours worth of bathroom breaks)
Today's miles: 4.56
Remaining miles: 42.29