I traveled about 10 miles today.
Our first day in the swamp was awesome! It started with a great breakfast by the kickoff folks and then a ride to the Big Cypress Oasis Center. We filled out required paperwork, filled water, took pictures, and finally started hiking a bit before 10am. Another hiker named Bennett joined us and will hopefully continue with us. We arrived at camp very early but are taking it easy at the beginning. Joey, who has hiked the PCT and CDT, stopped for a break then continued on. Two other hikers, Handlebar and Carjacker, arrived later. We saw one lone deer way out here, and then ran into a hunter with 3 guns less than a mile later. Run, Bambi, run! Other than that, tiny fish swimming in the Trail and a couple frogs were the wildlife for today. Walking through water up to our knees occasionally, but more often our ankles, was a lot of fun. It certainly slowed us down, but the deeper water was cool and refreshing on this hot day. The trees and shrubs are amazing. Josh said it was like Jurassic Park and I have to agree. The campsite is fine and we collected water to drink just fine. We were even treated to a nice sunset, and the mosquitos didn't get very bad at all. Really looking forward to tomorrow.