11/3 Florida Keys tour

70 miles, plus 3 mile detour
I had great trepidations about this day, only partly because of the 70 mile projected mileage. We also offered to get all groceries alone (by Lyft, due to the store being a six mile round trip beyond the campground), and we needed to cook dinner. This was the most extensive causeway ride we would do on this trip and we surely benefited from the 15-20mph tailwind. Iguanas crossed the trail in front of us and frigate birds and buzzards soared above. 

The Florida Heritage trail supposedly parallels route 1, but its maintenance is so obviously a low priority for the state. It starts and stops, often abruptly, and crosses the 4 lane, mostly divided highway, forcing you to play a real world game of frogger. However, one section offered a quieter space, separated from the road by a wide and dense barrier of foliage. We found a shaded bench to lunch on, looking out over low mangroves and were joined by Dennis. There were plenty of places to get drinks and water along the way. We stopped at none of the attractions, in order to get the groceries and cooking done on time. 

Mostly we stayed off the trail, due to getting shafted so frequently by terrible surfaces, abrupt terminations and road crossing requirements, so as a result we traveled along the 3-4ft shoulder with the vehicles generally bumper to bumper, going over 55mph next to us. So why I decided to divert from this strategy and take a beautiful remnant of the old railroad bridge, which terminated a a small resort key, I have no idea. We were forced to turn around at the end and go back against 15 to 20 mile an hour winds. Looking back at that entryway, there was no sign indicating it was a dead end. I texted the group, to ensure that nobody else made that mistake, which was a successful effort. Oddly enough, I had seen that coming, when I looked at the RWGPS map in the morning, but I thought we were beyond that point on the map. 

The causeway could be beautiful, and the shoulders are much wider, but the Jersey barriers push all the noise back at you and the shoulders are full of crap. We got to the campground, dumped our stuff, went to the bathroom, washed our faces and got a Lyft to the grocery store. Came back, made dinner, got cleanup going, pitched the tent, showered and collapsed to bed. Long day.

Lower Matecumbe Key

The siren call of the Dead End

This is what most of the causeway looks like

Big Pine Key CG