Harold Williams Cooney

Wednesday December 24th 2025. Tented in a four tent clearing on m438.9 of the Florida Trail. Waking naturally at 3:45 am. 54° and calm. 29.167549,-81.685654

Walking out 421 am. The trail is quite tight again with the green tunnel feeling. Sun comes up enough to see a little bit before 7 am.

Continuous beautiful trail all day today. All of it dry, so fantastic.

I had an amazing interaction with the hiker coming south. A twenty four year old guy named Zion. His backpack looked like shit. It was his first time out. In the context of a pack on trail talk, we talked extensively. He spoke about his recent college graduation and his pending attendance to officer candidate school. The man asked a lot of questions, which is very unusual. He asked about backpacking and long trails, and I did my best to help him.

He asked about my opinions on his life future, whether he should pursue being a fighter pilot or an astronaut. I told him that I was a mere illiterate degenerate piece of shit and that I was in no way qualified to help him make life choices. This did not slow the conversation.

We had a spiritual conversation, I guess, of a sort. I did my best to help him. I’ve had hundreds and hundreds of on trail conversations but none like this. This dude is an outstanding human being, and I did my best to tell him that this was my observation. I encouraged him to allow his time on trail to let nature help his mind make his own decisions. I encouraged him to keep backpacking and keep pursuing long trails in his time in the armed forces.

I rallied after leaving Zion, moving as quickly as possible to try and reach town before restaurants and stores close.

I reached a restaurant named Square Meal at one o’clock an hour before they closed at two. I had a supreme omelet and a bacon cheeseburger. It was alright. The waitstaff was very merry. They were very excited about the restaurant being closed for the next two days. I left a good tip (for me, anyway).

I had called in advance and walked over to the campground from the restaurant. Thirty-seven dollars for a campsite. I went down to my area. Put my bag into a bear box and checked out the amenities. Not the best not the worst.

I walked to the grocery store, got myself a pack of cigarettes for Christmas, and a pint of ice cream for right now. Lol. Sigh. Sign on the door says they are open christmas morning, and so I only purchased a bag of popcorn for resupply. I double-checked with the guy at the counter, making him promise that, yes, they were open tomorrow.

Back to the campsite and laying down just before sunset. A fantastic day.

Mileage:

From 438.9 to 458.3, the connector trail that takes me into town. That’s 19.4. The connector trail is 3 miles. So 22.4 plus all the back and forth in town.