Pinellas Trail, Day 3.5: Rest and route reconnaissance day + short Largo catch-up
- terrimccomb
- 6 days ago
- 2 min read
2.8 miles (4.8 km). Cooler and breezy today- a cold front is moving in. It actually felt like winter, Florida-style of course. I walked at 4:30 pm and it dropped to 54F (12C) before I was done.
Last night, I decided not to walk today for two reasons: 1) it was forecasted to be rainy/drizzly the first half of the day (this is not the Camino!), and 2) I was not yet feeling confident with my route in light of the safety warnings. I tried doing a search online for clear guidance, but it is very difficult to find any specific information on walking the trail - most sites and posts focus on cycling.
I took advantage of not having an early wake-up call and had a great sleep. Then after breakfast, Karen and I spent almost three hours driving and exploring the route - at least what we could see of it at road intersections - all the way into St Pete’s. From Clearwater through Seminole the path is residential and appears safe. The only issue is that there are not many people around during the workday, so I will take the usual precautions for a woman walking alone.
Past Bay Pines and across the inlet, we were not as confident. This stretch is where the warnings were focused, and it was hard to see the trail from the roads. What little information I could find suggested that it goes through a more industrial area with fewer safe exit points. It’s hard to say whether the few reports of problems accurately represent the safety of the trail, but without a way to vet it, I will err on the side of caution and move to the main roads until I reach downtown St Pete’s.
Once we completed our mission, we returned to my parents place in Largo. To facilitate an easier start tomorrow, I decided to complete the small portion of the trail between my drop off yesterday and my parents’ place.
Karen took me out and dropped me off, and I walked back in. It was quiet, residential walking and there were enough cyclists to not feel totally alone. As the wind picked up and the temps dropped, I was helpfully reminded to layer appropriately tomorrow: it is expected to be 39F (4C) when I start out at 9:00 am, with a high of 54F (12C) for the day. I’d say, ‘Brrrr…’, but I think our friends and family up north right now would roll their eyes.
Photos of the day:
The walk:
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