At work yesterday Fleetwood Mac came on the radio, Gold Dust Woman, and I was immediately transported back to Ocala National Forest and our short stop at the 88 Store, where we picked up our maildrop, showered, and ate ice cream and drank sodas. Gold Dust Woman didn’t come on the radio but Gypsy did, […]
Florida Trail ‘Summit’ | One Year Ago
Sunrise at Gulf Islands National Seashore, March 3, 2011….18 miles left until we finished. Finished! We walked through Florida! On top of Fort Pickens How was this a year ago? It seems like closer than that. While the Appalachian Trail seems light years away now, I think the Florida Trail seems closer because of our […]
One Year Ago | Southern Terminus of the Florida Trail
Headed for Ft. Pickens after our friends Randy and Kathy dropped us off on Loop Road. 8 miles of beautiful cypress/sawgrass habitat with some fun and muddy water in the middle! The feather headband didn’t make it too far before it broke. 🙁 Follow some of the 2012 FT thru-hikers as they head to Ft. […]
How to Thru-Hike the Florida Trail
*Edit 12/2015: This is one of my most popular posts and it was written in 2011. The trail has had some reroutes during this time. Please check the most recent guidebook released from Florida Hikes and be sure to contact the Florida Trail Association in regards to reroutes and current closures. Thanks and have a […]
Florida Trail Tales 14: Navarre to Fort Pickens
As we crossed over the bridge at Navarre, across Santa Rosa sound, to Santa Rosa island, we had to squish against the side railing of the bridge for bicyclists who couldn’t manage to get off and walk their bike and share the path and fisherman reluctant to move their poles. Where’s the common courtesy?! We […]
Florida Trail Tales 13: Crestview to Navarre
After leaving the more congested area around Crestview we set off on a mostly quiet walk along U.S. 90. Sure there were large semi trucks driving passed but the shoulder was wide enough for us to follow and jump off when needed. The sky went from looking to clear up to getting dark again as […]
Florida Trail Tales 12: Nokuse Plantation to Crestview
After leaving our stealth/trespassing campsite for the night, the morning was dawning as if it was going to rain. It was spitting when we got up that morning, we ate our breakfast in a hurry, took down camp and hit the road, literally. We had a couple of miles left before we entered the woods […]
Florida Trail Tales 11: Blountstown to Nokuse Plantation
Preparing for our first 30 mile day, we got up well before dawn to start hiking in the dark. We’d informed the motel managers that we’d leave the key in the room since we were leaving so early. It was pitch black when we left the hotel, our headlamps on full blast. This was our […]
Florida Trail Tales 10: Apalachicola National Forest to Blountstown
Apalachicola National Forest is a wonderful little place in the panhandle of Florida that has a very unique ecosystem. Carnivorous plants can be found and vast ti-ti sloughs stretch across the area. The day had started off drizzly and cloudy at St. Marks NWR but by the time we’d entered ANF it was clear and […]
Florida Trail Tales 9: S.R. 221 to S.R. 319
After resupplying in Shady Grove we got back on the trail through more private logging areas. This time we mostly followed well drained logging roads so there was no water involved—mostly! We had a few miles stretch between U.S. 221 before we crossed over U.S. 19. This was more of a major artery into Perry […]
