2014 Winter FTA Footprint

FooTprint The Magazine of the Florida Trail Association

Winter 2014

What’s Inside?

Jim Kern & the Serenas 2014 Ocean to Lake Hike Info FTA Holiday Store Items 2014 Annual Conference

FTA SHOP HOLIDAY ITEMS Support FTA with your holiday gift giving ftashop.floridatrail.org

Just like the big guys wear!

What trail tot wouldn’t love this T-shirt featuring Rob Smith’s FTA Turtle (complete with hardhat) on the front and a big TRAIL CREW on the back.

Our new winter Tee Celebrating our great Southern Wetlands, this off-white Tee features wildlife seen along much of our trail - American Alligator, Great Blue Heron, Swallowtailed Kite and more.

Sandra Friend is back with her latest update to hiking on the Florida Trail. Part Data Book, part companion guide - all good hiker info.

From the authors of LipSmackin’ Backpackin’ (also in stock in the FTA Shop) comes a new recipe book for those times when you can take a little more gear with you.

Check out Dutch Oven Donuts and Osceola Salmon!

KrispyKritter’s new book on the Adventures of a Long Distance Hiker.

Wayne Petrovich tells stories of hiking in the US and Britain as well as a few from his years working at Travel Country Outdoors.

The Footprint

CONTENTS WINTER 2014

In this issue 4 6 8 9 10 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 22 32

President’s Message Trail Business Membership Report FNST Volunteer Program Activity Leaders’ Corner Introducing Jeff Glenn FNST News from the North Slow Down and Learn Something What it takes to be a Florida Trail Hiker Saying Goodbye to Trail Friends 2014 Ocean to Lake Backpacking Trip Preserving the Past, Restoring Future Book Review - KrispyKritter An Interview with Jen & Ric Serena An Interview with Jim Kern Chapters on the Go

Photo Credits Front cover Aaron Bowden Olustee Trail Care Hike This page Kevin Barry Dwarf Cypress Back Cover Barbara Bowen Florida Black Bear

President’s Message Carlos Schomaker FTA President

As I write this, the 14th Conference on National Scenic and Historic Trails has just wrapped up in Tucson, Arizona. Staff and volunteer leaders from various trail organizations are flying back to their homes in places like Madison, Sacramento, Denver, and Tallahassee. Federal and state land agency managers, Native American leaders, scientists, and policy planners are returning to their work, re-energized after a week of meeting with kindred souls from all over the United States. They came together to learn and teach and confer about a network of significant trails that cross our great nation. They came together because they believe in what these trails mean to America, and the world.

Here are some observations and thoughts I came away with from this experience: ---There are many dedicated, smart, passionate people working hard to ensure that the American public has access to amazing experiences on more than two dozen Scenic and Historic Trails. They come from a wide range of ages, races, and backgrounds. When they got together at this conference, positive energy charged the dry desert air and bounced off the mountains surrounding the venue. America’s trails are in good hands.

--- All of these trails, whether famous crown jewels like the Appalachian Trail or lesser-known gems like the Santa Fe National Historic Trail, face the same challenges: funding, trail protection, relevancy and support from the public. To succeed, their agency managers and non-profit partner organizations need to work together, involve local communities, and advocate for each other and their trails. Then these individual trail communities need to support and learn from each other. Conferences like this are just one part of that effort.

---The conference benefited greatly from the interplay between young people, whether apprentices or staff, and aging veterans of the trail campaigns. Open minds and hearts and mentoring, along with common passion and professionalism, mean that the torch will continue to be passed to future generations of trail stewards. I am particularly proud of the contributions of FTA’s trail staff at these sessions and discussions.

I learned a great deal about how our sister organizations are doings things, and about how far we all have to go.

---The international community is interested in what we do. The state of Western Australia sent a gentleman from Edith Cowan University’s School of Marketing, Tourism and Leisure to learn from the American trail community. He wanted to know more, for example, about how trails operate in Florida’s complicated patchwork of public land managers, private landowners, and shifting political tides.

---A session hosted by Susan Matthews and myself regarding the FTA/USFS relationship and the USFS Coalition was fruitful and generated a lot of interest from other trail organizations. A long dialogue afterward with our USFS partner staff, Mike Dawson of the Pacific Crest Trail Association, and Deb Caffin of the USFS also cleared the air. I feel very hopeful that we are all moving forward together.

---Sessions were held in three tracks: Telling Our Stories and Engaging New Partners; Preserving Special Places

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and Protecting the Tapestry of the Land; and Strengthening Our Trail Organizations and Trail Communities. We tried to have someone from FTA attend a good spectrum of the presentations. I learned a great deal about how our sister organizations are doing things, and about how far we all have to go. Expect to see some of that infuse FTA in the future.

---Despite the challenges ahead and the hard work needed to ensure the future of these trails, I didn’t see much negativity or provincial thinking at the conference. I think everyone there understood that we were all allies and could count on each other’s positive support.

The old maxim about thinking globally and acting locally certainly holds true here. FTA’s volunteers, members, and partners should move forward with the knowledge that many others throughout the Unites States “have our backs” as we build and maintain the Florida Trail. We all need to validate this national support by making sure our own hard work for this effort, with our sweat and dollars and expertise and generosity, continues unabated.

If you get the chance sometime to hike one of our sister trails (as we did on the beautiful Arizona National Scenic Trail), remember that there are many people, just like us, entrusted with making sure that your trail experience there is fun, safe and meaningful. They won’t let you down. Let’s make sure we don’t let them down, when they come to visit our wonderful Florida National Scenic Trail.

The Florida Trail Association regrets to inform our members that Deb Blick has been laid off from her position on the FTA Staff. Deb’s employment was no longer funded through the joint Federal cost-share side of our operations and her position was eliminated due to lack of FTA internal funding. This was a painful decision, but necessary for the long-term financial health of the organization.

This action will unfortunately have a direct effect on FTA’s operational strength. Deb has at various times been responsible for trail inventory, creation of maps, design of our membership data base system, office tech support and editing of the Footprint Magazine.

She has spent many hours answering hiker questions and offering advice. She is simply irreplaceable. We hope and anticipate that Deb will continue to contribute her expertise and experience to FTA in other ways. Deb has been an integral part of Florida Trail Association’s staff since 1998, and her legacy is everywhere along the Florida National Scenic Trail. We thank her for her deep dedication and hard work.

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The Trail BUSINESS TOM DANIEL V.P. TRAILS

ACCEPTING THE CONSEQUENCES? The DREAM that started the Florida Trail Association wasn’t complicated but it also wasn’t easy. A woodland TRAIL the length of Florida. The creation of the Florida Trail Association (FTA) was inspired by this DREAM. Members old and new are the DREAMERS who persevere and realize this DREAM. The Florida National Scenic Trail (TRAIL) is the visible outcome. But it is the proverbial tip of the iceberg, the visible 10%.

Today and for forty plus years FTA has served two primary functions: 1. Bring volunteers to the table to build and maintain, and 2. Seek, establish, and maintain public and/or private partnerships.

The value added by volunteers, needs no explanation, but equally important, are the partnerships. They provide the agreements and lands over which the TRAIL travels. These two functions take on multiple forms and processes but they are the value FTA adds. It would be a gross injustice to suggest either function is simple or anywhere near completed. Both are ongoing, multi-faceted and complicated. FTA makes the DREAM possible by facilitating the invisible 90%. We are the GLUE! You would have to be totally disconnected to not know that both the Fed’s and FTA are having budgetary issues. The message is less funding for trails everywhere.

This is a reality for our TRAIL. Trail organizations naDonations from FTA members are the tionwide are being asked to shoulder more of the burseed monies essential to support FTA den. FTA is no exception. The trend for reduced Federal and our MISSION. dollars is a given in the current political climate. FTA has already experienced reduced Federal dollars and membership revenues. To adjust, we have reduced staff, cut membership support and tapped into reserves. Budget discussions at the Board of Directors (Board) level are never fun but during my time they have been grim, often resulting in the selection of the ‘least bad’ option.

I’ve heard suggestions that we need to return to a totally volunteer-run organization, no Federal partner and I’m thinking that means no TRAIL. Reduced revenue has pushed FTA to a much smaller staff. If FTA and the TRAIL survive, we’ll look very different by 2015. The outcome is reduced capacity to deliver services to members, our partners and the public. It’s the new reality!

Our By-laws assign fiduciary and policy responsibilities to the Board. Early on in our fund raising campaigns, some suggested that there were corporations, private individuals and foundations just waiting to donate funds to FTA. After a good bit of being turned down or ignored, it became apparent that the reality was different.

The potential donors were there but it isn’t that easy. WHY? 1.

FTA is competing with other non-profits for a limited bucket of funds.

2.

Potential donors always ask what the Board and the membership has given. The logic is, “Why

should we give if the Board and the membership hasn’t demonstrated their commitment?”. That

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commitment is measured in $ donations, not hours on the trail. If our own members won’t give to keeping FTA running, why should these other potential donors?

Simply put, donations from FTA members are the seed monies essential to persuade third parties to donate and support FTA and our MISSION. Bottom line: Support for FTA really means supporting the values FTA represents. Are those values worth preserving? The TRAIL is our Legacy and without a strong FTA I fear it will go away. I have devoted well over 10,000 hours to the TRAIL and FTA and I would be devastated if they were no more. If we, as members, will not support FTA with our donations no one else will. What non-profit doesn’t ask its members for donations?

The plea is simple and direct! DONATE and donate generously! Doing nothing is a decision that has consequences.

A thought: ‘It is best not to make war with those in the (FTA) life boat with you’!

TravelCountry staff members Brian and “Krispy Kritter” are avid hikers and backpackers. At TravelCountry, we don’t just talk the talk, we walk the walk!

407.831.0777 ~1101 E Altamonte Drive, Altamonte Springs, FL

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Present this ad to receive 15% off any regularly priced purchase or use promo code “FTA” online.

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MEMBERSHIP REPORT EVE BARBOUR V.P. MEMBERSHIP

You can’t create the future while clinging to the past.

Here I was sitting at the computer thinking about writing this article and the thought flashed that it would be really good if there was a catch phrase to hang on to, when in the background somewhere behind my head on TV was a Delta Airlines commercial saying, “Thank you Orville, thank you Wilbur and Neil and Amelia and Buzz for showing us that ‘You can’t create the future while hanging on to the past.’” Well, thank you Delta Airlines. How perfect and how true.

The Florida Trail Association has been in the process of reinventing itself for some time. When all is well and perfectly fine to us at Chapter Level, we can often sit back and say, why so many changes all the time? Quite a few of us still remember how FTA used to be at inception. We forget sometimes that we are all part of a larger, statewide business organization complete with fiscal responsibilities and governance procedure.

Let’s see if we can dissect the change process a little more. How about in three words? Money, money, money.

Let’s add a couple of more words to this list: Members, public recognition and influence. As they say, a 501.c.3 non-profit organization does not mean “no profit.” It means that all profits are used toward the benefit of the organization in the fulfillment of the mission.

The new mantra for FTA Chapters is “Chapter Building, Membership Growth and Fundraising.” Say this daily in front of your mirror, or even better, as you do mission-fulfilling maintenance hikes. The Board of Directors along with staff are going all out to demonstrate commitment to growing FTA. You will be bombarded shortly with fundraising opportunities and membership drives. Sadly, we cannot continue to exist as an organization unless something is done by all of us soon.

At the September Chapter Council/Board of Directors Meeting in Micanopy it became apparent to the Board that the Membership Dues categories need to be revised and simplified. This does not necessarily involve raising dues amounts but in examining all the different categories such as individual, family, senior, student, etc. and coming up with a simpler set. So, standby for this change that will be made when our FTA brochures are reprinted at the end of the year.

Also, at this Micanopy meeting President Carlos Schomaker unveiled a “Chapter Standardization Initiative.” FTA is seeking ways in which chapters and the governance bodies can all be on the same page as far as offering members and the public the same information and services such as Meetup sites, web sites, hiking opportunities, maintenance opportunities and chapter meetings.

To recap: You can’t create the future while clinging to the past.

Thank you again Delta Airlines. Thank you members, future members, and Florida’s public for helping us affect change.

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FNST VOLUNTEER PROGRAM MEGAN DONOGHUE VOLUNTEER PROGRAM COORDINATOR

A Few Days with Our (Trail) Family A few of the Florida Trail Association staff and president of the board of directors, Carlos Schomaker, recently spent a handful of days at the National Scenic and Historic Trails Conference. This conference occurs every other year and is a time when trail organizations and agency partners gather together to gain skills from the other trails that they can take back home to their own. It’s a time to celebrate the Partnership of the National Trail System.

The theme of this year’s conference was “weaving the tapestry of America’s cultures, histories and landscapes”. The event was held in Tucson, AZ and was kicked off with a real Native American drum welcoming ceremony.

The sessions included board and organization development, volunteer programs, bringing youth into the outdoors, policy and agency process, trail inventory, and many more. After each session, one thought was reinforced in my mind….we are not alone.

The national trail system is more than 30 national scenic or historic trails that paint pathways across the country. It’s 30 sisters and brothers, aunts and uncles, and wise grandparents that are there to lend a hand, advice on lessons learned and those little nuggets of knowledge.

Our trails connect people, connect communities and connect with each other. When the Florida Trail was designated as National Scenic Trail, we joined an incredible, loving family. We joined the mission to be a part something bigger, something that has the ability to permanently change the way we think about trails, conservation, and partnerships in realm of natural resource management.

In light of being cliché, I think it’s easy to compare our organization to… a trail. We’ve taken some big lefts, some hard rights and a few up and downs. We’ve even ended up knee deep in mud. But we keep hiking, because we have a Mission to accomplish.

At the end of the conference we all left with note pads full of notes, and an open-door policy to various trails across the country. We left with our spirits lifted and a fire inside to continue to work towards our Mission.

I want to take this time to thank each and every member, volunteer, donor, and partner of the Florida Trail Association. Without you, a trail that traverses the state of Florida connecting people, communities, and conservation would be a mere fleeting thought.

I encourage all of you to learn more about the other national scenic and historic trails that we call our family.

Visit www.pnts.org.

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ACTIVITY LEADERS’ CORNER DEB BLICK Former FTA TRAIL RESOURCE COORDINATOR

Several people have asked for the “answers” to the Planning game we play in my Activity Leader trainings. I thought for my last Footprint article as an FTA staff member that I would provide it for all Activity Leaders along with some annotation.

Plan - deciding where you are going and what you want to do • Gather information from FTA, land managers, maps, the internet, friends, etc.

• Determine appropriate range of dates • Determine appropriate group size • Check with land manager for special activities, or conditions to avoid or take advantage of • Familiarize yourself with history, flora/fauna, geology, permits and regs, etc.

Prepare – nitty gritty for activity decided upon • Visit the area yourself before the activity, if at all possible • Determine: o Public/FTA o Leisure/Moderate/Strenuous

o Where to meet up

o Where to park

o What each participant should bring – gear/tools

o Any fees that apply • Locate campsites/campgrounds for folks who may want to arrive the night before • Determine emergency takeout points, cell coverage, alternate routes • Put together a written “fact sheet” for participants • Line up co-leader or helper and emergency contact • Fill out Activity Request and submit to Chapter/FTA • Only when activity is approved by Chapter Activity Chair, continue to next step Communicate - with participants before activity • Respond quickly to inquiries • Be specific about difficulty, regulations (dogs, alcohol, group size, etc) • Request emails and phone numbers for last minute contact in case of changes • Establish waiting list, if necessary • Respond in writing if activity or meeting place is logistically complex so there are no mix ups • Include a map, if possible, and directions to meeting place • Remind folks of important details just prior to the activity – expected trail conditions, type of footwear,

amount of water, gear/tools needed, etc.

Promote – get the word out • Submit to FTA/local Chapter/adjacent chapters for publication • Submit to local newspapers, post in library, neighborhood groups, schools, friends, meet-up groups,

websites, place notices on local trail kiosks, …

At the trailhead – for newcomers, first impressions are critical • Introduce yourself and co-leader/helpers • Get signatures on FTA Release • Conduct a pre-hike briefing – go over plans, rules, distances, first aid, PPE requirements, etc.

• Define goals but indicate flexibility

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• Explain FTA to people who may not be familiar with us and put out brochures & donation bucket • Look over group and individual equipment to make sure everyone is properly outfitted • Ask about any personal limiting factors or health conditions you should know about • Appoint first-aider (ask to see if anyone has skills higher that your own) • Appoint a “lead” and a “sweep” • You do NOT have to wait for late comers (but you should leave a message) • You DO have the right to refuse to allow any person to participate if they do not appear to be physically

capable of the activity or to be properly outfitted for the trail conditions. Be kind & invite back.

On the Activity – make everyone feel welcome and secure • Maintain an acceptable speed or work pace for all.

• Take it slow until at least the first rest break to see how everyone is doing • Enforce a rest break every 1-2 hours • Allow time for observing interesting features, socializing, getting acquainted • Keep the group relatively together and take a mental head count regularly • Be alert for physical problems – limps, sore feet, poorly adjusted packs, lack of skill in using tools • Make a note of any trail problems found along the way • Promote LNT skills and ethics End of Activity – send everyone home with a smile on their faces • Count heads and make sure everyone is accounted for • Mention FTA and donation bucket again • Hand out list of upcoming hikes. “If you had a good time today, come out with us again.”

• Make sure all vehicles will start • Make sure all gear and trash goes home Post-Activity – “it ain’t over until the paperwork is done” • Complete FTA Post Activity Report – required if any injuries/emergencies • Send FTA Release to Chapter Activity Chair/FTA Office • Info about area, good or bad – send to FTA and/or pass along to Section Leader or land manager • Write article with photos and submit to Footprint/Chapter newsletter for publication On a personal note: The past 15 years serving you as an FTA staff member have been the best years of my life. Working with GPS and measuring wheel for 5 years to inventory the trail allowed me to meet and work with some of the best trail volunteers in the nation as well as interact with many fine people who work for our local land managing agencies. Facilitating the sawyer certification classes for 6 years not only taught me skills I never knew existed but brought me a deeper appreciation for the dedicated employees who serve on wildland fire crews across the country. Managing the 2004-2005 Hurricane Recovery Program left me with a feeling of awe at the sense of ownership each of our FTA trail volunteers holds for their little piece of trail and also served as a lesson on how much volunteers can accomplish when the need is greatest. Answering the constant stream of hiker trail questions that came into the office kept my memory of the trail sharp. Managing the aged office computers, writing and maintaining the FTA Membership database, working on the website, updating the GIS, and editing The Footprint helped keep my love of technology and software fresh. Supervising the interns in the FTA office taught me new management skills and led me to believe that there are many truly great “kids” out there that we can both share our expertise with and learn from. Coordinating the 2013 Annual Conference led me to a deeper appreciation of everything the regional conference and chapter event organizers go through every year.

Developing the GPS and Activity Leader training modules allowed me to stretch the adult experiential learning skills I had developed over 20 years as an adult Master Trainer with the Girl Scouts of the USA. I hope my search for a new job allows me to remain in Florida to work and play with many of you again.

So, to all of the great FTA volunteers, past and present - Thank you. ~ Deb

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INTRODUCING THE NEWEST FNST STaff member JEFF GLENN - North Regional Representative After one month with the FTA, I am excited that the chapters, volunteers, and land managers I have worked with so far have all been exceptionally committed to the promotion and protection of the FNST. Not only have I felt welcomed by the state of Florida, but with open arms by the trail community. It is a great relief to know that such a big change for my family is completely validated by the people, the land, and the trail that will be my home away from home for the foreseeable future.

Previously, I worked with the Student Conservation Association from 2006 to 2013 as both a seasonal trail crew leader and a full time staff member. I spent the last 4 years managing a large SCA program maintaining 100 miles of the North Country National Scenic Trail through the Allegheny National Forest in Pennsylvania. I have led trail crews in Alaska, the US Virgin Islands, Arizona, Colorado, and Kentucky. Outside of work I am an avid gardener and hiker and my wife and I are expecting our first child in just a couple months!

As the FTA’s first Regional Representative I look forward to exploring every mile of trail in my 300 mile region. From the southern boundary of the Ocala National Forest to the western most boundary of the Twin Rivers State Forest I have the great privilege of learning about completely new ecosystems to me. It is also my great pleasure to be able to work with great FTA Trail Chapters: Suwanee, North Florida Trail Blazers, Florida Crackers, Halifax-St. John, and Highlanders are all maintainers in my North Florida region. I have been working to get to know each chapter as their meetings and events come up and I look forward to much more in the coming trail season.

So what else do I do as a Regional Rep? • Build and improve volunteer stewardship programs on the FNST by fostering partnerships between

the Florida Trail Association, volunteers, and agency partners • Engage volunteers and agency partners in construction, maintenance, and protection of the FNST • Monitor and participate in agency planning and management activities that affect the trail corridor • Serve as a technical resource to agencies and volunteers in the areas of trail construction, protection,

and project coordination • Ensure volunteers have access to adequate training, certification, safety gear, tools, and equipment • Oversee work plan development of seasonal staff and field crews • Work to meet or exceed Florida Trail Association’s trail program goals and yearly program of work • Oversee planning, replacement, and construction of trail infrastructure I am very excited for this trail season and am looking forward to connecting with the Florida Trail community.

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FNST NEWS FROM THE NORTH JEFF GLENN NORTH REGIONAL REPRESENTATIVE

Two years ago, The United States Navy’s Pinecastle Bombing Range in the Ocala National Forest decided to expand their safety zone due to overreaching artillery in close proximity to the Florida National Scenic Trail.

Originally, the trail was routed on the Western side of Farles Lake, only a short distance from the pre-existing Pinecastle boundary.

Given the authority to expand their zone, the Navy volunteered to relocate the FNST to a more suitable location, in this case to the Eastern side of the lake. Florida Trail Association staff, with assistance from Highlanders Chapter members John Grob, Francis and Bobby Keenan, scouted the area for routes and established a preliminary flagged trail. In the meantime the Navy, working with the Ocala National Forest, secured permission to reroute the trail and hired a primary contractor, Cape Design Engineering Co. to head up the new trail construction.

Cape Design, based out of Cape Canaveral, FL hired a subcontractor local to the Ocala National Forest in Silver Springs to do the ground work. All Tractor and Site Work, Inc. recently completed the re-routed trail over the course of 12 days with a small crew of only three workers using a mini-excavator, chainsaw, and brush saw. The use of heavy machinery to create the new trail created a heavy footprint, but given a year to regrow, and with hikers creating a hardened tread, the trail will be as good as, if not better than the old one.

The previous FNST was located a little too close for comfort to the expanded Pinecastle Bombing Range

Approaching the Farles Prairie day use area from the south, the new trail begins on what used to be the blue blazed trail leading into the day use area. The trail then crosses Forest Service Road 22 down towards the boat ramp and leads to the east and north around the lake.

The new trail follows the lakes and ponds, sand pine, oak scrub, dense palmetto, and across the prairie for approximately 4 miles before meeting up with the existing trail to the north.

The crew from All Tractor and Site Work of Silver Springs, FL and the Superintendent of the project with Cape Design and Engineering pose at the end of the Farles Prairie Reroute.

October 15, 2013.

All that remains is to finish blazing the reroute with traditional FTA orange paint but also with new 2x6 inch orange vinyl coated aluminum blazes that will be mounted on fence posts and placed through the prairie sections where there are either not enough trees, tall grass, or fear of future fire damaged paint blazes. Members of the Highlanders Chapter who maintain this section will complete the blazing.

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SLOW DOWN AND LEARN SOMETHING Steve Duke, Choctawhatchee Chapter

I have a friend and fellow hiker who recently moved to Florida from another state. He confided in me that he liked the pace of our Florida hikes much more than where he had come from. “It was always a race to get from start to finish the fastest. No one really got to know their fellow hikers.”

In semi-retirement I do several things, one of which is substitute teach in Okaloosa County. Although it does not pay much, I have found my passion in the classroom. In preparing for my classes, I am always in a learning mode. After I became an FTA Activity Leader, I tried to bring that same passion to the trail.

A hike should be more than a walk in the woods. It is a world like no other.

When I choose a trail segment to hike, I find out as much as I can beforehand about the flora and fauna of that area, about Native American names for areas, streams and plants. By studying beforehand, I can tell fellow hikers about the gopher tortoises, bats, yellow bellied sapsuckers, harvester ants and golden silk orb weavers. Along the trail we stop to look at the yaupon holly (ilex vomitoria), discuss its use in Native American purification rituals and talk about how many species its berries feed. When I spot a long leaf pine in its bottle brush stage, we discuss its role in American history, from the masts of tall sailing ships to the turpentine industry.

My favorite stop along the trail is the web of a golden silk orb weaver. I carry a plastic spider so that I can demonstrate how the spider lays out the pattern of her web, which radii are sticky and which are not, how the female puts old leaves in her web to warn birds not to fly into the web and destroy it, and how the spider’s spinnerets can weave a strand five times stronger than steel.

A hike should be more than a walk in the woods. It can be a wonderful time of learning, regardless of age. Away from the sounds of combustion engines and honking horns, the trail is a place of peace and of rejuvenation. It is time spent with friends, old and new. It is a time to pause and stand in awe of the wonderful miracles all around.

It does not matter if I believe in evolution or in intelligent design; it is really much the same. It is a world like no other. So, find a hike and hope that your activity leader will pause and talk about the world of nature which never ceases to amaze us with her wonder and beauty.

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What it takes to be a FLorida Trail Hiker Misti ‘Ridley’ Little, 2011 FT Thru-Hiker

Sometimes I believe it takes a unique and special person to be a Florida Trail hiker. Florida itself is unique and diverse, much more beyond the glitzy glamour that is portrayed in the mainstream media. When I came to Florida I was already in love with the beautiful coastal areas of the state from when I was a kid coming on vacation to the southwest coast.

And when I finally left Florida I was in love with more than just its beaches, but also its interior sections that were often times left unexplored by most people.

It never fails to irk me greatly when the Florida Trail is mentioned as an option for a thru-hike and the response is a snide remark about its flatness, the road walking that is currently interspersed in a few sections along the path, or the fear of having to slog through a couple of sections that are a bit wetter than average. It’s as if folks haven’t realized that footpaths through the woods don’t have to include mountains and stunning vistas to be beautiful and magnificent in their own way. Florida may be terrain deficient in comparison to many other long distance trails, but it certainly isn’t lacking in the natural wonders department.

Often I feel if people only knew more about their surroundings they would come to appreciate the Florida Trail even more, how it passes through fragile ecosystems that are often endemic to Florida alone in the United States. If only they understood that sometimes traversing the wet sections of the Florida Trail would transport them into another world entirely, offering up the chance to see rare orchids that can’t be seen on other long distance trails.

It’s a different adventure, the Florida Trail. It isn’t filled with multiple thousands of feet descents and ascents in a day, but it can be filled with wading through sloughs where alligators prowl, or walking along levees next to sugar cane fields where you can only imagine what the natural history was like before the landscape was changed, a place where migratory birds still attempt to hold onto that natural history. It’s filled with pine flatwoods rich in a history of turpentine camps and early logging, the same areas where the Florida black bear still roam. The trail spends days following a river, tracing the edge of the banks, up and down and around gullies that drain into the Suwannee, offering up chances for prime camping sites most people only dream of. Sometimes the trail leads to springs and creeks that one wouldn’t expect to be in Florida, tucked away corners that flicker between tropical and southern all at once. And then there’s that desolately beautiful, white-sand filled final stretch to Fort Pickens, where the salt air whips off the Gulf and into your face, and the excitement builds as you near the end of a long, long walk.

The Florida Trail is filled with quiet glories, adventures that come in appreciating what the trail is presenting to you in its terrainchallenged beauty. It’s when I think about all of these things that sometimes I don’t want to share this trail with other hikers; I want to keep it all to myself. Except, I can’t help it, and try to encourage others to seek it out, give it a whirl, and accept the trail for what it is and not what it is not.

We Florida Trail lovers and ambassadors have our work cut out for us in spreading the gospel of flat trailhiking, but in the crowd of the naysayers there are those special folks who will truly get it, and they will be the ones we’ll turn into new ambassadors for our hidden gem of a trail.

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SAYING GOODBYE TO TRAIL FRIENDS The Florida Trail Association lost two long-time trail leaders in October.

Kenneth Smith, a long-time Florida Trail member and former Section Leader for the Cross Florida Greenway, passed away on October 7th leaving a larger-than-life legacy in trail development and maintenance on the Florida Trail.

Soon after he and his wife, Norma Jean Barker, moved to Belleview from Miami in the late 1990’s, Ken took on a major Florida Trail project. In partnership with the then Florida Office of Greenways and Trails he helped plan, design, and develop the hiking trail in the Cross Florida Greenway corridor. This 36-mile section was later designated Florida National Scenic Trail. During the planning and building process Kenneth established partnerships with the equestrian and off-road bicycle trail groups winning a national “trail sharing” award and trained the current generation of trail maintainers.

In 2007 to celebrate his 80th birthday Kenneth conceived, planned and led the “Over 80 Across Florida” hike from Flagler Beach on the Atlantic Ocean to Inglis Lock on the Gulf of Mexico. He was accompanied by 5 other hikers, all over 80 years of age - 3 of whom finished with him.

He was recognized by his community in Belleview for his accomplishments and a Kenneth Smith Nature Trail was developed near town by FTA volunteers headed by Bob Jones. Ken was a mentor and teacher for many Florida Trail volunteers and will be missed by all.

Virgina Edwards, long-time leader in the Suncoast Chapter, passed away October 4. An FTA member since 1985, Virginia served in various Suncoast Chapter leadership positions over the years, including many years as Chapter Chair. Along with her husband Charles, Viriginia also served as Section Leader in the Croom Tract of the Withlacoochee State Forest and was a fixture at the Suncoast Stone Soup weekends.

During her years as Chair of the Suncoast Chapter Virigina also served on the Citizen Advisory Boards for the establishment of Little Manatee River State Park, Alafia River State Park, Hillsborough River State Park and Myakka River State Park.

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OCEAN TO LAKE BACKPACKING TRIP February 15-20, 2014

by Fred Davis Photos: Raphael Clemente

The Loxahatchee Chapter will sponsor the 11th annual hike on the Ocean to Lake hike staring February 15, 2014 at Lake Okeechobee and ending February 20 at Hobe Sound beach. This 65 mile, five night, six day hike is limited to 24 hikers due to campground limitations. Although not strenuous participants should have basic backpacking skills, some experience of hiking in Florida and be in good physical condition.

For more information go to the Loxahatchee Meetup page on the FTA website at http://www.meetup.com/Florida-TrailAssociation-Loxahatchee-Chapter-PBCounty/ or contact Fred Davis at fdavis6539@msn.com.

Can’t make the sponsored hike but interested in Hiking the Ocean to Lake Hiking Trail? Don’t worry, the entire trail is now open, well blazed and maintained. With a little planning anyone can now do all or parts of the trail either as a thru hike or weekend hikes .There are numerous access points to the trail but only a few provide safe trailheads for car drops. See above for more information on backpacking the trail. Also see Kathy Sympson’s excellent article in the Fall 2013 Footprint for suggestions on day hikes.

A few notes of caution: 1. Two management areas - J.W. Corbett and Dupuis - are open to hunting during the late fall and early winter. Check the FFWCC website for exact dates and regs. http://myfwc.com/hunting/wma-brochures/#wma 2. Camping is free at designated campsites except for the primitive camps in Jonathan Dickinson Sate Park ($5.00/ night). A permit from Palm Beach County Dept of Environment Resource Management (PBC DERM) is required to camp on their properties. PBC DERM also bans ground fires on their property.

3. Access to the west side of Corbett Wildlife Management Area from Powerline Road (boundary between Dupuis and Corbett) is prohibited to all users except hikers who are thru-hiking the entire trail through Corbett.

The Loxahatchee Chapter has spend many years developing and maintaining this truly wilderness, yet accessible hiking experience in South Florida. We look forward to seeing you on the trail.

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preserving the past, restoring for the future Alexander Puig, 8th Grader, Cushman School, Miami Florida

I first witnessed one of the most beautiful environments in the world when I was a mere two year old.

Strapped in the baby carrier on the back of my mom’s mountain bike, she cycled me through Shark Valley in the Florida Everglades. Reflecting back, this experience has been the foundation of my love for the Florida wetlands for my 13 years of life.

My family and I drive west for adventure every chance we get! My love of fishing can be traced back to the first time I caught a Black Drum on the barren river, while staying at the historic Rod and Gun Club in Everglades City. Another reason to head west is for my love of hiking the Florida Trail. Recently hiking became more interesting when I spotted an alligator skeleton at the southern tip of the trail. I can’t imagine my life without my Florida Everglades adventures. Even writing this reflection is a profound way of preserving my past memories that will definitely shape my future love of nature.

So what can we do to make sure that we will always have these wetlands to love? Clean water is a major issue for the Florida Trail within the Big Cypress region because of polluted water flowing down from Lake Okeechobee. It is negatively affecting the ecosystem and we must take action to stop polluting the Everglades with runoff pesticides from farms. These pesticides affect our food chain from the health of the tiniest minnow in Florida bay to the native birds that coast our Florida skyline. Additionally, tourism can be affected by the health of our natural resources.

We must do everything in our power to avoid catastrophes like the BP oil spill and other major environmental threats. Continued pollution will spoil the Florida Everglades and deter tourists from visiting our unique habitat. Preserving our wetlands will keep the health for its inhabitants and the natural beauty for future generations of children to be inspired.

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From the Bookshelf

by Deb Blick

I was delighted when Wayne “KrispyKritter” Petrovich showed up at the FTA office with his brand new book and asked if we would write a review for The Footprint. After reading his online journals I knew I would be getting more than “March 2 - Spent the night at Icewater Spring Shelter with 6 other hikers.” And what I got was much more than I expected.

Turning to backpacking and nature as a way to recharge from his high-stress work as an paramedic with the Fire Service, the first chapter details his introductory trips here in Florida and the Rockies where he made all the rookie mistakes most of us go through. Each story was more humorous then the last and I was constantly chuckling to myself, “Oh yeah, been there, and made that same mistake.” But he learned from each challenge and continued on to the next level to learn more - about the natural world and about himself.

The succeeding chapters chronicle his long distance trips on the AT, PCT and CDT - the “Triple Crown” of long distance hiking followed by other long hikes in England and Scotland and on the JMT. His stories recount, with self-deprecation and humor, all the ups and downs of long-distance hiking. The glory of a sunset seen from a mountain top, the worries of what is happening back home with family, visits to the doctor praying your injury is not bad enough to knock you off the trail, the unforgettable characters you meet hiking any trail, the kindness of strangers in trail towns along the way, the loneliness that grabs you when you realize you cannot share a fleeting moment of beauty with someone you love, the days of rain and mud that are saved by experiencing a natural wonder that makes your breath stop and your heart clinch.

In the final chapter, Wayne recounts what it is like to work at a major outfitter (Travel Country Outdoors) and deal with the wide variety of hikers who come in for advice - from the sublime to the ridiculous. I chuckled throughout the chapter because I could identify with all of them.

If I have a favorite section it’s Wayne’s account of his hike on the West Highland Way in Scotland and “The Aftermath”. The story of his “nasty-wee-beastie” bite, while I’m positive was dangerous and nerve-wracking at the time for both KK and Lady Kritter, had me laughing out loud.

Wayne was very modest in titling his book “Tales and Trails of KK”. It could just as easily be callled “The Wit and Wisdom of KK” because the book is loaded with lessons learned - about hiking, the natural world, and coping with “civilization”..

And just as The Footprint was about to go to the printer, we received word that Ernie Baldini, past FTA President, has published a new book. We haven’t gotten a copy to read yet but if it’s written as elegantly as Ernie speaks, it will be great. Here’s what Ernie said in his message to us.

This is to announce that I have written an autobiography titled “A TwentiethCentury Argonaut”. I was honored to have Jim Kern, founder of the Florida Trail Association, and co-founder of the American Hiking Society, write the foreword. Some of my experiences with FTA and hiking are in the story, including a Grand Canyon hike experience, and ascent of Mt. Rainier.

- Ernie.

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An Interview with Jen and Ric Serena Carlos Schomaker, FTA President

Jen and Ric Serena are the producers, co-directors and photographers for The Muir Project. Their film “Mile... Mile & a Half” was shown in Deland, FL over the summer and the Serenas generously donated a portion of the ticket sales to the Florida Trail Association. www.themuirproject.com You’re both Florida-grown. How did that upbringing inform your love of the outdoors?

RIC: Both sets of our parents made it a priority to enjoy what Florida had to offer. My Grandfather was a fern farmer in Pierson, so I loved spending time out there exploring the woods. My Dad took me camping to Alexander Springs quite a few times, and canoeing was an activity that we both loved doing through high school with friends.

JEN: Some of my fondest childhood memories were on various nature paths and boardwalks throughout Florida. Since we’re a big family, “car camping” was often our vacation, and we spent many great trips at various springs and lakes. It’s hard to forget the fun of the outdoors as a kid, especially when it came to wildlife. Every trip was about discovering, and I think it’s one of my favorite things about exploring outdoors with our daughter Isola.

You didn’t initially intend to make a full-length film about your JMT hike, but you certainly had a great mix of artists, media-savvy friends, and musicians involved in your hike. Was this intentional? Were a lot of the shots and filmed segments in the film consciously planned, or was most of it serendipitous?

JEN: I keep saying that our film happened very organically… all the elements seemed to fall in place in a way that truly showed how we were all celebrating what we were able to experience. But I think that in order for things to be “organic” there is a bit of serendipity. As one viewer described it… had we done the same trail just one day later, it all would’ve been different: WHAT and WHO we saw would not have been the same and our story would’ve been different. But I think that’s also part of the beauty and wonder of art. Everyone has their own view to share.

RIC: As photographers, filmmakers & storytellers, all of us head into every experience with the intention of capturing it the best we can… sometimes at greater lengths than others. Once Durand (sound recordist) decided to take part in the hike, the idea of exploring why and how someone chooses to capture an experience and an environment intrigued me. Carrying a camera into the backcountry is one thing, but lugging around sound recording equipment on every backpacking trip isn’t as common, and THAT fascinated us… how we choose to share our journeys with others in very different ways.

We’d planned to join PB & Bernie (the two musicians) on the trail well in advance. They were backpacking friends of Durand’s, so the rest of us barely knew them before this project began. But, the idea of A) friends joining us and B) musicians joining us - sounded great. It was yet another way we could explore other artists’ in the outdoors.

The truly serendipitous connection was meeting Tom & Kristen, the two painters from San Diego. Honestly,

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it wasn’t until we sat down and interviewed them at Evolution Lake that I thought we had something worth exploring in the long term… a story that might go beyond just a pretty video about the JMT. What did you learn from this experience and from this ‘art-centric’ effort to capture a throughhike?

RIC: Art in the outdoors is often romanticized (our film is guilty of that to a certain extent), but what I walked away with was an even greater appreciation of that marriage because it’s not romantic. It’s hard. It’s dirty.

It’s frustrating. Hiking is hard in and of itself. But in my opinion, being creative and prolific is in many ways more challenging because the opportunities to give up aren’t as outwardly detrimental as let’s say, deciding to turn back when you’re just a mile… mile & a half away from reaching a pass.

JEN: (oof, he just went there.)

RIC: I think we ALL had an internal struggle every day of the trip to stop and get shots, particularly in the first week. You’re working so hard to find a rhythm, and taking the time to set up a shot or record some audio just slows you down. Again, meeting the painters was a pivotal moment for me personally. It wasn’t as simple as setting up a tripod or dolly shot for them. They had to arrange their entire day around making time to stop and paint. Paint! THAT takes time. But the time they were taking was also about stopping to really absorb in their surroundings and their experience. I’ve always thought the second half of our film was stronger (and it is for many reasons), but meeting the painters changed my perspective on what I was truly hoping to accomplish by recording our experience, and I think my contribution to the film was better for it.

Do you have any technical or general advice for others who would like to better capture or document their outdoor adventures with photos, film, or other media?

JEN: I think the greatest thing to understand is that we each have our own viewpoint and story to share if you want to share it. If you truly want to improve the end result, learn the limitations and technical needs of your vehicle (camera, paint, etc.) So if you’re using your camera phone – know what you can & can’t do with it. You’ll learn this through your manual, classes, talking to others and most importantly: just creating your art often. The more you practice it, the more you will identify your style and your voice.

Simply take the time. I truly believe what captures an audience is the story the picture tells. And that comes from the person behind the camera and his/her commitment to capturing a moment. And with that, don’t try to do it by yourself. One of the things I love about our film is that it’s the voice of many, and that’s a major component of ‘The Muir Project’ has become.

While showing the film throughout the country, have you found similarities with your audiences, in their reactions to it? Differences? What has been the most common feedback to seeing the film?

RIC: We’re in the fun stage of watching the film with audiences, and it’s great! For the most part, audiences laugh at the same parts, moan at others and tear up when Jen is talking about missing our daughter. But I love seeing smiles constantly adorning their illuminated faces.

The Future of the Florida Trail Your volunteerism and generous giving enables the Florida Trail Association to fulfill its mission of protecting and maintaining the hiking trails you love. But when you are no longer here to hike with us, how will you ensure that your love of the trail lives on?

With planned giving, your gifts can continue forever. Please consider joining the Legacy Circle by including the Florida Trail Association in your will or estate planning. Planned giving helps protect your hiking legacy for many generations to come. Email fta@floridatrail.org or call (352) 378-8823 to learn more.

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AN interview with jim kern

By Carlos Schomaker

The creation of the Florida Trail starts at Jim Kern. This September we paid a visit to the igniting force behind not just FTA, but the American Hiking Society (AHS) and Big City Mountaineers (BCM). At his house outside Saint Augustine, we discussed his experiences, ideas, passions, and even his favorite libation.

Jim is now in his 80th year on this planet, and despite recent challenges with hip surgeries, he is as irrepressible, funny, and opinionated as ever. He even showed us the hardware from his first surgery!

Sitting in his dining room, with a beautiful view of the Guana River Marsh, Jim held forth on the past, present, and future.

He also made us an excellent lunch of sandwiches and avocado salad. The opinions expressed here are his, of course; Jim Kern is not shy. All of us who love hiking trails and the outdoors owe him a debt of thanks for his vision and spirit. ************************************************* Tell us a little about your upbringing.

I grew up in a little town in Leonia, New Jersey, near the George Washington Bridge. There’s a cluster of a dozen little residential communities up there.

I went away to boarding school after my freshman year in high school, to Andover in Massachusetts. Typical teenager, I didn’t know where I was going, what I wanted to do. My parents—I was very fortunate—had an idea that I ought to go. I got a terrific education at Andover. I was about in the lower tenth of my class in grades my sophomore and junior years there. My senior year I made it into just about to the middle of my class, and I got into Yale. My father had gone there, and again, he nudged me a little. I was malleable.

How did you wind up in Florida?

I had a ‘conversion experience’ when I was a sophomore in college. I had been in Scouting. And through the merit badges I got some outdoor experiences. I was turned on by the outdoors, but it was a little frustrating.

How can I go to Yale, but still sit in a fire tower and be a forest ranger or something? My father would not be happy with that.

And I didn’t know how to reconcile it. Then, my sophomore year in Yale, I went to a lecture. This young man came to the college with an adventure film that he had made in Brazil. And it was really a transforming thing.

Wow. I thought, now THAT my peers and family could accept—if I traveled the world and made films and lectured and wrote. I just saw that guy as: I can do that!

I didn’t know he had a trust fund [laughs]. His mother was a Hamm, from the brewery, and his father had restructured Connecticut General Life Insurance. So he came from an influential family. That was all just over my head. Anyway, that film set the spark which I held tightly to. From then on, every major decision was based on that—like the length of my Navy career. Join the Army and get out in two years, or add some valuable education and become a Naval Aviator? It was a tough choice, because I wanted to get going on this thing that was in my head. But I took the Navy flight program up in Pensacola. I didn’t get very far because the Navy decided they had too many pilots after Korea! After I soloed, they got my class in a room, and said: “We need you to sign on for five years. If you don’t, we’re going to discharge you, honorably. So boom, I was out. And

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now I had to get going on my career. What am I going to do with this dream I have?

I had purchased Aqualung diving gear on sale at a hardware store in Pensacola. I thought, I’ll go to Miami where the water’s clear, and I’ll make an underwater adventure film! I didn’t know diddly [laughs]. More than once my sister has said, “You’re going to do WHAT, Jim?!? You don’t KNOW anything about that!”

I went to Miami. I checked into a boarding house. In there was a guy who fed the fish at the Miami Seaquarium. He wanted to go at Christmas to see his parents. So I said, “Gee, maybe I could do that job while you’re gone!” You put the helmet on, go down in the tank and feed the fish.

He said, “Come on over, I’ll introduce you to my boss.” So I did, and they hired me, and then I had to go down in the tank and try to feed the fish. It was a joke. The dolphins knew that I didn’t know what I was doing, and they intimidated the heck out of me. I’d try to take a fish out of the basket, and they’d just take it away from me! You’re supposed to feed the turtle and the sawfish and all these fish—because the dolphins are going to take it all! Well, they took it all. I even had one dolphin come up behind me, put his snout under my arm, and just sort of lift me off the bottom, and drop me…

You were being mugged!

Yeah! Right! [laughs] Anyway, at sixty bucks a week, I wasn’t going to get very far toward my dream. So I went to work for Florida Power & Light. I met a gal who worked there and fell in love. I saved a little money, borrowed a little from my father, and bought some used camera equipment. And I set off to Southeast Asia for my first photo expedition. I came back with garbage, unfortunately. I didn’t know enough.

Looking back, I was as interested in the adventure as the shooting. I hadn’t decided yet whether I wanted to make films or stills, and was still playing with that. I went to Indonesia with this unresolved issue in my head.

I had a Bolex movie camera and a Leica 35mm. At the end of that trip I decided that the equipment was too cumbersome and expensive to make motion pictures. I was going to have to go with stills.

Fast-forwarding a bit, my parents asked if my wife and I wanted to come for a vacation at a halfway point--we were in Miami, and they were in New Jersey. We met around Nantahala Village, North Carolina. It was July of ’61. And I quickly got bored.

I’d heard about the Appalachian Trail. I asked my brother Rich, who was ten years younger than I, “How about hiking on the AT with me? We can do an overnight from Clingman’s Dome to Fontana Dam.” All I had was a map, and I used my thumbs to pace off “around forty miles” [laughs]. Totally crazy. I figured if we left in the afternoon, we could get there before dark the next day. We didn’t have any equipment, so we took wool blankets off the beds at the motel, and wrapped some canned food in them. Tied the ends off with string and put it on like a bandolier. We had no tent; we were going to stay in shelters.

They dropped us off at Clingman’s . We started down the trail. After an hour or two, the mist got real thick, almost like a light rain. A shelter comes up, and now we have a dilemma. We can’t stay there and still get to Fontana Dam by dark, and we aren’t going to make the next shelter. What do we do? I said, “Rich, we don’t have a choice. We’re going have to keep going, and then we’ll just have to stop, lie down on the ground, and go to sleep”. So, that’s what we did. The whole thing was awful [laughs].

We found a big tree with a forked trunk. We pulled off big slabs of bark. I have a hickory tree out here that does the same sort of thing. We laid the slabs down and then we tried to crawl underneath them. The only part that we could get under this bark was our heads and upper bodies. That’s the way we spent the night.

When we made it to Fontana Dam it had just turned totally dark. We had hiked through the dusk. We looked around. There was a light on, kind of a little caretaker’s shack, I guess, monitoring the dam. We went in and asked if there was anybody looking for us. The guy said, “Well, they were here for awhile, but they left.” After he enjoyed our pain for awhile, he said, “However…they left a car, and here’s the key! “ [laughs] The next

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morning I could hardly walk. My brother wrote a “What I Did This Summer” essay for school when he got back, and had a classic line that we’ve quoted ever since then: “At no time was I happy to be there.”

On the other hand, I came away from the hike saying, “Gee, I wonder if there’s a long-distance hiking trail in Florida.” I got home and looked into it. There wasn’t, so I thought: a long-distance trail-- well, it’s going to be called the Florida Trail. I had two conflicting ideas. One was to start a magazine, because Arizona Highways was popular at that time, and thinking about that and National Geographic… Why not a Florida Geographic Magazine? It’s a unique state. Well, I didn’t know anything about writing and publishing. That was another problem. But I decided I had these two good ideas, and in the articles of incorporation that I got made up, I put two purposes.

For the Florida Trail Association…

For the Florida Trail Association, Inc. Forming a magazine, and building a trail. Years later, somebody calls me up, Mary Ann Twyford or Margaret Scruggs: “Jim!! What’s this thing about a magazine?!?” They had gotten the paperwork out and read it. But I started out chasing the magazine idea first, and didn’t get anywhere. I couldn’t get any traction. Probably the people I talked to saw through my ignorance [laughs]. But anyway, the Trail clicked.

I decided that I would dramatize the idea of the Trail by hiking up through the center of the state, along the dikes on the west side of the Everglades, on the east side of Big Cypress. A guy from the Miami News (in the process of switching to the Herald, because the News was struggling), Mac Smith—said, “I’ll come along and write a story about this.” Well that was the idea; I was looking for this kind of thing. I was happy to have Mac come along.

Mac arranged for an airboat to come out and pick up his story and take it back to the Miami News. The idea was that the airboat would come and take me to the next dike, which I could then walk into Clewiston, up into sugar cane country. Mac had big blisters by the end of the second day, so he hopped in the airboat and stayed in it! I did the rest by myself. They shuttled me across, I hiked up into Clewiston, and around the dike on Lake Okeechobee to Moore Haven. A Boy Scout troop led by the president of the Tropical Audubon Society, Dade Thornton, arrived and we hiked from Moore Haven to Palmdale. Then Ross Allen came from Ocala. Ross Allen’s Reptile Institute was at Silver Springs with other attractions in the 60s and 70s. He came with two young men, and they hiked with me for a couple of days, up the watershed of Fisheating Creek to Road 731, into Venus. I hiked alone from there up to Highlands Hammock State Park, where my wife met me.

Mac Smith wrote an article for the Herald’s Sunday supplement. They had a big picture on the front. And that was the beginning of the Florida Trail, because that article got around. Margaret Scruggs wrote and wanted to join this “Florida Trail Association”. So did Ken Alvarez from Fort Myers, and Tom Montoya from Auburndale, and in a month or two we had seventy members.

That was the beginning, in April ‘66. That fall, we held our first annual meeting at Highlands Hammock, and we had a nice little group. Maybe we had twenty, twenty-five people. About that time, I scheduled hikes in a one-page newsletter that went out to our members…

So we had a hike in Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary to explore the idea of putting the trail there. We had a hike in Ocala National Forest, which then was a real beginning for us. I hiked with two guys through Apalachicola National Forest. All that took place in the first year. We had other activities too. We had canoeing trips.

You’ve mentioned using small aircraft to overfly areas and see where the trail might be laid out.

How much of that was part of this, and were there other methods you were using?

Yes. Well, I figured, it couldn’t be near the coast. It had to be in remote areas. You could look at a road map, and get a pretty good idea where this thing had to go. If there was some really neat spot over here, but there was no continuity to get there and out, you couldn’t GO there, you know. After I had a sense of all this, I got

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this friend to fly me over it...

I had gotten these USGS maps. I guess maybe there was six miles on a map. The maps were about this big; I think a mile must have been about this big [demonstrates]. Now, we’re flying at about 120 miles an hour….

And right away, you see what’s happening. We’re doing a mile in half a minute, and I’m peeling the maps off quickly, and throwing them in the back. Pretty soon this little airplane is filling up with maps. My friend could hardly see out--- maps everywhere--- and not only that, it was tough to not get confused as to just where we were.

I had a general idea of where this thing had to go. I knew that I wanted to include Ocala National Forest.

Osceola National Forest. The banks of the Suwannee River. Apalachicola National Forest. Before I even got started, I had to go with that.

Talk a little bit about your effort to grow FTA, and how it evolved. Was there a point that you felt you had critical mass, or was it gradual?

That would have been about the time we hired Margaret Scruggs. I was so eager to get the membership up, to where we could afford some help, and pay somebody. Because I was running this out of my vest pocket, you might say. That’s one reason why the numbers were so important to me. It took awhile. It might have been eight years. I just can’t remember when we hired her. Margaret was willing to devote a room in her house to this. She was working part-time, we paid her a supplement for the room in her house, and we had to buy all the equipment and stuff.

To get to that point was important, and I don’t remember exactly when we did it. We didn’t have any money to promote it in a marketing way, so we were dependent upon news stories, which were plentiful. People wanted to write about the trail. We did get the word out that way.

Did you envision National Scenic Trail designation at some point?

Not at that time. I was oblivious to the fact. This got started in ’66. The National Trail Systems Act wasn’t passed until ’68. When it was passed, the whole focus was on the AT. They were given eminent domain. There was a mention in the Act of the Pacific Crest Trail, and that at some time additional National Scenic Trails might be added to the system. So it was years before there was a sense of, “Well, here’s the Act. Is this something we (FTA) want to do?” I remember board meetings where we talked about it. Do we (FTA) want to look into this, do we want to be part of the National Scenic Trail System or not?

I didn’t have a strong feeling either way about it. I wasn’t sure what we would give up in autonomy. What we would get in return. I wasn’t real political in that sense. I remember the Board tiptoed into it. It wasn’t a thing where everybody wanted to jump aboard. They were a little anxious, but eventually we got a majority vote, and we went forward.

At what point did you drift away from the organization?

I didn’t drift away. What happened was that around ’78, I got a phone call. I had gone to New York to try to sell Backpacker Magazine a story about the FT. I got to know Bill Kemsley, who had just founded it a few years before. Editor and publisher, he had those two hats on, and ran it out of a small office. I asked, “Would you come to Florida to be the lead speaker at our annual meeting?” And he agreed to do that.

Also in ’78 Congress held oversight hearings to see what the National Trails Act was doing. They found out that nothing was going on. The AT had eminent domain, but they weren’t doing anything about acquiring property.

Maybe the AT board was also ambivalent. I can tell you one reason why they might be. Here they’ve had dozens and dozens of years—half a century, not quite—to work with property owners to get the trail through that property.

Here’s the perennial dilemma. Now, this thing has matured to the point where you want to protect it for posterity. That means you have to go back to these nice people and say, we’re going to take your property. We’ll

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offer you a price, and if you’re not happy with it, take us to court. We’re happy to do that. But basically, we’re going to take it. It’s a really difficult thing.

So nothing had happened. Well, they held these oversight hearings. Paul Pritchard, who was then president of the Appalachian Trail Conference, as it was then called, called Bill Kemsley and asked if he’d come to these hearings. Bill called around, asking people to come, but he wasn’t getting much response. The Sierra Club was interested in whales, I guess, and the Audubon Society was interested in birds, and this was not high on the agenda.

He called me, and I agreed to come. Honestly, I don’t think that it was more than the three of us and Destry Jarvis, who’s been with Student Conservation Association and National Parks Conservation Association. So this was a big deal. We all spoke. And they liked what we said. The people who were pushing this thing came up afterward and were quite pleased that we had done this.

Bill and Paul said, well, we need a national organization that’s focused on hikers. We’re not getting the support we need. Other organizations like the Appalachian Mountain Club and the Potomac Appalachian Trail club were very provincial. So we have to start this organization. It had no name at the time.

Well, they thought, Kern had started an organization, so let’s get Jim to start the American Hiking Society [laughs]. We met in Brevard, NC, one weekend, put our feet up on the table, and just started to talk about this whole thing. Bill had the magazine, so he could promote whatever we came up with. That was a tremendous asset. Paul Pritchard was a very political guy. His office was in Harper’s Ferry, he had all these clubs up and down the AT. Paul thinks politically.

Paul hand-picked a board of directors. I didn’t know anybody, and I don’t think Bill did either. Paul picked a very good board to start off with, I have to say. But honestly, truth be told—don’t put this in MY mouth—I’m the guy that made it go. I was the grunt. I ran it day-to-day. I made sure that things got done. Those two guys contributed those very, very important things.

Unbeknownst to us, there were two other national hiking clubs around the same time: the International Backpackers Association, run by Lance Field in Maine, and the National Hiking and Ski Touring Association (NAHSTA), with Bill Ruskin in Colorado. We found out, oh my gosh, we have three clubs. We said, look, we can’t be worrying about those other folks. We just have to do our job. We know we want a national organization.

I think with those assets—the Board that Paul picked, the magazine that Bill had, and me doing my job—if you’re going to call it competition, the other groups couldn’t compete.

That was also a good time for that. The mid-70s, the big backpacking push--- And the puffy down jackets and all that… That was a big thing then.

Oh yeah. The guy that was pumping your gas had hiking boots on! That’s why Bill got his magazine off the ground. First Bill Ruskin came to us, and said, look, I can’t do this by myself. Could you absorb NAHSTA? We plucked a really good program, Volunteer Vacations, from them. It’s a big deal now, all these years later. It’s a wonderful deal.

Then Lance Field caved. Rather than just walk away and disband, there was a better feeling if they could give us their mailing list and bring somebody of theirs on the board. So pretty soon, there we were.

Did that take a lot of your time away from Florida Trail?

Yeah, that’s when I really stepped off. I was really gone after that.

You also started Big City Mountaineers. Do you see yourself as more of an entrepreneur and firestarter, instead of a manager?

Bill Kemsley once said-- you guys have to judge the accuracy of this— “Some people are good starting an or-

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ganization; some people are good running an organization”. I once went to FTA President Mary Ann Twyford’s house. Margaret Scruggs was working for her. And they weren’t getting along. I went over there to see what I could do, to reconcile them. I remember at that meeting, a board member whose name escapes me, a banker, coming to talk to Mary Ann after this other issue was over. And I remember looking at pages and pages of printouts, of accounting stuff. And I shuddered. And I was thinking of Kemsley’s comment…

So you’re an idea person…

I’m just winging it. The whole thing is intuitive. I know how to do it, but I don’t have any playbook. You’re doing this and it works. Or it’s not working and you know how to drop it. I think there’s a lot of truth to what Kemsley said.

The genesis for BCM was on a trip that you took. You’re still very active with that organization.

Yes. Well, not very active. It’s very dear to me, an emotional thing. They had a fundraising event in Miami this past weekend. I left there Saturday night and drove five and a half hours here, slept for six hours, and went to a big funeral yesterday morning for Kitty Drennon, who ran child care centers. She died suddenly. She and I had once been an item. She was very, very social. She wondered what the heck she was doing with me, and I wondered what the heck I was doing with her. But we had quite a bit in common in many ways. I took her on many outdoor trips, the likes of which she had never, ever thought of doing before.

“At no time did she have fun”?

Right, right [laughs]. Sort of that kind of thing. But when she got home she bragged about it. We went to Europe once, took a rental car up into the mountains, walked a couple hundred yards to a big opening in the mountainside and had a picnic lunch. When I got back home, I found out she was telling her friends she climbed a mountain in Europe [laughs].

Big City Mountaineers is dear to you because of the mission?

Yes. In 1989, the Miami Herald had a full-page ad from Continental Airlines, I think. If you bought a ticket to certain Western cities, you could buy a child’s ticket for a dollar. I looked through that list for backpacking destinations. I spotted Missoula and thought, what a good deal! I’m going to take one of my sons hiking.

My son Drew was available. So I turned to him—he was fifteen—and said, “Would you like to go backpacking out West?”, and he said yes. Then I thought, I know a guy who is maybe ten years younger than I am. He went out and bought some equipment, but hadn’t gone hiking. Anyway, Gerry Gault had bought this stuff. I called him up. I said, “Want to go backpacking out west?” He said, “That sounds great. I’d like to do it.”

“There’s a hitch, Jerry. I can get a child’s ticket for a dollar. Do you mind if I let Drew pick a friend, and we’ll go, the four of us?” It was fine with him. So Drew asked a friend to go with him. The kid’s parents wouldn’t let him. He asked another friend, and the parents wouldn’t let him, either!

Is that because of your reputation, or…

Yeah!! [laughs] Yeah! Right! So I said, “Drew, I have an idea.” I’d been dating a woman who had just opened a shelter for battered women and families. I called her and said, “Rebecca, do you have anybody there with a teenage son? We’ll take him hiking, if he wants to go.”

She called me back and said, “Yes, I’ve got a boy here. Thirteen years old, black, and the mother’s going to want to talk to you.” So we went down, talked to his mother—surprising that she would do this. I mean, it was a great thing for her son. But, you know, mothers… protective bunch…

This is the seventh or eighth year that Drew has put on a fundraising golf tournament in Miami for BCM. He raises about twenty-five thousand dollars in an afternoon. They put it on at the Biltmore, and the executive director of Big City Mountaineers flies in from Denver to be there. I go down there when I can. After the golf there’s a silent auction. There are raffles, food and drink, and Drew sells each of the eighteen holes to different sponsors. Then there’s a Grand Sponsor. I mean, wherever you turn, you try to sell sponsorships here and

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there and everywhere, right?

Drew brought me over to meet this year’s Grand Sponsor. So this guy was asking me questions about BCM, and I started to tell him a story about one of these teenage boys. I couldn’t even get through it. I broke down.

I’m about to break down right now. I mean, it’s that, that--It’s very emotional.

--and I’m not the only one. I know this lawyer named Paul in Miami. I asked Paul—this was years ago, like 2003—to come on the Board of BCM. He had skills which I wanted. But he had little outdoor experience, so I wanted him to go on a BCM trip. When he came back, his wife picked him up at the airport. She told me that Paul couldn’t even talk to her about the trip without crying. And she said, “Paul doesn’t cry; I never saw him cry in my life.”

We also have girls’ trips and women’s trips. When you spend seven days with some kid who’s been dealt a horrible hand, the stories you hear break your heart. And there you are for days with them; it’s different than if you volunteer for boys’ or girls’ clubs and spend an afternoon with a big group, playing ball or something. But this private time is powerful— and it’s almost all private time.

I’m sure there are a lot of truths and insights that take days before they can actually talk about them.

Yeah. I heard Jon Dorn, Senior Editor of Backpacker Magazine, at the Outdoor Retailer Show in Salt Lake City.

And Jon talked about his first BCM trip. Jon went on one of Drew’s trips.

So Jon told this story about how, on the last day, a lot of the kids just want to get home. They want to get back to the car, turn on the radio, and get some fast food. They want to double-time it, like horses going to the barn. But Jon noticed this one kid was lagging way behind. Jon decided to drop back. Eventually the kid caught up to him. Jon thought maybe the kid was having trouble with the weight of his pack, his feet were hurting, or something like that. But it turns out the kid didn’t want to go home. Whatever his home life was, this trip was an escape, and he didn’t want to go home at all. This was a very emotional moment for Jon, to be told that. Some of the things these kids share, you can’t believe it. I remember one kid on a hike, within two months he was shot and killed… in his neighborhood.

BCM’s been a great thing, and it’s growing quite remarkably. There’s top leadership. Ed Viesturs, probably the foremost mountaineer in our country, just climbed Mount Whitney with six or eight people and raised twentyfive thousand dollars for BCM. He’s going to take some people on the Matterhorn next summer, and he’s already got the group filled out. They’ve already raised like forty thousand dollars. Viesturs promotes Eddie Bauer’s First Ascent line, and they’re BCM sponsors. The BCM Board right now is so high-powered that you and I couldn’t get on it!

[We take a break for lunch] Think back to what I said at the beginning. Maybe I didn’t make this clear. But way back then, when they wanted to save the Appalachian Trail, wanted Congress to give eminent domain to the AT, but couldn’t get anywhere with it, one reason is that it was not inclusive. It was an Eastern project only. So very shrewdly they created the idea of a National Trail System. Now we’re talking about the Midwest and the West. This is something for everybody. And that’s how the National Trails System Act got passed. It wasn’t an Eastern thing.

But before it was passed, said and done, they got eminent domain for the AT. I want eminent domain for the Florida Trail. But wait a second. Let’s get eminent domain for every trail in the National Scenic Trails System that doesn’t have it. Maybe the way to get it is to make a national issue out of it, and say: Congress, you selected these trails as nationally significant for the country! A trail isn’t a trail, and a road isn’t a road, if you have missing pieces. Finish the job! You already did it once. Look what you’ve done. The AT is done. It’s a national treasure. Two million people hike on it every year. Now all we’re going to do, is we’re going to finish the

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job. We’ll get eminent domain for the other ten. That’s the way to get the Florida Trail done!

Let’s take the Pacific Crest Trail. They only have —out of a twenty-six hundred mile trail – about two hundred miles that are private property. But there are fifteen hundred property parcels in that. Now, how are they ever going to get it all permanently protected? All it takes is one holdout… You mean we’re going to go in and negotiate with them? Oh really? Go to a condominium apartment board meeting, or a homeowners’ association, and see if you can get 100% vote on anything!

After the health issue you’ve had over the past year [Jim had a hip replacement, but then required a repeat procedure, and is recovering nicely this time], what is it you do now to keep yourself active?

Basically there are three things I like to do: walk, ride my bicycle, and kayak. I’ll be able to do all three now, now that the weather’s getting cooler. That’s Guana River Reserve over there [points to trees across the water]. So there are ten thousand acres of beautiful reserve. I can kayak over there, get out and walk, take their wonderful trails. The Water Management District has land over here and they have trails through it. I either go there, or I go here [gesturing].

The summer’s terrible with insects, so I don’t do much here. But I’m just counting the days; we’re almost there now. I can always ride my bicycle. I’ll probably ride this afternoon. I ride to the airport on a road, not US1, but an interior road that goes down here. It’s about a five mile trip. So, walking, kayaking---- it’s the first time I’ve been in that kayak, this morning, in six or eight months.

As your career has progressed, who has inspired you? Who inspires you now?

I told you about being a sophomore in college, and hearing that lecture. That just stands out. That’s a huge event. The people that I want to see…I’ve already mentioned some of them… but…Gary Werner [Executive Director of the Partnership for the National Trails System]. I’ve never met him. I’ve got a BCM board member I want to see—Jeff Weidman [Heiden/Weidman Group, and formerly Rutabaga Paddlesports]. Three other people--- Bruce Matthews [Executive Director, North Country Trail Association] I’ve never met, so I’m hoping to do that. Back east, Pam Underhill. She was with the National Park Service, acquiring property for the AT. Dave Startzell, past Executive Director of the Appalachian Trail Conservancy. Then there’s a Congressman who has befriended AHS, Gerry Connolly from Maryland. I want to go see him. I want him to tell me who--- there will be some people in Congress who will be violently opposed to eminent domain—I’d like to know their names. I want to go try and see them.

So you’re not afraid of talking to people that don’t agree with you.

I’m going to seek them out! [Laughs] I’d like to know your favorite hike location, and just your favorite travel destination, hiking or otherwise.

Travel destinations? San Francisco. Bali. New York. Paris.

Favorite hiking or backpacking destination?

I love the Big Cypress when it’s dry, along about the end of February. Have to get a cold front coming down. I love hiking in the Big Cypress.

The French Alps. There’s a big park in the Alps, Parc National de la Vanois. Fabulous. Also, in the far northern tip of Pakistan there is some great hiking, within a few miles of the Chinese border. In the mountains called the Hindu Kush, there’s the Karakoram Highway. I did a chapter in my book on hiking to the village of Shimshal. Wonderful, gosh. I wish you and I could go there tomorrow. To get into this area, there’s a valley called the Hunza. People have compared it to Shangri-La. I didn’t even have my luggage picked up from the plane at Gilgit, and this kid comes up to me, and asks me if I want to hire a guide. I said, “I don’t think I need a guide, I need a porter”.

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“Well, I’m a porter, too!” And he got out this piece of paper that showed something official that looked like he could guide people. I hired him on the spot, got a jeep, and we went up through the Hunza to where we left the Karakoram Highway. We left the jeep and started walking to this village. There’s no road to it, so you have to hike to it. It’s just absolutely wonderful.

Favorite outdoor gear?

Most packs have what they call ‘top-lids’, that thing that folds over the back? I hate ‘em! So I had to look, for my last pack, for one that doesn’t have that. I’m happy with it. It’s not big enough for everything, but it works if you’re going to stay in a refuge in the French Alps, where you sleep inside, and they cook dinner for you. So you need your clothes, all your personal stuff, your camera, whatever. But you don’t have to carry a tent, or stove, or dinner, or fuel. Kelty makes it. The top of the pack has no opening, but there’s a back zipper. It’s an internal frame, with side pockets.

Compass or GPS? [Laughs] You know, I had some sailor friends sitting right here, before I took off on that sailing trip I told you about. And Janet McNabb turns to her husband and says, “I think Jim would just as soon not have all that gear you’re talking about, and use a compass to get to Bermuda.” And I’m thinking, yeah, that’s me. So that’s your answer [laughs].

Favorite after-excursion libation? What do you reward yourself with, after a backpacking trip?

After a hike, boy, I’ll take anything. When my oldest, Jim, graduated from college we hiked from Argentiere, France across the border into Champex, Switzerland. We dropped down into this charming little town. There was a small lake with ducks paddling around. On one side was this little lone épicerie, or grocery store. We went in and I bought a liter of white wine. Oh, did that taste good! Wow! I couldn’t stop. It was just perfect. It was so quenching…. And to my embarrassment I got drunk right in front of my son.

So he said, “Dad, we need to go get the car”. We had to go back to where we started to get it. I was whacked out by that time, and I said, “I just want to lie down” [laughs]. We were in the grassy area in front of the little lake. So I lay down there.

“Dad, we need to go!” And I said—this is sort of a family line—“Go feed the ducks!” [laughs] So finally he said, “Give me the keys, Dad!” He left me there, hitchhiked back to Argentiere, got the car and came back for me.

But I tell you what, white wine, whooh…As a matter of fact, that hike I told you about that inspired BCM? We were buying groceries, and we came to the wine in a soft pack, inside a cardboard box. Gerry Gault wanted to buy it. I thought it was too heavy, and didn’t want to carry it. Gerry said he’d carry it, so he bought it. So, as I’m talking this out in front of you--- I think white wine is my nemesis [laughs].

What photo gear you use these days?

I started all this focusing on wildlife photography. I didn’t really get into it just to backpack. Long distances, outside the country. It was always film. I was reluctant to go digital—I’ll show you my office filing system. I didn’t want to give up the filing system and go to digital because then I’d have two systems.

I’m still taking slides. When I come back, I take out the ones that look good and digitize them. Nikon, like five or ten years ago, made their last film camera. That’s what I have. For practical reasons, I have a digital camera. I sailed back from the Bahamas this summer. I was there with Mary McAuliffe. She flew back, and I sailed back. So those pictures were taken digitally. But if I was going to take serious wildlife photography next week it would be with film. For family, for pictures for the scrapbook, I use the digital camera. I have my toe in the digital world, and maybe my foot. But that’s about it.

So come on. Let’s take a walk!

[Later, Jim asks that we turn the recorder back on.]

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One more thing, Carlos, that I wanted to get across. There’s the discussion that I know has been going on, at some time or another, about the emphasis on the Florida Trail corridor itself, and all the side trails that we’ve built over the years. I remember I was in Washington Oaks Gardens State Park, and I saw a sign there that said, “This trail built by the Florida Trail Association”. And I was very proud of that fact. But there’s a big caveat here; there’s only so much energy, so much time, and so much money. The thing that is going to capture the imagination of Floridians, whose vote we need for things that we want for the trail, ultimately, and also visitors who come to Florida and are into exercise and health and hiking, is the Florida Trail. They want to know where the Florida Trail is.

They don’t care so much about some little blue-blazed trail over in the Withlacoochee State Forest. When I drive north I want to set foot on the Appalachian Trail. You tell me there’s some little trail in Pennsylvania that goes from Blaine to Harrisburg, and I’m really not as interested. That’s my thought about that. Therefore I think the overwhelming emphasis ought to be on the Florida Trail. And I’m not so close to it, so I don’t know, but I have the impression that a huge amount of time and energy has instead gone into side trails.

There may be reasons for this, and maybe side trails are closer to the population centers. So, you know, the wisdom of the Board has to figure this out. But obviously the money, which trails back to the Forest Service, is connected to Congress, which is connected to the Florida Trail. That’s where the money is. And that’s where the vision is. People, if they hear that there’s hiking in Florida, should hear two things: One, we have a winter trail. And two, it’s called the Florida Trail. That’s what they want to do, that’s where they want to go. And I hope the Board doesn’t lose sight of that. It’s very important.

I would say that we’re actually refocusing quite a bit on that. It’s something we want to see completed.

Good. I saw a map once, that showed the corridor and all the side trails, and I was just amazed at the amount of side trail. All the work that represents, so, anyway…I wanted to get that in.

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chapters on the go!

Florida Crackers Cross Florida Greeenway Dog Hike

South Regional Conference Fisheating Creek Canoe Trip Central Florida Family Bike Ride

Suncoast/Fla Crackers/Halifax-St Johns Western Corridor Hike Series Heartland Green Swamp Trail Care

Loxahatchee Jonathan Dickinson Day Hike

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The Footprint Magazine Submission Guidelines Without the help of FTA members and volunteers, there is no magazine. We strongly encourage your submission of photos and content for every issue.

Photos: We are looking for high resolution (300dpi) photos for publication. Make sure that if they are photos of people that they have signed the necessary photo release - included on the FTA Release. We are always looking for cover photos, which need to be vertical format and at least 300dpi.

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Articles: We hope for contributions from the various chapters highlighting events and accomplishments, especially those that involve new groups and outreach opportunities. We also look for unique hiking stories from members, and articles regarding anything that pertains to hiking and camping (trail recipes, hiking and safety tips, howtos, etc.) If you submit a story, please make sure to include photos that you would like to go with it. Word count can be anywhere from 400 to 900 words, depending on photos and page length.

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FLORIDA TRAIL ASSOCIATION FLORIDA TRAIL ASSOCIATION 5415 SW 13th St Gainesville, FL 32608 352-378-8823 877-HIKE-FLA fta@floridatrail.org BOARD OF DIRECTORS Carlos Schomaker, President Tom Daniel, VP Trails Holly Parker, VP Outreach/Development Leslie Wheeler, Secretary Pam Hale, Treasurer Eve Barbour Chuck Barrowclough David Denham Fred Goldstein James Powell FLORIDA TRAIL STAFF GAINESVILLE HEADQUARTERS 877-HIKE-FLA or 352-378-8823 Janet Akerson, Administrative Director Deb Blick, Trail Resource Coordinator Diane Strong, Administrative Asst TALLAHASSEE FIELD OFFICE

Eric Mason, Trail Program Director 906-360-3153 Megan Donoghue, Volunteer Program Coordinator 941-408-3098

OUR MAGAZINE The Footprint is published by the Florida Trail Association, a volunteer-based nonprofit organization focused on Florida hiking and trail building. Since 1966, the primary mission of our organization has been the care and protection of the Florida Trail, a 1,400-mile footpath across the Sunshine State - Florida’s own National Scenic Trail. The Florida Trail Association also publishes maps and guidebooks to assist hikers in enjoying this public recreational resource.

The Footprint (ISSN 1064-0681) is published quarterly (December, March, July, September) by the Florida Trail Association, 5415 SW 13th St, Gainesville, FL 32608, 352-3788823. Bulk rate postage paid at Gainesville, FL. Postmaster: Send change-of-address form 3597 to Footprint, 5415 SW 13th St, Gainesville, FL 32608. © 2013, Florida Trail Association All rights reserved.

The Footprint is printed with soy-based inks on paper with post-consumer content

FLORIDA TRAIL WEBSITE Deb Blick FLORIDA TRAIL Footprint Deb Blick, Editor Rob Smith, Jr, Cartoonist Contributors retain copyright to their work but give the Florida Trail Association premission to use to promote FTA and the Florida Trail. Articles are subject to editing for clarity and space. Materials will be returned if accompanied by a self-addressed stamped envelope. Opinions, observations, and endorsements made within the Florida Trail Footprint do not necessarily reflect those of the board or staff of the Florida Trail Association.

Winter 2014 Volume 31, Issue 1

Deadline for the spring issue of The Footprint is February 1, 2014.

Deadline for chapter activities covering March - June to appear in the electronic version of the spring issue of The Footprint is February 15, 2014.

OUR GOAL To provide outreach to our readers through informative articles that express appreciation for and conservation of the natural beauty of Florida; to inform our readers of Florida Trail Association business; and to provide information on Florida hiking and outdoor recreation opportunities.

CONTRIBUTORS Contributors are welcome to submit items for our various departments as well as trail and association-related news. Please contact the editor at communications@floridatrail.org to discuss ideas for feature stories prior to submission.

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Welcome New Members AUGUST 2013 tHRU OCTOBER 2013 Rayana Adra John Amoss Gail Anderson Ilene Arons Stephen Ashworth Arlene Aslanian Teresa Atkinson Terry Barone Beverly Bass Dee Bender Micah Bennett Thomas Binder David Braner and Barb Gansemer David Breinke Daniel Bridgewater Tomorrow Dawn Brock and Family Sandra Brown Robin Burgos Bill and Lynne Bush James and Cindy Bush Jonathan and Cerina Bush Camille Caldwell Mike and Kathy Campbell Stephanie Carney Rocco and Elizabeth Carrube Sharon Cash Kim Chavis Florence Chivington Mari Cisneros Sandy Clardy Jan Clarke Robert Conklin Charlotte Conley Alice Covington William and Denise Crider Darin and Susan Crowley Guenevere and Brian Crum Rebecca Daniels William Daniels Charles Davidson Johnathan Davidson and Family Elizabeth Dedrick Robert DeGross James Dekle Cresencio del Pino Cheryl Devlin Lynn Drew Eugene and Donna Duggan Diane Dunn Duane Estilette Joe Feinberg John Finnerty Pamela Ford John and Michelle French Ben Gagliano John Gantz Cinthya Gaxiola Glenn Gayle

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Kahla Gentry Wanda Goodwin Steve and Josie Greene Dave and Ann Griffith Deborah and Ray Halin Matt and Angie Hamilton Penny Hammond Karen Harrington Melody Harris Kristin Harsch R.J. Harvey Patricia Herr Gwendolyn Hickey Mike Hildreth Denise Hill Cheryl Holland Kristen Hoss Maggy Hurchalla Jean Jacobs Carl Jenus Lillian and Timothy Johnson Gregg Jones Doug Knox Donna Koch Perry Koussiafes Richard and Charity Lamb Stacey Lampkin David Landa Cathy Larkins James Larry Karen Leavens Janet Lenz and Robert Reardon Betty Lesley Joel and Sue Levin Jon Lister Fran Lowry Marcia Luhn and Family Anil Lund Sonia and Mabel Magarinos Karen Mahnk Skip and Kitty Manasco Mike March Tek Marciniak Darren McClintock Lester McNeely Lynn McNutt MoiraLynn Mefein Julie Metzler Kate and Brian Michie Jose Mojica Darby Munroe and Family Lisa Nicholas Joseph Nutt Kristiina Olsson Gaby Orihuela Daniel Osborn Jeanette Osgood Doug Owens

Eric Parkerson Alex Penn Anthony and Jennifer Perrotti William Pointer Thomas Ranalli Donald Ravinski Rose Raymond James Reagan Dave Reed Larry Reese Nilsa Rezzonico and Family Valerie Ribecky Matthew Richardson Ellen Robbins Bill Roy Katherine Salomonson Richard Salter Yvette Santana Conner Schuler Ingrid Schultz Elmer Seifert Steven and Bonita Skurski Jeb Slough Thomas Slough Crystal Smith Harry Smith Travis Smith Donald Snow Joseph Spillane Taylor and Heidi Stein Amos Stoll Harry and Margaret Stopp Phillip Swanson Bill Taylor Sara Thanner Terrie Thompson and Family Linda Tierney and Family Terri Tipton Zenon Tolzek Dave and Jo Ellen Vanderpool Wayne Vassello and Elizabeth Bustamante Ryan Walker Elizabeth Walton David Warfel Darlene and Daniel Warner Michael Waterman Dale Weddle Eric Weiss Mayra and Zachary Welch Marilyn Wells Kim Westermann Mary Williams Julie Withers Connie Woodward Judy and Sidney Ying

a special thanks to

our generous donors AUGUST 2013 tHru OCTOBER 2013 Donations of $1000 & Above Eve Barbour Kay and Tom Clements Tom and Anne Daniel Fred Goldstein Howard and Carolyn Pardue Carlos Schomaker David Waldrop

Donations of $100 to $999 Kathryn Abels Ah-Tah-Thi-Ki Museum Seminole Tribe of Florida Anonymous Richard Beilock Robert Deckert and Mary Walton David Denham William and Claudia Dishong Karen Donnelly Earthshare Jim & Sue Greene John Grob

Joseph and Pamela Hale Ralph and Kathy Hancock David Landa Paula Lane Microsoft Matching Jane Montgomery North Florida Trailblazers Chapter Panhandle Chapter Holly Parker Ron and Darcy Peterson James Powell F Dickson Prew

Project Muir Dee Pullen Thomas and Cathy Regan Bill and Linda Taylor John Terry Paul Wernicke Mary Alice Westrick Leslie Wheeler Helen Wigersma Catherine and Dave Winter Alligator Bob Young William Zurschmiede and Evelyn Peterson

Donations of $20 to $99 Randall and Janet Akerson Richard Allen Mitch Almon Joe and Liz Atterbury Richard and Beverly Avery Deborah Blick Tim Brewton Mike Buckner Roland Burrows Ken and Leslie Castner Alexander and Jennifer Calder Irvin and Anda Chance Fred Davis Kat Davis Megan Donoghue Paul Ebersbach Grayal Farr

Susan Fetter Mike Fite Arthur and Kimlynn Granberry Jay Gould Kathy Griffin Dave and Ann Griffith James Husted and Family Al and Donna Ingle Sydney and Phyllis Jackson Ted Kmet Gabriella Kortz Ruth Lawler Betty Loomis and Raymond Beebe Ulrich and Carole Merten Shannon McGinnis Ginger and Edward Moore

Roy Moore Pat Naaman Barbara Nafpliotis Dennis and Kathleen Newton Michael and Virginia O’Keefe Howard and Carmen Pospesel Christin Pruett Gary Rippey Meredith Rust Dianne and Mik Saunders Judy Trotta and Bob Stone Deb Talbot United Way Okeechobee Cty Sue Wagner Washington County TDC Dennis and Lindy Yarbrough Bob Yost and Connie Evers

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upcoming chapter Activities The Florida Trail Association offers activities throughout Florida. These activities, led by authorized Activity Leaders, Section Leaders, or staff members, are organized by our local chapters. Unless otherwise noted, all activities are open to the general public. People interested in attending any activity should contact the Activity Leader for more information and for last minute changes.

STATE-WIDE EVENTS F-Troops are our state-wide trail maintenance events at which camping and food are usually provided free for the participants.

F-Troop – January 10-12, 2014 Choctawhatchee Chapter - Building 2 new miles of FNST on Eglin Air Force Base. http://www.floridatrail.org/volunteer/volunteeropportunities/ F-Troop – January 10-17, 2014 Halifax-St Johns Chapter hosting - Juniper Prairie Wilderness, Ocala National Forest. http://www.floridatrail.org/volunteer/volunteeropportunities/ F-Troop – January 23-26, 2014 Suwannee/Trailblazers Chapters hosting - Bridge removal, Osceola National Forest. http://www.floridatrail.org/volunteer/volunteeropportunities/ F-Troop – January 30- February 6, 2014 Big Cypress Chapter hosting - Big Cypress National Preserve http://www.floridatrail.org/volunteer/volunteeropportunities/ F-Troop – March 7-13, 2014 Sopchoppy Bridge building, Apalachicola National Forest http://www.floridatrail.org/volunteer/volunteeropportunities/ I-DID-A-HIKE - Feb 22, 2014 North Florida Trail Blazers Fund Raising Hike for FTA. http://www.meetup.com/NorthFloridaTrailBlazers/events/149379292/ FTA ANNUAL CONFERENCE – March 7-9, 2014 Gainesville, FL. http://www.floridatrail.org/2014-annual-conference/

ALLIGATOR AMBLERS CHAPTER http://amblers.floridatrail.org/ Dec 19 - Monthly Chapter Meeting - Bonalyn Plante 239-227-0937 bplantefl@gmail.com Bass Pro Shops Outdoor World, 10040 Gulf Center Drive, Estero, FL 6:30 - 8:30 No limit, Public welcome, Leisure Jan 16 - Monthly Chapter Meeting - Bonalyn Plante 239-227-0937 bplantefl@gmail.com Bass Pro Shops Outdoor World, 10040 Gulf Center Drive, Estero, FL 6:30 - 8:30 No limit, Public welcome, Leisure

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Feb 20 - Monthly Chapter Meeting - Bonalyn Plante 239-227-0937 bplantefl@gmail.com Bass Pro Shops Outdoor World, 10040 Gulf Center Drive, Estero, FL 6:30 - 8:30 No limit, Public welcome, Leisure March 20 - Monthly Chapter Meeting - Bonalyn Plante 239-227-0937 bplantefl@gmail.com Bass Pro Shops Outdoor World, 10040 Gulf Center Drive, Estero, FL 6:30 - 8:30 No limit, Public welcome, Leisure APALACHEE CHAPTER http://apalachee.floridatrail.org/ Dec 18 - Wednesday Walkabout - Dawn Griffin (850) 509-6103, Griffindd@aol.com Grab your water bottle and good walking shoes and join us in the early evening to eliminate stress, meet folks of similar interest, build a little endurance and just get a little more exercise! This is not a trail running group, but we will maintain a minimal power walking pace (approx. 3.5 mph and walk between 3 and 4 miles). Pets are welcome but must be on leash & owner cleans up after them (park rules). Parking lot has a bathroom and plenty of room for changing clothes. Meet at 5:15 p.m. for meet, greet and warmup -- then we hit the trail at 5:30 p.m. (sharp). Meet at the Miccosukee Canopy Road Greenway - Edenfield Trailhead parking lot at the Miccosukee Greenway trails (near the intersection of Miccosukee and Edenfield Road). Location may change based on daylight savings time and closure of park at sunset. Sign up on Chapter Meetup or call leader for any last minute updates, location change or cancellations (due to weather or change in leader schedule).

Public Welcome, Moderate.

Dec 21 - Fort Braden Trail Day Hike - Gwen Beatty (850) 539-6027, gfbeatty@yahoo.com Fort Braden Trail winds its way through hickory, oak and sweet gum hardwoods sometimes following, and sometimes crossing, a sandy ribbon of creek bed that flows with soft murmurs as it makes its way to its destination in Lake Talquin. We’ll hike two of the three loops for a total of 6-7 miles. Bring water and snacks and a few dollars for the entry fee. We’ll enjoy holiday goodies after the hike! No limit, Public, Leisure.

Dec 28 - Annual Phipps Park Holiday Hike - Dawn Brown (850) 545-0351/668-0091 dbrown1948@embarqmail. com Feeling a little lethargic after too many holiday celebrations? Too much shopping, partying, out of town relatives? Let’s get outside and play. This hike is a nice long, leisurely all-day hike at Elinor Klapp-Phipps Park in NE Tallahassee. Entire loop is 7 miles. Bring water and trail snacks, and lunch for a mid-way break at the Oak Hammock. No limit, Public, Leisure.

Dec 29 - W. D. Lines Tract Day Hike - Gwen Beatty (850) 539-6027 gfbeatty@yahoo.com The Lines Tract is on the west side of Lake Talquin and is better known as an off-road bike trail although bikes are seldom encountered. We’ll begin our hike on the Talquin Loop and then cross over to the Longleaf Loop before heading back to the trailhead. Expect the hike to be 8 to 9 miles total. After the hike, we’ll head down to Whippoorwill Landing for a late lunch. Bring water and snack and a few dollars for the entry fee. No limit, Public, Leisure.

Jan 4 - Day Hike at Alum Bluff - Gwen Beatty (850) 539-6027 or gfbeatty@yahoo.com Also known as the Garden of Eden Trail, Alum Buff is a short hike but very strenuous. Join us on a day hike criss-crossing Florida’s unique steep heads. We’ll hike to a high bluff overlooking the Apalachicola River and look down on the type section for the Alum Bluff geologic formation. Bring a snack, water and sun protection.

After the hike, we’ll stop at a local restaurant for a late lunch.

No limit, Public, Leisure.

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APALACHEE CHAPTER (continued) Jan 8 - “Lite and Fast” Power Hike - Dawn Griffin (850) 509-6103 or Griffindd@aol.com.

Join us every Wednesday to eliminate stress, burn fat and just get some exercise. This is not a trail running group, but we will maintain a power walking pace (approx. 3.5 mph) with light hiking gear (dress in layers, bring water, energy bar, light trekking or trail running shoes and with our limited daylight bring a flashlight/ headlight). The basic hike will cover about 4 miles. Sign up at http://www.meetup.com/Apalachee-FloridaTrail-Hiking or call leader for any last minute changes or cancellations. Meet at 5:15 p.m. at the Edenfield Trailhead on Miccosukee Road for warm-up and stretches – then due to precious daylight we hit the trail at 5:30 PM (SHARP). Pets (on leash) must maintain group pace and be cleaned up after (park rules). This activity repeats on Jan. 15, 22, 29.

No limit, Public, Moderate.

Jan 12 - St. Marks National Wildlife Refuge - Dawn Brown (850) 545-0351/ 668-0091 or dbrown1948@embarqmail.com.

These hikes will continue the successful and popular series started last fall. They are designed primarily for hikers who would like to increase their endurance on the trail. We’ll hike about 12-14 miles at a brisk pace.

Bring water and trail snacks for several hours. This activity is also appropriate for anyone wishing to train for a backpacking trip. Bring your pack with 50-60% final load.

No limit, Public, Strenuous.

Jan 14 - Chapter Meeting - Liz Sparks (850) 570-5950 or liz.aparks57@gmail.com.

Program “Currie Leggoe, 500 Mile Hike On The Camino, Spain.” The Camino, or The Way of St. James, is a pilgrimage trail across the north of Spain that is more than 1200 years old. It is a river of people all flowing West to Santiago de Compostela one step at a time. There are still many Catholics amongst those who walk, but now others of different faiths or no faith at all participate. It is not a wilderness backpacking trip, but rather a walk through mountains and fields and towns and forests while staying in albergues (Pilgrim Hostels) at night.

Currie will share with us the scenery, the pattern of life, the wonderful parts and the difficulties of the 500 mile section that she journeyed. Meeting held at the Early Learning Coalition, Suite 70, Northwood Centre, 1852 North Martin Luther King Blvd., Tallahassee.

No limit, Public, Moderate.

Jan 18 - Invasive Plant “Seek and Destroy” Workday at Spring House - Karen J. Berkley (850) 570-5740 or kjberkley@gmail.com.

Pre-registration by January 14th is required. Spring House is the only built private residence in Florida designed by Frank Lloyd Wright. It is spectacularly sited on a natural spring that flows to Lake Jackson. The house and grounds now comprise the Spring House Institute, which is being restored for use for a broad spectrum of events. It is not yet open to the public. The grounds around the house are heavily infested with coral ardisia and other invasive plants. In conjunction with efforts by the City of Tallahassee to address this problem in city parks, the Magnolia Chapter of the Florida Native Plant Society and the Apalachee Chapter of the Florida Trail Association, have been given the privilege and a rare opportunity help. Please come join us for this special event, intended as a fun and fulfilling experience for all. It will be a full workday (8:30 to 4:00) to remove coral ardisia in a careful manner to preserve existing native plants around the house and restore a trail through the property. If you do not yet know how to identify or remove coral ardisia, you will be taught.

The type of work will vary from gentle to vigorous, depending on your ability and zeal. Food will be provided throughout the day by a private donor: Coffee & breakfast items, then lunch, then beverages & snacks. Bring bug spray and your own water bottle. Some tools will be provided, but it would be helpful for participants to bring gardening-type gloves, clippers, a pointed shovel, and a root jack or weed wrench, if you have them.

Children are permitted, but must be supervised by an adult. No pets, please.

No limit, Public, Moderate.

Jan 19 - St. Marks National Wildlife Refuge - Dawn Brown (850) 545-0351/ 668-0091 or dbrown1948@embarqmail.com.

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These hikes will continue the successful and popular series started last fall. They are designed primarily for hikers who would like to increase their endurance on the trail. We’ll hike about 12-14 miles at a brisk pace.

Bring water and trail snacks for several hours. This activity is also appropriate for anyone wishing to train for a backpacking trip. Bring your pack with 50-60% final load.

No limit, Public, Strenuous.

Jan 19 - St Vincent’s Island National Wildlife Refuge Day Hike - Dawn Griffin 850-509-6103) or Griffindd@aol. com.

St Vincent is located west of Apalachicola and is an undeveloped barrier island just offshore from the mouth of the Apalachicola River in the Gulf of Mexico. The triangular shaped island is 9 miles long and 4 miles across at its widest point and has over 14 miles of pristine beaches and 80 miles of criss-crossing dirt roads. We will be hiking within the several different habitat types including the beach - always hiking at a comfortable pace!

Check out: http://www.fws.gov/southeast/pubs/facts/svncon.pdf. Bring plenty of water (in a daypack), lunch, cash for shuttle, sun protection and wear comfortable clothes and shoes for hiking. We will be taking the St. Vincent Island Shuttle Services to cross Indian Pass – cost is $10.00 per person for round-trip transportation.

Plan on catching dinner on the way home. Sign up at http://www.meetup.com/Apalachee-Florida-Trail-Hiking or call leader to register. Meeting location and time of departure finalized closer to event. It is a two-hour drive, so the departure time will be very early from Tallahassee.

Limit 40 people, FTA Member Only, Moderate.

Jan 25 - Aucilla River Rapids Trail Maintenance (and Trash Pickup) - Wendy Dial 941-320-8470 wbdial@gmail. com.

Call leader for meeting time/location to carpool to the boat launch area then rapids to pick up & bag trash. Eat lunch at rapids. Leader will provide sandwiches, fruit, and dessert.

Limit 3 people, Public, Leisure.

Jan26 - St. Marks National Wildlife Refuge - Dawn Brown 850-545-0351/ 668-0091 dbrown1948@embarqmail. com These hikes will continue the successful and popular series started last fall. They are designed primarily for hikers who would like to increase their endurance on the trail. We’ll hike about 12-14 miles at a brisk pace.

Bring water and trail snacks for several hours. This activity is also appropriate for anyone wishing to train for a backpacking trip. Bring your pack with 50-60% final load.

No limit, Public, Strenuous.

Feb 1 - Munson Hills Trail Hike - Mike Tucker 850-545-3489 tuckems@hotmail.com 8-mile hike through long leaf pine forest and sandy shoreline ponds, seeing as many as seven different woodpeckers. Bring lunch, water and bug spray.

No limit, Public, Moderate.

Feb 5 - “Lite and Fast” Power Hike - Dawn Griffin (850) 509-6103 or Griffindd@aol.com Join us every Wednesday to eliminate stress, burn fat and just get some exercise. This is not a trail running group, but we will maintain a power walking pace (approx. 3.5 mph) with light hiking gear (dress in layers, bring water, energy bar, light trekking or trail running shoes and with our limited daylight bring a flashlight/ headlight). The basic hike will cover about 4 miles. Sign up at http://www.meetup.com/Apalachee-FloridaTrail-Hiking or call leader for any last minute changes or cancellations. Meet at 5:15 p.m. at the Edenfield Trailhead on Miccosukee Road for warm-up and stretches – then due to precious daylight we hit the trail at 5:30 PM (SHARP). Pets (on leash) must maintain group pace and be cleaned up after (park rules). This activity repeats on Feb. 12, 19, 26.

No limit, Public, Moderate.

Feb 8 - Aucilla River: FNST Fun Hike Part I, “The Aucilla River Uncovered.” - Wendy Dial 941-320-8470 or wbdial@gmail.com Explore a 4.7-mile visible portion of the prehistoric Aucilla and learn about the people and animals that lived

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APALACHEE CHAPTER (continued) there 14,500 years ago. See where the Burnt Bridge used to be as we hike along the river’s edge. We’ll eat lunch at the rapids. Bring lunch, water and snacks. Email hike leader for meeting time and location, and include your full name and best anytime telephone and email address.

Limit 25 people, Public, Leisure.

Feb 9 - Torreya State Park Day Hike - Dawn Brown 850-545-0351/ 668-0091 or dbrown1948@embarqmail.com These hikes will continue the successful and popular series started last fall and this January in St. Marks Refuge, except we will switch to a venue with more challenging elevation gain and loss. They are designed primarily for hikers who would like to increase their endurance on the trail. We’ll hike about 10-12 miles at a brisk pace. Bring water and trail snacks for several hours. This activity is also appropriate for anyone wishing to train for a backpacking trip. Bring your pack with 50-60% final load.

No limit, Public, Strenuous.

Feb 11 - Chapter Meeting - Liz Sparks 850-570-5950 or liz.aparks57@gmail.com Program: “Liz Sparks, Breathtaking Coastal Footpaths of England and Wales.” Join mother/daughter hiking pals, Margaret & Liz Sparks, for a sampling of breathtaking coastal footpaths of England and Wales. Yes, it is possible to hike a challenging hilly landscape and still gain weight. Enjoying Cornish pasties, local ales and cream teas makes hiking the coastline a visual and culinary joy. Azure waters, hillsides quilted with wildflowers, ancient castles and fluffy sheep offer stunning views at every hilltop. Meeting held at the Early Learning Coalition, Suite 70, Northwood Centre, 1852 North Martin Luther King Blvd., Tallahassee.

No limit, Public, Leisure.

Feb 15 - Hike the FNST from Purify Bay Rd. to Marsh Point - Linda Patton 850-668-4334 lpatton@fsu.edu.

A VERY leisurely 4-mile hike from Purify Bay Rd. trailhead to Marsh Point and back. Lunch at Marsh Point, with scenic views of the salt marshes. Learn about the Confederate salt works in the Refuge. Please sign up only if you are willing to hike at a very slow pace.

No limit, Public, Leisure.

Feb 15 - Seek and Destroy! Phipps Park Invasive Plant Education and Removal Program - Karen Berkley 850570-5740 kjberkley@gmail.com or Chuck Goodheart 850-933-6631 Charles.Goodheart@talgov.com.

Enjoy the camaraderie of a program organized jointly by the Florida Trail Association (Apalachee Chapter), the Florida Native Plant Society (Magnolia Chapter), the City of Tallahassee, and the Northwest Florida Water Management District. The program is geared towards hikers, runners, cyclists, school children, college students, Boy and Girl Scouts, native plant and other wildlife enthusiasts, and anyone else interested in learning and “giving back!” Using Elinor Klapp-Phipps Park’s extensive invasion of coral ardisia for hands-on education and removal opportunities, each session continues from the previous one during which we will be working in a selected test area of the park. Learn from experts how to identify and safely eradicate Coral ardisia and other invasive plants, not only at Phipps Park, but wherever you are. Learn also about other aspects of this beautiful, 670-acre park. Get some satisfying exercise removing the invasive plants, and feel good about giving back.

Bring water, bug spray, gardening work gloves, and wear shoes appropriate for hiking. Although some tools will be provided, please bring a clipper and/or a shovel (pointed type is best) if you own them. Lunch will be provided. Note: this activity may not be appropriate if you are severely allergic to poison ivy. Bentoquatam lotion barrier cream will be provided for those who wish to use it. The activity begins promptly at 9:30 AM at the Meridian trailhead, 4000 N. Meridian Rd. (Youth Sports Complex/baseball fields); the trailhead is located 0.1 mile in, on the left.

No limit, Public, Strenuous.

Feb 16 - Aucilla Sinks: FNST Fun Hike Part II, “Walk on Water.” - Wendy Dial 941-320-8470 or wbdial@gmail. com.

Zigzag with us around and between the 11 named sinks along this portion of the Florida Trail where the river flows underground. The sinks expose the water flowing beneath our feet. Hike is 4.2 miles and contains some

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rocky outcroppings. Despite the sign we’ll see for Long Suffering Road, the walk is considered leisure. Bring lunch and water and snacks. Email hike leader for meeting time and location, and include your full name and best anytime telephone and email address.

Limit 25 people, Public, Leisure.

Feb 16 - Torreya State Park Day Hike - Dawn Brown 850-545-0351/ 668-0091 dbrown1948@embarqmail.com.

These hikes will continue the successful and popular series started last fall and in January except we will switch to a venue with more challenging elevation gain and loss. They are designed primarily for hikers who would like to increase their endurance on the trail. We’ll hike about 10-12 miles at a brisk pace. Bring water and trail snacks for several hours. This activity is also appropriate for anyone wishing to train for a backpacking trip. Bring your pack with 50-60% final load.

No limit, Public, Strenuous.

Feb 22 - Bear Creek Trails Hike - Barry Haber 850-284-5615 BarryJHaber@hotmail.com.

The Bear Creek Educational Forest is in Gadsden County. We will start the hike with 2.5 mi. on the Ravine trail and continue 3.5 mi. on the Bear Creek Trail. If you think Florida doesn’t have steep trails, this trail system will dispel the myth. It follows the contours of a lengthy steephead ravine. $2 per person entry fee.

No limit, Public, Moderate.

Feb 23 - Torreya State Park Day Hike - Dawn Brown 850-545-0351/ 668-0091 dbrown1948@embarqmail.com.

These hikes will continue the successful and popular series started last fall and in January except we will switch to a venue with more challenging elevation gain and loss. They are designed primarily for hikers who would like to increase their endurance on the trail. We’ll hike about 10-12 miles at a brisk pace. Bring water and trail snacks for several hours. This activity is also appropriate for anyone wishing to train for a backpacking trip. Bring your pack with 50-60% final load.

No limit, Public, Strenuous.

March 1 - 19th Annual Bradwell Bay Swamp Stomp - Kent Wimmer 850-528-5261 klwimmer2@gmail.com.

In the Apalachicola National Forest, Bradwell Bay Wilderness Area. Slog about 8 miles on the FNST in the heart of the Apalachicola National Forest. Hike through one of the largest bay swamp forests in Florida with old-growth slash pine and black gum trees. With normal rain, expect wading ankle-to-knee deep water for over half of the hike. This hike is strenuous and may have deep mud, holes, fallen trees and cold weather.

No limit, Public, Strenuous.

March 5 - “Lite and Fast” Power Hike - Dawn Griffin 850-509-6103 or Griffindd@aol.com Join us every Wednesday to eliminate stress, burn fat and just get some exercise. This is not a trail running group, but we will maintain a power walking pace (approx. 3.5 mph) with light hiking gear (dress in layers, bring water, energy bar, light trekking or trail running shoes and with our limited daylight bring a flashlight/ headlight). The basic hike will cover about 4 miles. Sign up at http://www.meetup.com/Apalachee-FloridaTrail-Hiking or call leader for any last minute changes or cancellations. Meet at 5:15 p.m. at the Edenfield Trailhead on Miccosukee Road for warm-up and stretches – then due to precious daylight we hit the trail at 5:30 PM (SHARP). Pets (on leash) must maintain group pace and be cleaned up after (park rules). This activity repeats on Mar. 12, 19, 26.

No limit, Public, Moderate.

March 8 - Ft Braden Trail Fun Hike - Mike Tucker 850-545-3489 or tuckems@hotmail.com.

Enjoy a 9-mile hike along slope forest with views of Lake Talquin as we check out the spring wildflowers. Expect trip to last 5-6 hours. Bring lunch and bug spray.

No limit, Public, Moderate.

March 9 - Torreya State Park Day Hike - Jerry Herting (850) 878-3426.

Hike 8 miles on the Torreya River Bluff loop trail through hilly forest near the Apalachicola River this spring

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APALACHEE CHAPTER (continued) morning. Participants should be physically fit. Bring water, lunch, bug repellent, and a walking stick (optional). Meet at 7:30 a.m. in Tallahassee to car pool.

No limit, Public, Moderate.

March 11 - Chapter Meeting - Liz Sparks 850-570-5950 or liz.aparks57@gmail.com Program: “Holly Parker and Kevin Curry, Backpacking in the Grand Canyon.” Join Kevin Curry and Holly Parker as they share their great adventures in the Grand Canyon! Find out everything you need to know about hiking in the Grand Canyon, and enjoy breathtaking photographs from their three-day hike from the South Rim to the North Rim. Meeting held at the Early Learning Coalition, Suite 70, Northwood Centre, 1852 North Martin Luther King Blvd., Tallahassee.

No limit, Public, Leisure.

March 15 - W.D.Lines Tract Day Hike -Barry Haber 850-284-5615 or BarryJHaber@hotmail.com The Lines Tract is on the west side of Lake Talquin and is better known as an off-road bike trail although bikes are seldom encountered. Enjoy hiking the Long Leaf and parts of the Talquin Loop trails. About 6 miles with great views of Lake Talquin.

No limit, Public, Moderate.

March 15 - Seek and Destroy! Phipps Park Invasive Plant Education and Volunteer Program.

See February 15 for details.

No limit, Public, Moderate.

March 21 –23, - Day Hikes Celebrating Spring in Pine Mountain Ga - John Laney 850-879-0168 john@johnlaney.com and Dawn Griffin 850-509-6103 Griffindd@aol.com and Dawn Brown 850-668-0091 dbrown1948@ embarqmail.com.

Leave Tallahassee Friday a.m. for a short 3.5-hour drive to Pine Mountain (outside Columbus, Georgia). On the way we can stretch our legs with a short hike in Georgia’s “Little Grand Canyon” at Providence Canyon State Outdoor Recreation Area (7 miles west of Lumpkin), then continue our journey north to Pine Mountain and check into our accommodations. Enjoy a longer hike on Saturday on the Pine Mountain Trail. Non-hikers can enjoy Callaway Gardens and Warm Springs (FDR’s Little White House) in the area. You can choose to enjoy the comforts of a hotel at night or, if you prefer, camp or stay in a cabin. On the way back to Tallahassee on Sunday plan to stop at the Andersonville National Historic Site (outside Andersonville). Make your own reservations early either at a hotel in Pine Mountain or at F.D.R. State Park Cabins/Campground (http://www. gastateparks.org/FDRoosevelt). Sign up early as space is limited.

Limit 30 people, FTA Members Only, Moderate.

March 29 - Chipola River Canoe and Hinson Conservation Area Hike - Mike Tucker 850-545-3489 or tuckems@ hotmail.com.

Repeat of October trip to canoe the Chipola River from Yancy Bridge to Magnolia Bridge, stopping half way down for a hike with Leigh Brooks showcasing the unique spring wildflowers of the Hinson Conservation Area.

Bring shoes, water and bug spray for the hike. Mike Tucker (850) 545-3489 or tuckems@hotmail.com.

Limit 12 canoes/kayaks, Public, Moderate.

March 30 - Sopchoppy River Azalea Hike - George Weaver (850) 510-3288 weaver@psy.fsu.edu.

Sopchoppy River section of the FNST in the Apalachicola National Forest. A 5-mile (easy to moderate) hike on a section of the FNST that follows the Sopchoppy River. This section of the trail has abundant stands of wild azaleas that bloom in mid to late March. The hike leader will provide hikers with a list of plant species likely to be observed along the trail.

Limit 25 people, Public, Moderate.

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CENTRAL FLORIDA CHAPTER https://sites.google.com/site/ftacentralflorida/ Dec 21 - Day Hike: Seminole State Forest - Tom Regan 407-415-8592 after 5 pm TRegan@janvrinregan.com Join us for an 8.5 mile out and back hike in the Seminole State Forest on the Florida National Scenic Trail from the North Entrance parking lot off of SR44 to the Blackwater Creek. More details will be posted later on Meetup.com. Bring water, lunch, sunscreen and $2 for the parking fee. No pets please.

No limit, Public, Moderate.

Dec 29 - Jan 2 - 30th Annual New Year’s Eve Campout - Rachael & Lou Augspurg 352-669-2898, cell: 352-5520626 lourayfl@mac.com Celebrate New Year’s Eve with FTA friends at the Doe Lake Campground located on Forest Road 14 in the Ocala National Forest. Arrive anytime after 3:00 PM on Saturday Dec. 28th and stay for a day or four days.

Checkout by noon on Thursday Jan 2. This is a group camp reserved for our group only. On Sunday, Monday, Tuesday & Wednesday there will be scheduled hiking, biking and paddling activities in addition to evening programs and campfires. Group dinners include; Bar B-Q on Sunday night, Stone soup on Monday night, Potluck on Tuesday & leftovers on Wednesday. No need to pre-register. Cost is $5 per person per night. No limit, FTA Members Only Jan 8 - Wednesday Winter Day Hike Series - Rachael & Lou Augspurg 352-669-2898, cell: 352-552-0626 lourayfl@mac.com 7-9 mile day hike. This year the hikes will cover the FNST in the Ocala National Forest. The plan is to hike the Eastern Corridor trail from Rodman Reservoir to Clearwater Lake. Hikers will also explore some side trails, springs, sinkholes & the Western Corridor trail. Some camping & paddle trips will be added to the series this year.

No limit, Public, Moderate.

Jan 8 - Trail maintenance LB Econ State Forest - Bo Abney 407-739-3357 babney@cfl.rr.com LB Econ State Forest - Yarborough Tract/ Brumley Rd. Access All the maintenance activities will start at 9:00 AM his schedule may change due to trail conditions, problems with access, prescribed burns etc. Also, in case of heavy rainfall and standing water on the trail the work may be canceled. The leader will send out an email announcing changes, Check your email or Meetup before leaving home.

Jan 11 - Trail maintenance CH Bronson State Forest - Bo Abney 407-739-3357 babney@cfl.rr.com Turkey Creek. All the maintenance activities will start at 9:00 AM his schedule may change due to trail conditions, problems with access, prescribed burns etc. Also, in case of heavy rainfall and standing water on the trail the work may be canceled. The leader will send out an email announcing changes, Check your email or Meetup before leaving home.

Jan 15 - Wednesday Winter Day Hike Series - Rachael & Lou Augspurg 352-669-2898, cell: 352-552-0626 lourayfl@mac.com 7-9 mile day hike in the Ocala National Forest.

No limit, Public, Moderate.

Jan 16 - Trail maintenance CH Bronson State Forest - Bo Abney 407-739-3357 babney@cfl.rr.com Joshua Creek Trailhead. All the maintenance activities will start at 9:00 AM his schedule may change due to trail conditions, problems with access, prescribed burns etc. Also, in case of heavy rainfall and standing water on the trail the work may be canceled. The leader will send out an email announcing changes, Check your email or Meetup before leaving home.

Jan 22 - Wednesday Winter Day Hike Series - Rachael & Lou Augspurg 352-669-2898, cell: 352-552-0626 lourayfl@mac.com 7-9 mile day hike in the Ocala National Forest.

No limit, Public, Moderate.

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CENTRAL FLORIDA CHAPTER (continued) Jan 29 - Wednesday Winter Day Hike Series - Rachael & Lou Augspurg 352-669-2898, cell: 352-552-0626 lourayfl@mac.com 7-9 mile day hike in the Ocala National Forest.

No limit, Public, Moderate.

Feb 5 - Wednesday Winter Day Hike Series - Rachael & Lou Augspurg 352-669-2898, cell: 352-552-0626 lourayfl@mac.com 7-9 mile day hike in the Ocala National Forest.

No limit, Public, Moderate.

Feb 12 - Wednesday Winter Day Hike Series - Rachael & Lou Augspurg 352-669-2898, cell: 352-552-0626 lourayfl@mac.com 7-9 mile day hike in the Ocala National Forest.

No limit, Public, Moderate.

Feb 19 - Wednesday Winter Day Hike Series - Rachael & Lou Augspurg 352-669-2898, cell: 352-552-0626 lourayfl@mac.com 7-9 mile day hike in the Ocala National Forest.

No limit, Public, Moderate.

Feb 22 - Wednesday Winter Day Hike Series - Rachael & Lou Augspurg 352-669-2898, cell: 352-552-0626 lourayfl@mac.com 7-9 mile day hike in the Ocala National Forest.

No limit, Public, Moderate.

March 5 - Wednesday Winter Day Hike Series - Rachael & Lou Augspurg 352-669-2898, cell: 352-552-0626 lourayfl@mac.com 7-9 mile day hike in the Ocala National Forest.

No limit, Public, Moderate.

March 12 - Wednesday Winter Day Hike Series - Rachael & Lou Augspurg 352-669-2898, cell: 352-552-0626 lourayfl@mac.com 7-9 mile day hike in the Ocala National Forest.

No limit, Public, Moderate.

March 19 - Wednesday Winter Day Hike Series - Rachael & Lou Augspurg 352-669-2898, cell: 352-552-0626 lourayfl@mac.com 7-9 mile day hike in the Ocala National Forest.

No limit, Public, Moderate.

March 22 - Wednesday Winter Day Hike Series - Rachael & Lou Augspurg 352-669-2898, cell: 352-552-0626 lourayfl@mac.com 7-9 mile day hike in the Ocala National Forest.

No limit, Public, Moderate.

FLORIDA CRACKERS CHAPTER http://hoofers.floridatrail.org/ Dec. 14-15 - O’leno State Park Backpack Trip - Karen Garren iluvfla@bellsouth.net Beginner’s backpacking trip.

No limit, Public welcome, Moderate.

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Dec 19 - Urban Day Hike - Dot Morrison, 352-377-7537 or 352-262-8780 dotlesslou@aol.com Hogtown Greenway hike to Greenacres Park. Meet at at 8:45am at the back of the Creekside Mall at SW 2nd Ave off of SW 34th street, plan to start at 9:00am.

No limit, Public welcome, Moderate.

Dec 19-25 - The Imperfect Backpacking Series - Robin Luger 352-284-3319 robinannie.luger@gmail.com and Irvin Chance 386-330-2424 andachance@msn.com Ocala National Forest No limit, Public welcome, Moderate.

Dec 19 - Chapter Meeting and Holiday Party - Mitch Sapp, mesapp1941@gmail.com 6:30 to 9 pm. Potluck, bring covered dishes, deserts, drinks, or snacks, and a fun attitude!

No limit, Members & their guests only, Leisure Dec. 21 - First day of Winter Hike - Mitch Sapp, mesapp1941@gmail.com Jan. 17-18 - Gol Head Branch State Park Backpack Trip - Karen Garren iluvfla@bellsouth.net Beginner’s backpacking overnight.

No limit, Public welcome, Moderate.

Jan. 26-30 - The Imperfect Backpacking Series - Robin Luger 352-284-3319 robinannie.luger@gmail.com and Irvin Chance 386-330-2424 andachance@msn.com Aucilla River section and St. Marks National Wildlife Refuge No limit, Public welcome, Moderate.

Feb 21 - Dog Hike on Hatchet Creek - Deb Blick 352-475-5644 ftcricket@windstream.net Newnan’s Lake Conservation Area 11908 State Rd 26, Gainesville, FL Pack up your favorite puppy dog and join us for a dog hike on Hatchet Creek. Meet at the trailhead off State Rd 26 (east of Gainesville and west of US 301) at 9 am. We’ll hike approximately 5 miles through the woods, returning to the trailhead for a picnic lunch. Dogs must be on leash for the entire hike. Reactive dogs (to humans or other dogs) should wear a red bandana. Bring water and treats for both you and the dog for the hike.

Bring food, drink and camp chair for lunch. Non-dog owners are welcome, but must love dogs.

No limit, Public welcome, Moderate.

March 10-14 - The Imperfect Backpacking Series - Robin Luger 352-284-3319 robinannie.luger@gmail.com and Irvin Chance 386-330-2424 andachance@msn.com Osceola National Forest from Olustee Battleground to U.S. 441 No limit, Public welcome, Moderate.

March 22 - Kayaking 101 Tryout - Deb Blick 352-475-5644 ftcricket@windstream.net Earl P. Powers Park 5910 SE Hawthorne Rd (State Rd 20) Gainesville, FL 32641 9 am - 3 pm Thinking about giving kayaking a try but don’t know where to start? Or maybe you are interested in getting a kayak but can’t decide between a sit-on-top and a sit-inside, a rec boat and a sea kayak? This is the “class” for you. We’ll cover topics such as the different styles of kayaks, different types of paddles, required safety gear, and other tips and tricks for paddling fun and comfort in the monring. Following a picnic lunch (bring your own) we’ll have some boats available for you to try out.

No limit, Public welcome, Leisure.

March 31 to April 5 - The Imperfect Backpacking Series - Robin Luger 352-284-3319 robinannie.luger@gmail. com and Irvin Chance 386-330-2424 andachance@msn.com Suwannee River from Bell Springs to U.S.129 No limit, Public welcome, Moderate.

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HAPPY HOOFERS CHAPTER http://hoofers.floridatrail.org/ Dec 15 - Dinner and then ride the water taxi to see holiday lights - Lynn and Mike Thompson (954)850-3668 ma12thom@bellsouth.net No limit, Public, Leisure Dec 30 - Jan 1 - Day hike and car camp at Prairie Lake WMA - Mike and Lynn Thompson (954)850-3668 ma12thom@bellsouth.net Limit 12, Members first, Public after, Leisure Jan 9 - Chapter Meeting 7:30 pm. - Kay Ferrara 954-609-4727 kayferrara@bellsouth.net Fern Forest Nature Center, 201 Lyons Rd. South, Coconut Creek, FL 33063 Jan 11 - Fern Forest Work Day 9 am to noon - Roland Burrows 654-731-8271 Fern Forest Nature Center, 201 Lyons Rd. South, Coconut Creek, FL 33063 No limit, public welcome, leisure Jan 11-12 - Backpack CREW Land Marsh trail - Mile & Lynn Thompson 954-850-3668 ma12thom@bellsouth.net Member first, public after, Limit 10 people, Strenuous.

Jan 18-19 - Beginner’s Backpacking - Connie Mier 305-595-1395 cmeir@mail.barry.edu & Vivian Oliva 305-595-1395 snook33172@yahoo.com Backpack to Carpenter Camp in Big Cypress National Preserve - about 5 miles one day additional day hike mileage optional. Members First, Public after, limit 8 people, Moderate.

Jan 18-20 - 3 Day Backpacking Trip - David Denham 5-667-8643 ddenham@consultant.com and Larry Alesi 561-445-9251 larrya1049@yahoo.com Dinner Island Ranch WMA into OK Slough State Forest. Limit 10 people, Members Only, Strenous Jan 31 - Feb 2 - Lady’s camp/canoe/ghost walk at Koreshan State Historic Site - Lori Dillon 561-483-7735 ljdillon@bellsouth.net and Mary Halferty 954-522-3265 maryh@firstpres.cc Limit 8 women, Members Only, Leisure.

Feb 8-9 - Overnight backpack trip to Bluefield Ranch - Mike and Lynn Thompson (954)850-3668 ma12thom@ bellsouth.net Limit 12 people, Members first, Public after, Strenous.

Feb 13 - Chapter Meeting 7:30 pm. - Kay Ferrara 954-609-4727 kayferrara@bellsouth.net Fern Forest Nature Center, 201 Lyons Rd. South, Coconut Creek, FL 33063 Feb 15 - Fern Forest Work Day 9 am to noon - Roland Burrows 654-731-8271 Fern Forest Nature Center, 201 Lyons Rd. South, Coconut Creek, FL 33063 No limit, public welcome, leisure Feb 15-18 - 4 Day Across the Preserve Backpack - David Denham 305-667-8643 ddenham@consultant.com and Larry Alesi 561-445-9251 larrya1049@yahoo.com Limit 10 people, Members Only, Strenuous Feb 23 - Day Hike to Eagle Nest - Clint Pell (863)234-9056 pellcd2@aol.com and Deanna Filkins (954) 6615294 dkfilkins@aol.com DuPuis WMA, approximately 7 miles. Limit 10 people, Members first, Public after, Moderate.

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March 1 - Fern Forest Work Day 9 am to noon - Roland Burrows 654-731-8271 Fern Forest Nature Center, 201 Lyons Rd. South, Coconut Creek, FL 33063 No limit, public welcome, leisure March 8-9 - Crab Fest-Car Camp - Lynn and Mike Thompson (954)850-3668 ma12thom@bellsouth.net Day hike in the Fakahatchee and enjoy a “Pot Luck” dinner and Stone Crab. Limit 10 tents, Members first, Public after, Moderate.

March 13 - Chapter Meeting 7:30 pm. - Kay Ferrara 954-609-4727 kayferrara@bellsouth.net Fern Forest Nature Center, 201 Lyons Rd. South, Coconut Creek, FL 33063 March 15 - Day hike to Gator Hook - Esther Muram 954-658-8386 Itailusa@gmail.com and Robert Rockwell 954-242-6786 rockyhic@hotmail.com hike trough lime stone trail and old logging tram road ~ 4 miles round trip Limit 15 people, Members first, Public after, Moderate.

March 22-23 - Overnight backpacking trip to Fisheating Creek - David Denham 305-667-8643 ddenham@consultant.com and Robert Rockwell 954-242-6786 rockyhic@hotmail.com Limit 10, Members Only, Moderate.

March 29-30 - Day hike and or backpack Lake Arbuckle at Lake Wales Wildlife Management Area - Kay Ferrara 954-609-4727 kayferrara@bellsouth.net and Esther Muram 954-658-8386 itailusa@gmail.com Limit 15 people, Members first, Public after, Moderate.

April 5 - Walk and bird watch at Green Cay - Lynn Thompson 954-850-3668 ma12thom@bellsouth.net No limit, Public welcome, Leisure.

April 10 - Chapter Meeting 7:30 pm. - Kay Ferrara 954-609-4727 kayferrara@bellsouth.net Fern Forest Nature Center, 201 Lyons Rd. South, Coconut Creek, FL 33063 April 18-20 - Camp and day hike at Cumberland Island National Seashore - Mike and Lynn Thompson (954)850-3668 ma12thom@bellsouth.net Limit 12, Members first, Public after, Moderate April 26 - Day paddle at Isle of Capri - Kay Ferrara 954-609-4727 kayferrara@bellsouth.net and Vivian Oliva 305-595-1395 snook33172@yahoo.com Limit 12, Member first, Public after, Moderate.

May 8 - Chapter Meeting 7:30 pm. - Kay Ferrara 954-609-4727 kayferrara@bellsouth.net Fern Forest Nature Center, 201 Lyons Rd. South, Coconut Creek, FL 33063 June 7 - Day hike to Tarpon Lake - David Denham 305-667-8643 ddenham@consultant.com Limit 15 people, Member first, Public after, Moderate.

INDIAN RIVER CHAPTER http://hoofers.floridatrail.org/ Dec 15 - Dinner and then ride the water taxi to see holiday lights - Lynn and Mike Thompson (954)850-3668 ma12thom@bellsouth.net No limit, Public, Leisure Dec 31 – Tony’s annual New Year’s Eve Hike – Must call Activity Leader: Tony Flohre 321-723-6339 for details.

Meet at 8:00 p.m. at Viera McDonald’s – Day Hike in South Tosohatchee.

No limit, Public welcome, Moderate.

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INDIAN RIVER CHAPTER (continued) Jan 1 -Tony’s Annual New Year’s Day Hike – Must call Activity Leader: Tony Flohre 321-723-6339 for details.

Meet at 7:00 a.m. at Viera McDonald’s- Hike in South Tosohatchee No limit, Public welcome, Moderate.

Jan 6– Monthly Chapter Meeting - Richard Louden 321-638-8804 Meet at 6:30 p.m. at the Melbourne Public Library on Fee Avenue in Melbourne – Socializing, Program (TBD) followed by a business meeting.

No limit, Public welcome, Leisure.

Jan 11 - Trail Maintenance Hike – Dale Weddle 321-729-9162 daleweddle@msn.com Three Lakes/Prairie Lakes WMA - Meet 7:30 a.m. at Sam’s Discount Club, 4255 W New Haven Ave, Melbourne.

No limit, Public welcome, Moderate.

Jan 12 – Leisure Hike – Little Big Econ. - Must call Activity Leader: Tony Flohre 321-723-6339 for details.

Meet at 7:00 a.m. at the Viera MacDonald’s.

No limit, Public welcome, Moderate.

Jan 18 –Day Hike at Bulow Creek - Must call Activity Leader: Tony Flohre 321-723-6339 for details.

Meet at 6:3 0 a.m. at the Viera MacDonald’s on North Wickham Road. Bulow Creek State Park is located adjacent to I-95 approximately 100 miles north of Melbourne. The hike will be approximately 7 miles long. After a picnic lunch under the giant oak trees following the hike, there will be a driving tour around the park of approximately 12 miles.

No limit, Public welcome, Moderate.

Jan 25 – Day Hike in Tosohatchee - Must call Activity Leader: Tony Flohre 321-723-6339 for details.

Meet at 7:00 am at Viera McDonalds, 8280 N. Wickham Rd. No limit, Public welcome, Moderate.

Feb 1 - Trail Maintenance Hike – Three Lakes/Prairie Lakes WMA - Dale Weddle 321-729-9162 daleweddle@ msn.com Meet 7:30 a.m. at Sam’s Discount Club, 4255 W New Haven Ave, Melbourne.

No limit, Public welcome, Moderate.

Feb 2 - Groundhog Day Hike at Orlando Wetlands– Must call Tony Flohre 321-723-6339 for details.

Meet at 7:00 am at Viera McDonalds, 8280 N. Wickham Rd. No limit, Public welcome, Moderate.

Feb 3– Monthly Chapter Meeting - Richard Louden-321-638-8804 Meet at 6:30 p.m. at the Melbourne Public Library on Fee Avenue in Melbourne – Socializing, Program (TBD) followed by a business meeting.

No limit, Public welcome, Leisure.

Feb 8 – Paddle (canoe or kayak) Ulamay - Richard Louden 321-693-3820 Meet at the Ulamay trailhead boat launch at 9:00 a.m. You must contact activity leader to participate and provide your own vessel.

No limit, Members Only, Moderate.

Feb 14 – Leisure Full Moon Evening Hike on Turkey Creek - Tony Flohre, Phone: 321-723-6339 Meet at 7:30 p.m. at the entrance to Turkey Creek Park just off Port Malabar Road.

No limit, Public welcome, Moderate.

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Feb 15 - Day Hike on Lake Kissimmee State Park - Must call Tony Flohre – Phone: 321-723-6339 for details Meet at 6:00 a.m. at Sam’s Club, 4255 W. New Haven Avenue in Melbourne.

No limit, Public welcome, Moderate.

Feb 22 – Day Hike on Prairie Lakes WMA - Mick Karolick 321-254-0453 mkarolick@cfl.rr.com Meet at 7:30 am at Sam’s Club, 4255 W New Haven Avenue in Melbourne. You must be an FTA member and call the activity leader if you plan to participate in this 9+ mile hike.

No limit, FTA Members Only, Moderate.

NORTH FLORIDA TRAIL BLAZERS CHAPTER http://www.northfloridatrailblazers.org/ Dec 15 - Little Shoals Day Hike - Allison Williams 316-993-9609 allison2384@gmail.com Hike along the beautiful Suwannee River No limit, Public welcome, Moderate.

Jan 14 - Chapter Meeting - Leslie Wheeler 904-386-2186 law4525@bellsouth.net Southeast Regional Library, 10599 Deerwood Park Blvd, Jacksonville, FL 6:30 - 8:30 pm Roger Curry, a local astronomer, is going to speak about comets and meterorites - either topic will be interesting to us those curious about the Heavens.!

No limit, Public welcome, Leisure.

Feb 22 - I Did A Hike - Janie Hamilton 352-473-8089 janie.hamilton@att.net The annual I-Did-A-Hike is back! This is our big fundraiser for the Florida Trail Association. $20 for the hike and $5 per vehicle entrance fee to Gold Head Branch State Park.

No limit, Public welcome, Moderate.

SUWANNEE CHAPTER http://suwannee.floridatrail.org/ Dec 19-25 - The Imperfect Backpacking Series - Irvin Chance 386-330-2424 andachance@msn.com and Robin Luger 352-284-3319 robinannie.luger@gmail.com Ocala National Forest No limit, Public welcome, Moderate.

Jan. 26-30 - The Imperfect Backpacking Series - Irvin Chance 386-330-2424 andachance@msn.com and Robin Luger 352-284-3319 robinannie.luger@gmail.com Aucilla River and St. Marks National Wildlife Refuge No limit, Public welcome, Moderate.

March 10-14 - The Imperfect Backpacking Series - Irvin Chance 386-330-2424 andachance@msn.com and Robin Luger 352-284-3319 robinannie.luger@gmail.com Osceola National Forest from Olustee Battleground to U.S. 441 No limit, Public welcome, Moderate.

March 31 to April 5 - The Imperfect Backpacking Series - Irvin Chance 386-330-2424 andachance@msn.com and Robin Luger 352-284-3319 robinannie.luger@gmail.com Suwannee River from Bell Springs to U.S.129 No limit, Public welcome, Moderate.

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Local Chapters For chapter websites/Meetups, go to http://www.floridatrail.org/about-us/chapters/ then select the chapter ALLIGATOR AMBLERS CHAPTER CHARLOTTE, COLLIER, AND LEE Bonalyn Plante 239-227-0937

AA Sub Chapter FISHEATING CREEK GLADES AND HENDRY

Margaret England 863-674-0695 APALACHEE CHAPTER FRANKLIN, GADSDEN, JEFFERSON, LEON, LIBERTY, AND WAKULLA

Howard Pardue 850-386-1494 BIG CYPRESS CHAPTER MIAMI-DADE AND MONROE Nina Dupuy 305-608-6866

CENTRAL FLORIDA CHAPTER ORANGE, SEMINOLE, AND OSCEOLA Tom Regan 407-415-8592 CHOCTAWHATCHEE CHAPTER WALTON AND OKALOOSA Paul Kellum 850-654-1172

When you join the state-wide Florida Trail Association you automatically become a member of your local chapter based upon your zip code. However, members may attend the activities of any chapter and may transfer to any chapter they wish simply by informing the FTA Office.

Florida Trail activities are organized by our local chapters and led by authorized volunteer activity leaders. Many of our activities are open to the general public so you can get to know us before you join. Activities can be found online at www.floridatrail.org Click on “About Us” then click on the “Upcoming Events” button on the left. Local activities are usually also listed on the chapter websites, Facebook pages amd Meetups. Click on “About Us” then “Our Chapters” for links to local chapter sites.

Participants in activities must sign an Assumption of Risk form and agree to accept personal responsibility for their safety and the safety of accompanying minors. Always contact the activity leader in advance for more information, to let them know you are attending, tto find out any special requirements for the trip, aand to check for any last minute changes.

FLORIDA CRACKERS CHAPTER ALACHUA, LEVY, GILCRIST, AND MARION Mitch Sapp 352-332-2065 HALIFAX-ST JOHNS CHAPTER FLAGLER, PUTNAM, AND VOLUSIA Linda Taylor 386-774-0734 HAPPY HOOFERS CHAPTER BROWARD AND HENDRY Esther Muram 954-742-7572 HEARTLAND CHAPTER DESOTO, HARDEE, HIGHLANDS, AND POLK David Waldrop 863-605-3587 HIGHLANDERS CHAPTER LAKE AND SUMTER Rollin Patrick 407-469-3638 INDIAN RIVER CHAPTER BREVARD AND INDIAN RIVER Richard Loudon 321-638-8804 LOXAHATCHEE CHAPTER PALM BEACH

Margaret Brabham 561-588-3077 NORTH FLA TRAILBLAZERS CHAPTER BAKER, BRADFORD, CLAY, DUVAL, NASSAU, ST. JOHNS, AND UNION Leslie Wheeler 904-386-2186

SUWANNEE CHAPTER COLUMBIA, DIXIE, HAMILTON, LAFAYETTE, MADISON, SUWANNEE, AND TAYLOR Irv Chance 386-330-2424

PANHANDLE CHAPTER BAY, CALHOUN, GULF, HOLMES, JACKSON, AND WASHINGTON Ron Peterson 850-814-0139

TROPICAL TREKKERS CHAPTER MARTIN, OKEECHOBEE, AND ST. LUCIE Bridget Kean 850-212-2262

SUNCOAST CHAPTER CITRUS, HERNANDO, HILLSBOROUGH, MANATEE, PASCO, PINELLAS AND SARASOTA Lenny Chew 813-838-6834

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WESTERN GATE CHAPTER ESCAMBIA AND SANTA ROSA Helen Wigersma 850-484-0528

Back to Basics—FUNdamentals of the FTA Friday-Sunday, March 7-9, 2014 Camp McConnell 210 SE 134th Avenue Micanopy, FL 32667

Friday Meet-n-Greet Reception (bring a plate of hor d’oeuvres or finger-food to share) Saturday and Sunday Continental Breakfast Catered Saturday Lunch and Dinner Tent camping, RV (no hook-ups), and bunkhouses on site

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We are meeting at Camp McConnell, a YMCA Youth Camp just north of Micanopy (about six miles south of the FTA office in Gainesville). The camp has ample tent camping space, bunkhouses, and an area for RVs (sorry, no hook-ups).

Camping is also available at Paynes Prairie Preserve State Park, just a couple miles from the conference.

Go here for directions & map to Camp McConnell: http://www.ymcasummercamp.com/index.php?page=camp-mcconnell-location.

For more information or to find out how you can help, contact your conference coordinators: Eve Barbour: eve282@netzero.com Judy Trotta: judytrotta@gmail.com

SAVE THE DATE!!!

Explore the many nearby local trails Guided Bike & Paddle on Sunday Movie Night Campfire Camaraderie FTA Store Wine Garden FundRaiser Live Auction Raffle (Bring a donation of NEW and UNUSED outdoor gear or equipment)

SAVE THE DATE!!!

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Stump the Chumps (Q&A with FTA Board Members) Educational seminars and hands-on workshops Board Member presentations on Trail, chapter building, fund raising for chapters, and more Nature presentations Annual Volunteer Awards Election of Officers & Directors

SAVE THE DATE!!!

Save the date! Put it on your chapter Meet Up site and newsletter and on your own calendar for a weekend of Florida Trail fun, education, and camaraderie. Registration starts in January—visit the FTA website for more information. Preliminary plans for the weekend include:

SAVE THE DATE!!!

Florida Trail Association - 2014 Annual Conference

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Florida Trail Association 5415 SW 13th St, Gainesville FL 32608

Nonprofit Organization U.S. POSTAGE PAID Permit No. 702 Gainesville, FL

Dates to Remember!

Board of Directors Meeting Jan. 18, 2014 Chapter Council Meeting Jan. 18, 2014 I-Did-A-Hike Fund Raiser Feb 22, 2014 FTA Annual Conference Mar. 7-9,2014 Choctawhatchee F-Troop Jan 10-12, 2014 Juniper Wilderness F-Troop Jan 10-17, 2014 Big Cypress F-Troop Jan 30-Feb 6, 2014 Sopchoppy Bridge F-Troop Mar 7-13, 2014 Footprint Article Deadline Feb 1, 2014 Footprint Activities Deadline Feb 15, 2014 Allison Williams