Tomorrow: the St. Francis Trail near Deland, one of the finest hiking loops in the region. The weather should be wonderful, so if you can join the group, you’ll enjoy yourself and make a lot of new friends. Bring plenty of water for the 7-plus mile hike plus a lunch to eat along the trail. Meet at 9 AM. Get directions from either of the links below.

Can’t make it tomorrow? Each Wednesday brings a new hike through the end of winter. Check ahead on the schedule and see where you can get outdoors!

Check Meetup for the Winter Wednesday Hike series
Learn more about the St. Francis Trail

Wiley Dykes, Sr. (right) overseeing a trail crew, 2001

One person CAN make an enormous difference. Wiley Dykes, Sr., one of the strongest and most persistent trail builders of the past 40 years in the Orlando area, has died at the age of 81. Working tirelessly to find a route for the Florida Trail through the suburbs and wild lands of Orlando, he devoted much of his life to building and maintaining the trail for nearly 250 miles through the region. My friend Jon Phipps shared this obituary for our Central Florida chapter of the Florida Trail Association:

Wiley founded the Central Florida Chapter of the Florida Trail Association and volunteered  countless hours of work over the years, laying down the Florida Trail through Central Florida.  In so doing he established lasting bonds of respect with land managers in the area and developed a trust which lasts to this day.  Wiley served as Vice President, Trails for the Florida Trail Association and is a lasting example of selfless, self-motivated volunteerism.  Trail workers who’ve enjoyed his company and perfectionism will long extol his virtues and abilities.  Hikers who’ll never know this unique man are forever indebted.

Wiley’s family was the First Family of our chapter, with son, Wiley Jr. working many years on trails and his wife, Joyce serving in various officer positions, to include Chapter Chair.

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In addition, there is an excellent article and obituary on Wiley’s extraordinary background and efforts in building trails that we all now love and appreciate.  Condolences and love to his wife Marguerite and the rest of the family as the Florida hiker community loses a legend among us.

See the Orlando Sentinel obituary

A mass will be held on Saturday, February 11 at 9:30 AM at St. Margaret Mary Catholic Church in Winter Park.

You’ll find plenty of places to play outdoors here in the pages of FloridaHikes.com, starting with the overview map that lets you find hikes within proximity to where you live.

See the overview map

There are many other ways to discover interesting hikes, too, using the menu options above to search for hikes for your particular interest, from backpacking to taking your toddlers out on the trail.

This is OUR time of year, hikers … make the most of it! Enjoy the outdoors on Florida’s many thousands of miles of hiking trails.

See the press release / proclamation details from the Department of Environmental Protection

Oscar Scherer State Park is the southwesternmost hot spot to see families of scrub-jays roaming the scrub, but there are many other places in Florida where you can hike to see scrub-jays as well. Since scrub-jays do not migrate, there are trails throughout Florida where sightings are common. That’s the topic of my presentation at 10:30 AM.  Some of the natural lands I’ll be covering (not a complete list) include:

Archbold Biological Station
Cedar Key Scrub Reserve
Citrus Tract, Withlacoochee State Forest
Florida Scrub Jay Trail
Halpata Tastanaki Preserve
Lake Kissimmee State Park
Lake Wales Ridge State Forest
Lyonia Preserve
Merritt Island NWR
North Peninsula State Park
Ocala National Forest
Potts Preserve
Rock Springs Run State Reserve
Seminole State Forest
… and, of course, Oscar Scherer State Park

For more about the Florida scrub-jay, please see my article:
In Search of the Scrub-jay

While the 0.9-mile blue blaze connector utilizes a portion of what was once the southbound Florida Trail, a full 1.1 miles to the north of the new junction with the orange blazes is entirely new, snaking its way through mazes of cabbage palm hammocks and beneath ancient live oak trees. Thanks to Lou and Rachael Augspurg and their tireless trail crew from the Florida Trail Association Central Florida chapter for introducing us to new beauty spots along the Florida Trail!

Learn more about the Florida Trail at Seminole Ranch

To join the group, contact Peggy Grantham, hike leader, for full logistical details. You can learn more details about the Panhandle Trace Hike on Meetup starting with the first day’s hike at http://www.meetup.com/ftawesterngate/events/45216842/

What was especially heartening was the size of the crowd on such a dreary, rainy, cold evening. We kept the room warm by swapping stories and listening to Steve Sheridan, who in 1989 accomplished the feat of thru-hiking the Florida Trail – the first person ever to walk end-to-end. Steve has a new book out which I’ll talk about later in the month, but meanwhile, his slide presentation gave a great glimpse into ‘what things used to look like’ in places I know by heart these days, like the Pahokee Marina.

Congratulations to the very active Apalachee Chapter – based in Tallahassee – for their accomplishments in routing and maintaining the Florida Trail for the past 30 years, and to their members for leading so many interesting hikes around the region, including the ongoing Apalachee Ambles series showcasing those Florida Trail segments – the next of which kicks off on January 28.

Learn more about the FTA Apalachee Chapter
See Apalachee Chapter activities on Meetup
Learn about the Apalachee Ambles series

• Make it possible for individuals / corporations to own low-lying public lands that flood.  I don’t doubt that the bill will be followed by a push for our Water Management Districts to sell those “fringe” lands.
• Make it possible for those individuals / corporations to close off those lands to recreational enthusiasts. Florida Trail hikers know that a lot of the FT along Florida’s rivers and creeks lies in the floodplain owned by our Water Management Districts. And what will become of Fisheating Creek?
• Set up the potential for development in floodplains, followed by a hue and cry by those who lose their development to floodwaters, begging the Federal Government for a bailout.

Frankly, this stinks. It’s another sneaky way to set up a carving off of public land to the private sector.  Since the number one role of government – especially state and local government – is public safety, I see this as a major encroachment on that promise of keeping Floridians safe. Floodplains are floodplains, and much of our state is capable of flooding. Leave the definitions be.

HB 1103 will be considered by the House Agriculture and Natural Resources Subcommittee on Tuesday, January 17 at 12:30PM. To read this bill for yourself, please click here.

If this gets you riled, like it does me, use this Audubon of Florida link to fuss at our legislators to prevent this bill from passage.

You can also call these committee members to voice your displeasure. Thanks for your concern!

Hanging out with Weathercarrot at the Ironmasters Hostel, Pine Grove Furnace, PA

Sitting down and sharing a photo album of my Appalachian Trail treks with my sweetie, I’m reminded of the fun times I’ve had over the past 15 years while hiking everywhere from Maine to Florida along the long trails. Some of the best hiker gatherings I’ve enjoyed have been at the Ironmasters Hostel near the mid-point of the Appalachian Trail in Pennsylvania, many years of “The Ruck” – back in the day when I first got into backpacking.

Florida isn’t so hostel-minded, and that’s a shame. Our Florida Trail could use a few good hostels along the way. But the Appalachian Trail provides plenty of places to stop and rest with like-minded travelers.

As I’m pondering the logistics of an AT thru-hike – a dream I’ve carried since I was a kid growing up within sight of Bearfort Mountain – one of the must-dos is to reconnect with friends and relatives along the way. I grew up in the north woods of New Jersey, my family resettling in Florida – Dad’s dream – when I was a teen. Most of my relatives are scattered across the greater New York City area, and one of the cool things about reaching out to them is you can hop a train – right at the only train station on the Appalachian Trail near Pawling, NY.  From there, it’s less than two hours into NYC. Since my relatives live outside the downtown area, the best bet is to hit one of the many hostels - of course! – in this otherwise expensive-to-visit area.

Yes, I’ll be sharing more about my AT plans over the next couple of months – a bit of a diversion from Florida, but a look into the mind of a long-distance hiker – so I hope you’ll indulge and ask questions as I prep for the trek of a lifetime.

Learn more about hostels along the AT
Learn more about the AT train station to NYC
Learn more about the hostels in NYC

Along the East Loop

Affecting the East Loop, these trail closures were shared by Jonathan Dickinson State Park staff today:

Effective immediately the hiking trails in Jonathan Dickinson State Park are closed at the Railroad Crossings.   There will be  a trail development weekend on February 11/12 to reroute the East loop of the trail to avoid crossing the railroad track at other than authorized locations.   The western loop (Kitching Creek) loop is still open and accessible from the consession area or the main park entrance road

Learn more about the East Loop at Jonathan Dickinson
Learn more about Jonathan Dickinson State Park